USC must develop defense ‘worthy’ of playing with Caleb Williams

On3’s Andy Staples kept it a buck when speaking on USC‘s defense this season, Caleb Williams‘ final season in college football.

Joining On3’s JD PicKell on this week’s episode of The Hard Count, the freshly-minted analyst for On3 explained why the Trojans must develop a defense that’s worthy of sharing the field with the reigning Heisman winner. Evidently, Staples doesn’t want to see Lincoln Riley and company waste another star quarterback’s talent.

“Well they’ve got to put a defense on the field that’s worthy of being opposite Caleb Williams,” explained Staples. “That’s the bigger problem. Let’s be real, that’s been the problem since Lincoln Riley has been a head coach. He has to put a defense on the field that is worthy of being opposite that offense.

“We know that offense is great. The offense is not the problem. That’s not what’s going to keep them from winning a national title, or playing for a national title. So it’s really up to Alex Grinch and company to field a defense that deserves to compete for those things.”

Alas, Staples isn’t the only one who believes USC can make some serious noise if their defense is improved. Former SEC quarterback turned college football analyst Greg McElroy explained a similar sentiment, where he even stated a belief that Williams could be even better this season.

“They were within a game of getting in last year,” McElroy said. “But first year, Lincoln Riley. They didn’t have the depth and don’t think they necessarily had the personnel on the defensive front to be able to ultimately get over that hump. You look at the offensive line, while they played great the first 10, 11 games of the season they didn’t do what they needed to do against Utah.

“… I think another year in the system, another year getting comfortable, another year figuring out how Lincoln Riley is going to do things. And assuming even more growth at the quarterback spot, which is almost impossible to predict. But would you bet against Caleb Williams at this point? I will not. I think he’s going to be even better in 2023 than he was in 2022.”

Regardless, USC is on the up and up under Lincoln Riley, nobody is debating that, but the bar has to be the College Football Playoff with Caleb Williams returning for another season. It’s more than attainable, as long as their defense actually shows up this season.