Tyler Stearns |
USC is going to have a very new team next year. They have lost players like QB Caleb Williams, WRs Tahj Washington, Dorian Singer, Brenden Rice, Raleek Brown, S Calen Bullock, LB Tackett Curtis, and an assortment of other starters and quality backups to the NFL draft or the transfer portal. Last season for USC was disappointing, to say the least. They started 6-0, though the final three wins of that run were shaky. They played poor run defense against Arizona State, nearly gave up a 25+ point lead on Colorado, and scraped out a home win versus Arizona (which remained their most quality win of the season). They failed to fix the defense issues that worsened as the 2022 season went on.
USC lost five of their final six games with the only win being against Cal (a high-scoring affair that ended 50-49). After losing to Washington, the Trojans decided to finally fire infamous defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. Firing him wasn’t enough to fix the defensive issues against Oregon and UCLA, though, as they lost both by two scores or more respectively.
The Trojans left the regular season 7-5 with little to no hope left in the program. Fans had a feeling that HC Lincoln Riley was headed for the NFL. People knew that there would be an exodus of the highly rated recruits and transfers that had come in before the start of the season. From all the hype that had been built after Caleb Williams’ 2022 Heisman run and USC’s remarkable 11-3 season (remarkable because they were 4-8 the year before), nothing was left.
The Holiday Bowl versus the ACC runner-up Louisville was the only chance to give fans, recruits, and players the belief that the program was headed upwards. This would be the first game under Lincoln Riley that Caleb Williams wouldn’t start or play. Instead, it would be the three-year backup Miller Moss who was a highly rated dual-threat QB recruit in the 2021 class.
The first half was a masterclass from the new signal-caller. He threw four touchdown passes which handed USC a nice lead heading into the break. As the second half began, he didn’t miss a beat. He threw two more touchdowns and managed the game well.
The performance was mesmerizing, but something that was missed by a lot of viewers was the defensive performance. USC played their best defense of the season, especially pass defending, as they gave up less than 150 passing yards. The run defense stayed poor, but shutting down the air attack was enough to give the Trojans a cushion for the offense to work. The defensive backs, specifically Jacobe Covington and Prophet Brown, were phenomenal. A lot of this work can be credited to Trojan alumnus and defense analyst Taylor Mays, who changed how the backs played. They were in a better position, they tackled well, and they made crucial breakups. They even forced three and outs which was something USC fans were not used to during the season.
Despite the performance, a defensive coordinator position needed to be filled, which was made the day before the PAC-12 Championship. USC hired UCLA's DC D'Anton Lynn. He took the Bruins from a bottom-40 defense in the FBS to the top 10. He made their players much more physical and also brought the best out of them athletically. His schemes, which relate to the Baltimore Ravens’, proved to be successful throughout the year. His defense singlehandedly kept UCLA above a .500 record considering the poor quality of their offense. USC didn’t miss on the hire.
The Trojans also made other important decisions on coaching. They hired Rams DL Coach Eric Henderson for the DL and CO-DC position, Houston DC Doug Belk for the DB coaching role, and North Dakota State HC Matt Entz for the linebackers coaching position. They decided to keep Shaun Nua for the defensive ends as the only coach remaining from the previous two years.
The staff isn’t intended to recruit. They were brought in to develop the players at USC and the defensive recruits signed in the 2024 class. HC Lincoln Riley came out and spoke about following Michigan’s model of developing lower-recognized talent into perennial All-Americans.
This new ideology about the defense is changing how the Trojans have always attacked personnel strategy. USC has always attracted a plethora of five and four-star recruits at skill positions but failed to pick up solid front seven players and offensive linemen. If they succeed in the B1G this year, Riley’s new approach to coaching will prove worthy and reengage the USC fanbase. But for now, hope remains cautioned.
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