Lincoln Riley shares what stood out to him in latest scrimmage

USC had its second scrimmage of the year over the weekend, and Lincoln Riley sounded happy with how things went. He also pointed out a few players who stood out in the game.

Riley met with reporters Monday during the Trojans’ “mock game week” and mentioned a few players who turned in good performances in the scrimmage. Among the group is quarterback Miller Moss, who again looks to back up Caleb Williams during his quest for a Heisman Trophy repeat.

According to Riley, players on both sides of the ball impressed.

“Miller really scrimmaged well at the quarterback position. He had a really strong scrimmage,” Riley said. “Both of the young backs, Quinten [Joyner] and A’Marion [Peterson] had some really nice plays in the scrimmage. I thought they really showed up. Defensively, Tackett [Curtis] continues to show up a lot, without a doubt. I thought we had some really good pressure on the defensive front. Jamil [Muhammad] and a few of those guys, doing a really nice job. There was a lot.”

After USC’s first scrimmage, Riley said the defense looked strong early on and the offense finished things out well. That wasn’t the case during the second matchup as the offense rolled to start and the defense ended on a high note.

Riley said it’s not uncommon for that to happen, though. The biggest thing was playing a cleaner game, and that proved to be the case.

“It was a cleaner scrimmage on both sides,” Riley said. “There was a lot of good work. It just looked a lot cleaner than the first scrimmage, which it should. Guys are making progress. We’ve got a chance to rep a lot of our young guys and they needed that. Very competitive, very back and forth.

“Kind of the opposite of the first scrimmage. Offense started a little faster in this scrimmage and then, the defense closed well. The other scrimmage, it was kind of the opposite. But pretty typical.”

USC is preparing for the second year of Riley’s tenure and is dealing with high expectations. Not only is Williams going to look for a second straight Heisman Trophy, but the Trojans also came in at No. 6 in the preseason AP Top 25, which came out earlier this week.

The Trojans will officially kick off the 2023 season — their last as a member of the Pac-12 — Aug. 26 against San Jose State.