Maybe it would have been easier to accept had USC confused UCLA freshman quarterback Josh Rosen with exotic coverage looks and frenzied blitzes and multiple fronts at the line of scrimmage.
At least that way, Rosen could have chalked up the two interceptions he threw, the three sacks he took and the 19-of-37 passing he suffered through Saturday to inexperience compounded by a surprise scheme attack.
But that wasn’t the case at all.
“It was basically just mano a mano,” Rosen said, disappointedly.
In other words, USC was about as basic as it gets, lining up in four-man fronts and manning up the Trojans playmakers in single coverage.