USC's defensive coaches and players talked with reporters after practice Wednesday, and coordinator Todd Orlando was blunt in his assessment of the unit.

Asked in particular about the Trojans' zone defense of late, he said, "It's not been great -- some of the man-to-man hasn't been great either."

Not much has been working for the USC defense, which has allowed an average of 35.7 points the last three games

"Just locating the football, having more awareness, to be honest with you. This is what we didn't do a really good job of," Orlando continued. "Some of the positives were the run game, but when you look at some of the mistakes that we made, the third-and-16 play we let the guy run up the field on us [for a touchdown]. And then just like [safety Isaiah Pola-Mao], I think if would have had that [73-yard touchdown he allowed to Arizona] back, take the PI. If you lose sight of the football, it's not the NFL, it's a 15-yard penalty and we can line up and go again. But those can't be shots.

"So every day is just situational awareness because that's what college football is. If you can get somebody to third down, if you get them to third-and-plus, you should be in decent shape. You just have to be aware of what's going on and just finishing plays is the biggest thing in the back end. And then, early on it was some of the run stuff but now it's becoming some of the locating the ball. But just playing better situational football.

Watch Orlando's full interview along with video interviews with safeties coach Craig Naivar, emerging young safety Chris Thompson Jr., cornerback Chris Steele and outside linebacker Eli'jah Winston.