USC football seeks better showing in Game 2: Clean up some stuff

Could a team that rolled up a 28-point lead and won comfortably in its season opener be in need of a do-over?It certainly felt that way after USC football was panned for its flop of a fourth quarter and puny crowd at the Coliseum last weekend against San Jose State.The Trojans gave up 23 points in the final 15 minutes of their 42-26 victory before an announced crowd of 51,144 that was considerably smaller.The list of gripes didn’t stop there.Heck, even quarterback Jayden Maiava admitted there was room for improvement — after he nearly completed every pass.“Definitely could clean up some stuff,” Maiava said, “play a lot better.”While the size of the crowd that shows up Friday evening at the Coliseum to watch No.

14 USC (1–0) face Fresno State (0–0) is largely out of the Trojans’ control, they can dictate whether the show on the field is more worthwhile than what preceded it.Here are five things to watch in a game that will be televised by Fox:On paper, Maiava played an almost perfect game.He completed 25 of 29 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for an additional score.His 86.2 completion percentage was the highest in one game by a USC quarterback since at least 1995 (with a minimum of 25 attempts).So, what’s the problem?Well, at least a handful of those completions required the receivers to make a nice play on passes that weren’t thrown well.

An intentional grounding penalty resulted in a sack.The mistake that seemed to stick with Maiava most was his unwillingness to throw the ball on a fourth-and-goal play in which he scanned the field in search of an open receiver.Not seeing what he liked, Maiava took off running and was stopped short of the goal line.Asked about the play earlier this week, Maiava said he had a receiver open in the flat, suggesting either he didn’t see him or wasn’t willing to throw the ball.“You can’t play the position hesitant,” Maiava said, “so coach [Lincoln] Riley does a great job of...