Lincoln Riley discusses Mo Hasan recovery window, when he could return to action

The USC quarterback room took a hit when Mo Hasan suffered an Achilles injury last month. However, based on Lincoln Riley’s comments this week, he seems to be doing well.

Hasan announced he ruptured his right Achilles and underwent surgery for it. The former Vanderbilt transfer hasn’t played in the last two years and continues to deal with injuries, including a knee injury last season. But Riley sounded hopeful he’d be able to play this season as he comes back from this latest injury.

“There is,” Riley told reporters after USC’s first spring practice. “I think there’s a good chance. Mo’s had surgery, recovering well. We certainly hope to. He was doing some good things in the offseason, so [we] hope to have him back.”

In two years at Vanderbilt in 2018 and 2019, Hasan completed 11 of 17 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown before transferring to USC. He’d be a good veteran presence as new Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams gets settled in with his new team.

Lincoln Riley shares why Caleb Williams was right move at QB for USC

USC head coach Lincoln Riley took the college football world by storm last season, first by leaving Oklahoma in favor of Southern California, and again when he pulled a number of former Oklahoma commits and players — notably, quarterback Caleb Williams — along with him.

Williams, a native of Washington, DC, was by far and away the No. 1-ranked quarterback recruit in the NCAA Transfer Portal this season, and Riley has put together quite a high-powered offense at USC, using the portal alone. But his reasoning for nabbing Williams was more than their connection alone. Riley said he’s the perfect fit at USC.

“We thought he would just make sense in this situation. I don’t think there’s any doubt we felt like the combination of him and Miller Moss would give us just a great start there in the quarterback room,” Riley said. “We’ve been really impressed with how those guys have handled things up to this point. Caleb obviously has some experience within our system, our terminology, our way of doing things, our way of coaching the position that certainly helps. And he has some good playing experience as well.”

Williams began his true freshman season at Oklahoma as the backup quarterback to Spencer Rattler. When Rattler struggled to start the season, however, Williams took the reigns of the offense, providing that valuable playing experience that Riley noted.