On Saturday, the USC football team suffered its first defeat of the 2025 season, falling 34-32 on the road at Illinois. The Trojans trailed for nearly the entire day, but took a 32-31 lead late on a Makai Lemon touchdown reception. However, Illinois subsequently drove the ball down the field and kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.
What did we learn from the game? Here are five key takeaways:
The defense is officially a major concern
USC allowed Illinois to rack up over 500 yards of offense. With the Trojans leading by one late, the defense had the chance to seal the game, but could not get a stop when they needed it most. In their first test against a legitimate opponent in 2025, it was a truly horrendous day for D’Anton Lynn’s unit.
Clock management was horrendous
Lincoln Riley knew that the USC defense was struggling. So with the Trojans trailing by six and driving late, he should have tried to run down the clock and score a touchdown with as little time left as possible. Instead, he took a shot to the end zone and USC scored right away, giving Illinois the ball left down by only one with nearly two minutes on the clock and all three timeouts remaining.
Discipline was incredibly poor
The Trojans committed eight penalties for 69 yards. The worst of those was an inexcusable ineligible man downfield penalty that wiped out a long touchdown pass. USC also turned the ball over twice.
Makai Lemon is a baller
Perhaps the biggest positive in the defeat was junior wide receiver Makai Lemon. Lemon had another monster day, catching 11 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. It was the type of heroic effort by a receiver in a brutal loss that we used to see from Drake London on a seemingly weekly basis back in 2021.
The Trojans are not ready to compete in the Big Ten
Saturday’s loss made it clear that, plain and simple, USC is not ready to compete in the Big Ten. If the Trojans cannot even be the more physical team against Illinois, then how can you expect them to compete with the likes of Ohio State, Penn State, and Oregon?
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football falls to Illinois in another failure: 5 key takeaways
