College football insider explains why Year 2 of Lincoln Riley means big things for USC

USC set a high bar to clear going forward under Lincoln Riley, as the first year head coach — along with transfer quarterback Caleb Williams — led the Trojans to the brink of a College Football Playoff berth. But it’s one that the Trojans should be able to clear in 2023.

Speaking on the “Paul Finebaum Show” on Thursday, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman dove into what the Trojans need to get over the hump and into the CFP in 2023. It starts and stops with improvements on defense, getting to a stable-enough place that the supernova of offensive talent can take over.

“They don’t have to be as good as the Pete Carroll defenses of 15 years ago when they had Reggie Bush on the other side of the ball,” Feldman said. “But they can’t get any worse than they were last year. And I think they will be better because I do think they’ve upgraded the talent there. But they were just so bad. I think the idea for them is, you still have Caleb. He has terrific talent around him. He’s in a really, really good system. It’s just can they be good enough on defense to be — and I’m just talking about to be a playoff team, I’m not talking about winning the national title. Because that would take dramatic strides from where they were defensively.” 

The two biggest transfer additions to the defense that Feldman highlighted were along the defensive line. Bear Alexander from Georgia is the headliner, but he’s also joined by Anthony Lucas from Texas A&M.

Again, though, Feldman reiterated that 2023 will really be about the defense getting to a place where it’s treading water and not dragging the offense down below the surface.

And if the defense can rise from bad to pedestrian, USC has the good to field one of the best offenses in the country and push for a playoff spot.

“But this is a similar story to what Lincoln Riley had at Oklahoma, where he had Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks and they ran the ball well, too, unlike what you think of some traditional air raid teams, but defensively it was like changing a mindset,” Feldman said. “And I think the question for Year 2 of Alex Grinch as the defensive coordinator here is: Can they be more physical? Can they get guys on the ground? Can they avoid having meltdowns in the fourth quarter. If they can do those things, I think they’re the team that comes out of the west and they’re the best best the Pac 12 has had in a long time.”

If the Trojans can get to the playoff, Feldman likes their chances to give a team like Georgia a run for its money.

Much like Ohio State gave the Bulldogs fits in the Sugar Bowl in the 2022 CFP, Feldman thinks USC has the combination of elite quarterback play with a few top-shelf playmakers to tax and test even the best secondaries.

“Caleb Williams is, I think, even better than CJ Stroud and I think the system is every bit as good. But, they’re going to have to win in shootouts, no matter how much better they get, because I just don’t think you’re talking about the kind of personnel that Kirby Smart has at all three levels, that Nick Saban has at all three levels,” Feldman said. “But look, if Ohio State came close to knocking off Georgia, I think USC could if they can get better on defense, more physical.”