The USC Trojans secondary has not performed up to expectations, but they’ve won their games unlike the UCLA Bruins. This week they will go against their first Big Ten opponent in the Purdue Boilermakers, but will the secondary begin to thrive or dive?
The Trojan’s secondary has gotten two interceptions in their two games against Missouri State and Southern Georgia, where they let up 33 points. The Southern California Football Roundtable discussed if the secondary will be fixed or if their productivity will dive as the competition gets steeper.
Matt Zemek: Editor
Hard to say. This was supposed to be a strength of the 2025 roster, but Doug Belk has struggled to get his guys focused and on the same page. Not having Prophet Brown hurts, but one guy shouldn’t be responsible to such a large degree for one unit not performing up to standard. Big Ten play will reveal a lot about whether this group will improve.
Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire
The Bruins secondary has been the weakest link on their defense, but I don’t think they’ve been terrible. We will see in the upcoming weeks if that is the case, but the season is young and with veterans at safety and young players on the outside, they have time to develop as the season grows.
Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire
It depends on your definition of fix. I think the Trojans’ secondary will be an OK group, not spectacular but not actively losing USC games. USC’s first two games have been lopsided talent wise, I’ll be more interested to see how the group fares against another quality opponent. If they struggle against Purdue this week, the concern will grow but I’m still counting on the talent in their secondary winning out.
Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire
It depends what you mean by “fix”. I don’t think USC’s defense is going to be 2021 or 2023 levels of bad. But the big plays allowed and secondary breakdowns are definitely a cause for concern, and I am not convinced those will just magically go away when the competition gets tougher.
Micah Huff, Trojans Wire
I trust D’Anton Lynn; he is a phenomenal defensive coordinator. Lynn will get the most out of this group. It is a young group with a couple veteran leaders. Once they get a little bit healthier I think this group will perform to the level expected. The Trojans will not beat Illinois with how their secondary has been playing. I trust Lynn to make the adjustments necessary and coach this group to play better.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Southern California Football Roundtable: Will USC fix its secondary?
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
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