Lincoln Riley shares what stands out on USC's offense, defense

Lincoln Riley is coming off an impressive first season in Los Angeles with USC. Still, it’s on to the next as the Trojans have been working in spring practice to prepare for 2023.

So, through nearly double-digit opportunities on the field, what does Riley notice about both sides of the ball on his team? In a press conference from this weekend, he said there hasn’t been much to differentiate either group considering how even there reps have been.

However, he did add that he thinks the team overall is in a more dependable spot, which is good considering it was a focus for them this offseason.

“We’re eight practices in. I would say both sides have had one day where they were pretty dominant. The other six have just been back and forth,” said Riley. “It’s kind of been like that.”

“It feels like we’re a little bit stronger, there’s just a little bit more depth when the second wave of players goes in. There’s not as much of a drop-off,” Riley continued. “There’s just more good players on the field. And some of the players that we’ve brought back are more physically developed. A little bit bigger, a little big stronger. We just feel a little sturdier, to me, as a whole, which obviously was a goal for us.”

After going 11-3 in ’22, there felt as though there were both highs and lows for Riley to distinguish this offseason. The offense was naturally a positive as USC, led by Heisman winner Caleb Williams, posted a top-three unit in the country. Defense, though, leaned more towards the negative. The Trojans barely cracked the Top-100 in points per game allowed, which included giving up 43 or more points in each of their losses.

The future continues to look bright in Hollywood based on what Riley is seeing early on this spring. They’ve still got a long way to go but, as of now, the staff is pleased with where the Trojans are in their process.

“It’s been extremely competitive. Guys are going at it. It was good to get out and get some live today…And they’ve certainly met the challenge,” Riley said. “Eight practices in? We’re happy.”

Riley admits USC has battled injury issues

USC now has eight spring practices under their belt this offseason and have participated in a full-contact scrimmage. Still, their start to spring ball didn’t come without some injuries. These injuries led to head coach Lincoln Riley rescheduling a recent practice, moving it back towards the end of the originally planned spring practice schedule.

“Just too many nicks right now. We had a couple before spring break but they only practice once every two days,” Riley said. “Now, we would lift and do walk-throughs and stuff in between so they’re still busy. But, no, I don’t think we’ve worn them down.”

“What happens is you get a couple of guys out at a key position. Well, now, all of a sudden one you miss those guys? Now you’ve got other guys that are having to take all of the reps, which is good for their development. But then you also don’t want to put them in a position where they’re taking more reps than you want,” Riley explained.

“It’s like, alright, we can probably practice now and kind of trudge through it. Or we could put this practice back on the backend when it’s likely that we’re gonna have five, maybe even more bodies, at some key spots. But I can get more out of that practice,” Riley said. “So we just took advantage of the time. Obviously we couldn’t have done it during the season. But we’re just taking advantage of the time we have right now.”