Not a dick question at all ...
I look at things from the perspective of what caused the breakdowns? Was it a talent issue? Or was it an execution issue?
When I see fundamental issues w Washington's RG position or perhaps plugging holes at OLB that to me is a talent issue that you may not be able to scheme around.
When looking at poor game planning, bad fundamentals, not getting the right drops in coverage, not coming back to balls leading to INTs, forcing throws, etc ... those are really correctable to me.
The SC game had a lot more of the latter than the former
So, you mentioned game planning, the game was 17-13 heading into the 4th. And yes, you only had 0.6 YPC for the game, but almost all of that was due to sacks.
Why did UW abandon the run almost completely? Chico had one carry, Gaskin 15. But the most criminal of offenses was Coleman with only 2 carries. He's the type of runner that could actually do well against USC.
What happened there?