Greg McElroy believes USC could take slight step back in 2023

Year one under Lincoln Riley was a tremendous success for USC. Sure, fans may wonder what could have been if the Trojans were just able to pick off Utah in one of those two matchups, but ultimately, double-digit wins season with a Heisman Trophy winner is as exciting a year as USC has had in a decade or more. Plus, they’re just getting started under the premier young coaching star in college football.

Despite a promising trajectory, ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy is pumping the brakes on the Trojans in regards to the 2024 season. Obviously they’ll be talented and darn near unstoppable offensively yet again, especially with Caleb Williams back, but it’s the defensive side of the ball where McElroy sees a lot of questions left over from last year without the necessary answers yet.

Take a look below at McElroy’s full reasoning behind why he’s hesitant to call USC a title contender in 2023, which he explained on his YouTube show.

Greg McElroy skeptical of USC’s physicality

“Last year, it was painfully obvious there in the Pac-12 championship game that they could not match the physical toughness that Utah brought to the field. Now some would say: Look at the performance in the first quarter of that Utah game, up 17-3, they’re cruising right along. Caleb Williams has a little bit of a hamstring issue, doesn’t have quite the same burst when he takes off — and next thing you know, they get outscored 44-7 from that point forward.

“So you think about where they’re at. I think this USC program — and a lot of people will probably overreact, and to be honest with you, I think USC could take a slight step back this year. Just a slight step back. Not to the point in which they’re a middling program yet again.

“But I think last year was such a surprise for everyone that now the entire focus of the league is to send USC out a loser heading to the Big Ten next year. They’ve made no friends in that transition, so I think every single team on the calendar has circled the Trojans and have made them their focal point of the off-season.”

So, McElroy believes the Trojans will have a big target on their back since they are leaving the conference and are likely the only Pac-12 team that people nationally believe can actually make or win the playoff.

McElroy says defense must take a step up

To get to that coveted playoff, though, Greg McElroy says the defense has to make a massive improvement off of last season, which he’s not so sure will happen given the current personnel.

“Everything that Lincoln Riley’s done to this point has been terrific but it’s going to be very important for him to pay close attention to the progress that’s either being made on defense or the changes that might need to be made on defense.

“I’m never going to suggest coaching changes, this is not my thing. I respect the profession too much. I think it’s extremely difficult to get kids to buy in and especially in year one to get them to learn and to adapt to your system is not the easiest thing in the world to do. Plus, if you really look at their personality, they were depleted on most of their defensive spots and they didn’t have great depth, they didn’t have great personnel by USC standards.

And he notes, the standards for a traditional powerhouse like USC are on an other level compared to other programs.

“By the way, we’re not talking about standards that would come to be expected from a team that’s hoping to get to bowl eligibility. This is USC and their roster on defense last year was not where it needed to be. They’ve gone out and they’ve attacked some of those places in the portal to hopefully strengthen and fortify the depth at all three levels.

“But it still remains to be seen if things will take for Alex Grinch, the defensive coordinator, here in year No. 2. Lincoln Riley feels good about their ability to create turnovers, but if you’re living and dying by the turnover, if you run into a team that’s really safe with the football and really conservative with the football and is not going to put the ball In harm’s way, it’s going to be tough for them to overcome just by playing defense.

“They got to take significant strides on that side, and until they do, I think it’s going to be hard for them to expect to make a lot of noise as it relates to the College Football Playoff stuff and ultimately the national championship.”