Greg McElroy makes case for USC to reach College Football Playoff

Just one more edition of the four-team College Football Playoff and new blood is attempting to enter the mix. One of the favorites according to ESPN’s Greg McElroy is the USC Trojans under head coach Lincoln Riley. One of college football’s blue blood programs, this feels like the time to make a run to compete for a national championship.

So close a season ago, there were just too many problems on the line of scrimmage for USC. Both getting to the quarterback and protecting their own became tough, especially when facing off against Utah in the Pac-12 title game.

“They were within a game of getting in last year,” McElroy said. “But first year, Lincoln Riley. They didn’t have the depth and don’t think they necessarily had the personnel on the defensive front to be able to ultimately get over that hump. You look at the offensive line, while they played great the first 10, 11 games of the season they didn’t do what they needed to do against Utah.”

McElroy says USC needs to “slightly improve” on the defensive side. Something we constantly say about Riley’s team during the offseason. Because we all know how lethal the Trojans are going to be on offense. Having the returning Heisman winner who is also projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is quite the cheat code.

“I think another year in the system, another year getting comfortable, another year figuring out how Lincoln Riley is going to do things,” McElroy said. “And assuming even more growth at the quarterback spot, which is almost impossible to predict. But would you bet against Caleb Williams at this point? I will not. I think he’s going to be even better in 2023 than he was in 2022.”

Imagining Williams improving his game is a scary thought. His Heisman Trophy was won due to having 4,537 passing yards with 42 touchdowns and just five interceptions while adding 382 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground.

Williams might have to better those numbers due to USC’s brutal Pac-12 schedule. Of course, there is the Utah rematch in Los Angeles but Oregon and Notre Dame are played away from home. Getting Washington at the Colesium is a positive.

Even running through that gauntlet with one loss and a Pac-12 title would likely be good enough to earn a playoff spot. The door is certainly open for the Trojans.