Matt Leinart evaluates state of USC football under Lincoln Riley

It’s the second week of October, and USC already has two losses. The Trojans dropped a 24-17 game at Minnesota and then dropped out of the AP Poll over the weekend. They entered last week as the No. 11 team in the country. They ended it unranked, and their other loss, a three-point defeat at Michigan, looks much worse, considering the Wolverines fell 14 spots in the poll after a surprising setback at Washington.

Former USC quarterback and current FOX Sports analyst Matt Leinart filled in for Urban Meyer on the “The Triple Option” podcast Wednesday, joining former NFL and Alabama running back Mark Ingram II and longtime commentator Rob Stone.

Leinart spoke about the Trojans passionately but honestly.

“Unlike Alabama, there is no more room for error,” Leinart said in regard to USC. “They already have two losses. They get Penn State. They still have Washington who looks really good. They still have Notre Dame. They still have Nebraska.”

Stone chimed in: “They still have a path, Matthew. They still have a path to the playoffs.”

Leinart responded: “Yeah. Well, that path is real, real small.”

Leinart, who won a national championship and the Heisman Trophy with the Trojans in 2004, believes the 2022 season set the bar unrealistically high for head coach Lincoln Riley, who is now in his third year at the helm of the program after taking Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff three times in five years.

“Last year, they were just awful,” Leinart said. “Defensively, they were awful. Offensively, they were awful. They had a couple good players. Caleb [Williams is] obviously a star. And now this year, USC beats LSU at Allegiant Stadium, and that set the expectation once again.”

Leinart continued: “And I was on it. We were all on it. I saw them play, I was there. LSU, by the way, is a good team right now. That’s a big-time win. And so we’re thinking, ‘OK, the defense is better. The offensive line held their own against an SEC D-Line. Miller Moss looked good.’ Now, all of a sudden, you kind of get into conference play, and you got to travel a little bit.”

Since then, USC has lost two of its first three Big Ten games. The Trojans’ lone win came in comeback fashion at home against Wisconsin. After going into halftime facing a 21-10 deficit, USC rallied to score 28 unanswered points and grab its first league win.

But that come-from-behind victory sandwiched two one-score losses, the second a shocker in Minneapolis. Although a controversial goal line touchdown made the difference, USC gave up 193 rushing yards to Minnesota. Stopping the run was also an issue against Michigan, which piled up 290 yards on the ground, including runs of 53, 41 and 63 yards.

“The defense has given up 200 yards on the ground a game,” Leinart said. “200 yards, OK? And they’re better in a lot of areas. They are. They’re also giving up more yards per play this year at this point than they did a year ago. Think about that. And last year was historically — talk about atrocious, their defense was atrocious last year.

“So you’re starting to break this down and thinking, ‘Man, how much better are we actually this year?’ And then offensively, and a lot of people are pointing to Miller — I think Miller Moss is playing really good football, to be honest with you. He had a bad pick [against Minnesota]. The other pick, he got hit as he was throwing. It’s the offensive line. We all said, ‘OK, you go to the Big Ten, you have to be physical.'”

Leinart said the USC offensive line has to be better, both now and in the future in terms of recruiting. He pointed out how the Minnesota defense frequently got pressure on Moss with a three-man rush.

Moss was pressured on eight of his 39 dropbacks versus the Golden Gophers, according to Pro Football Focus. He completed only 1-of-8 passes on those dropbacks, and that’s where one of his two interceptions came from. Left tackle Eljiah Paige and right tackle Mason Murphy both gave up at least two pressures, according to PFF.

“I’m just sitting here thinking, ‘How are we in Year 3, and we still don’t have the offensive line and the bodies up front to compete?'” Leinart said. “I don’t care if you’re in the Pac 12 or the Big Ten. That is the concern I have the rest of the season. That is the concern that I have moving forward. I think the defense will be fine.”

Leinart said that after USC beat LSU in Week 1, a game in which the Trojans allowed only 117 yards on the ground, he believed his alma mater was the biggest threat to Ohio State in the Big Ten.

Now he thinks USC looks like a four or five-loss team.

“USC is trying to get back to relevance,” Leinart said. “They’re trying to get back to being a playoff team. Lincoln Riley got paid a lot of money to get this team back. And right now, and I tweeted this out, I just feel like USC’s stuck in neutral.”