WOLF: USC football season is turning into false start

PALO ALTO >> There is no shame in losing, but what do you do with a team and coaching staff that look lost?

No. 7-ranked Stanford defeated USC 27-10 on Saturday night. That outcome was expected but not with the level of disorganization and ridiculous decisions that personified the latest loss to the Cardinal.

USC coach Clay Helton is a wonderful man but does he have a game plan that includes winning the game? His team played better last season and everyone said the Trojans were going to perform this season with so many starters back and a new coaching staff.

How far-fetched does that seem as USC cannot even line up for a play without a false start?

Could you imagine USC manhandling UCLA like it did just before Helton got hired last year? Can you imagine USC (1-2, 0-1) manhandling anyone at this point?

If you want an expert opinion, here is what USC athletic director Lynn Swann said 10 days ago: “Most teams in college football make their greatest improvement between the first and third games of the season.”

Did USC make noticeable improvement from the Alabama game? Well, anything is better than losing 52-6. But barely. USC gave up against Alabama. And it looked like it did against Stanford, according to a prominent player.

“It looked like the game was over in the locker room,” Sam Darnold said of the halftime atmosphere. “That’s something that cannot happen.”

USC spent most of Saturday night in complete disarray. On one play, it looked like half the offense did not know where to line up. And the Trojans made a tiny stage look big with a crowd better suited for a cello recital.

The Trojans played in one of the smallest stadiums in the Pac-12 (capacity 50,000) and still had five false starts. Five! Offensive tackle Zach Banner committed two and some NFL analysts consider him a first-round pick. Seriously.

This an offensive line currently playing with four returning starters and it looked completely overmatched by Stanford’s defensive line, which returned one full-time starter.

Banner declined to speak to reporters. Perhaps he did not want to address his two false starts or sacks allowed.

USC quarterback Max Browne said a Stanford defensive lineman disrupted the signals. That’s called coaching.

No one thought the crowd noise was a factor, however.

“They haven’t even started school yet,” safety Chris Hawkins said. “It was pretty quiet.”

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The defense was not much better. For some reason, defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast gets treated like a savior around USC.

Did anyone see tailback Christian McCaffrey go uncovered for a 56-yard touchdown? That happened last year and everyone vilified then-defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox.

Pendergast was hired to prevent these situations. Like when wide receiver Michael Rector scored on a 56-yard reverse.

You can blame safety Marvell Tell for not following McCaffrey but he is supposed to be coached well enough to not leave the Heisman Trophy favorite.

It will hardly soothe USC fans to hear Helton say after the game that USC “took a giant leap forward” in terms of competing. Does he realize the Trojans are further behind Stanford than a year ago and the Cardinal are worse this year?

Helton sounded defensive during the week when asked if star wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster needed more touches. But then USC goes out and gets Smith-Schuster one catch in the first three quarters. Smith-Schuster had two touches actually: A reception and a fumble recovery.

How does USC expect to win games without Smith-Schuster getting the ball? Helton said he’s been criticized in the past for throwing too much to one player, the same Smith-Schuster.

“You never can be right,” he said. “We’re trying to throw to guys that are open.”

USC completely lacks an identity. It shows no desire to win, at least from the sideline. The Trojans trailed by 17 points and Helton punted on fourth-and-6 from the 50-yard line with a little more than 9 minutes left.

“We wanted to pin them deep, which we did,” Helton said.

But by the time USC got the ball back, there was only 4:20 left. This was when Helton decided to give Darnold his first series. Again, the object is to win.

You want something positive? USC did not commit a personal foul to snap its seven-game streak with at least one infraction. But no one probably noticed with all those false starts.

So far, this season is a giant false start.