Positives and negatives from USC football's 42-27 road loss to Oregon

On Saturday, the USC football team fell 42-27 to Oregon in Eugene. With the loss, the Trojans fell to 8-3 on the season and were eliminated from the Big Ten and College Football Playoff races.

What went well for the Trojans in the loss, and where did they struggle? Here are some positives and negatives from the game:

Negative: Special teams

If I could count this as a triple negative, I would. USC's special teams were absolutely atrocious on Saturday. The Trojans had:

-A missed chip shot field goal

-A punt return touchdown allowed

-A leaping penalty on an Oregon missed field goal

-A kickoff out of bounds

-A fair catch interference penalty on a punt

-An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after an interception

Negative: Discipline

USC's discipline against Oregon was a massive issue. The Trojans committed eight penalties for 103 yards—many of which were easily avoidable mental mistakes, including the ones listed above. They also turned the ball over twice. The only thing that kept USC in the game was the fact that Oregon also played poorly disciplined football, racking up triple-digit penalty yards as well, throwing an interception, and turning the ball over on downs in its own territory.

Negative: The lines of scrimmage

The Ducks dominated the Trojans along the lines of scrimmage. Oregon averaged 4.4 yards per carry. USC had just 1.9.

Negative: The secondary

USC's looked better in the second half, but in the first half, the unit looked constantly out of place and had numerous missed tackles. It was not quite 2023 Alex Grinch bad, but it was not pretty to watch. By the time the unit started to improve towards the end of the game, it was too little, too late.

Positive: The passing game

Oregon came into the game with the top-ranked passing defense in the country. To USC's credit, however, the Trojans were able to move the ball against the Ducks' secondary. Quarterback Jayden Maiava finished with 306 passing yards and two touchdowns, while wide receiver Makai Lemon also threw a touchdown on a trick play (that actually worked, unlike the infamous one in South Bend).

Positive/Negative: Tanook Hines

Perhaps no player had more extremes in this game than Hines. On one hand, USC's freshman wide receiver had a breakout game, catching six passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. In addition, however, he had multiple inexcusable penalties, including the aforementioned fair catch interference and a taunting call after a big catch down the sideline.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football falls to Oregon 42-27: Positives and negative