Lincoln Riley reveals USC's defense had upper-hand over offense during first scrimmage

The USC Trojans recently held their first scrimmage of their 2023 fall camp. Last season, the Trojans were known for their explosive offense, led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams. This season, head coach Lincoln Riley wants his team to make a name for themselves on the defensive side of the ball. And according to him, during fall camp, so far so good, as his defense has held the upper hand keeping the high-powered Trojans offense inline.

“Good first scrimmage a couple of nights ago. I thought the guys handled it well,” said Riley. “We were able to get a lot of reps, which is really good. We had close to 90 team reps. It was pretty much an offensive and defensive base scrimmage. Worked a few of the special teams; those weren’t competitive yet. We’re not quite to that point in the install.”

In the Trojans’ first scrimmage of fall camp, there was one defensive player who really stood out to Riley.

“Got a chance to really look at just about everybody on the roster. There were definitely some standouts from the scrimmage. Defensively Zion Branch, out of pick six and a forced fumble; really showed up well. He made some outstanding plays.”

Branch, who is competing to start at safety for the Trojans, has been all over the field for their defense at camp. The No. 61 ranked recruit and the 2022 recruiting class out of Las Vegas, NV, missed last season dealing with injuries. But he is back now and is making his presence felt.

Riley’s overall feelings on the scrimmage

As Riley continued, he finished off by giving his overall assessment of the Trojans’ fall camp thus far.

“Overall, a lot of back and forth. Defense certainly had the upper hand overall in the scrimmage and there were some bright moments, but a lot of inconsistency out of the offense. I thought defensively (we) made less mistakes and made more plays.”

The USC defense has been able to corral or keep up with their offense in fall camp, which could translate into huge success in 2023. The Trojans’ offense is anticipated to be one of the top offenses in college football for the second straight year. And if they can go toe to toe with them in fall camp, there might be very few offenses in college football that they won’t be able to impose their will against.