Joel Klatt on USC's defensive improvement: 'It was almost shocking'

USC, at least under the tutelage of Lincoln Riley, has been a one-sided operation. However, with what they showed defensively last weekend vs. LSU, the Trojans stunned Joel Klatt.

Klatt applauded USC’s defense against LSU in the Vegas Kickoff Classic on Sunday during an appearance on ‘The Herd’ on Wednesday. It was a staggering difference in the outing that was so unlike them that it first made him question the Tigers.

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“The defense was such a substantial upgrade that it was almost shocking, you know,” admitted Klatt. “It was almost like, ‘Well, wait, is LSU good up front?’ Then you have to remind yourself, like, yeah, those tackles are that good.

“That was what was most surprising for everybody watching that game is that it wasn’t 42-41. USC and LSU went in there, they got in a fist fight in the second half, and USC won.”

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Over his seven prior seasons, Riley’s teams only posted one defense in the Top-50 nationally (2020). In total, they averaged a finish of around 76th in the country by allowing 28.4 points per game. That included the worst unit to date last fall which was 121st by giving up 34.4 a game.

However, to open 2024, USC gave up just 20 points. They did so by posting 70 tackles, three being for loss, while also getting an interception.

To Klatt, this was proof that the Trojans simply needed a better scheme and positioning to improve their defense. The effort and talent were there already but are now under better use with their new defensive coordinator in D’Anton Lynn.

“I will tell you – I’ve always felt like, if you can just get aligned properly, if you can know your assignment and do it with any amount of effort, and then run to the football, you can play adequate defense. Like, just on those things. Those are kind of basics, wouldn’t you say?” said Klatt. “Unfortunately for USC and Lincoln Riley last year, and really some of the last two years, they were so far out of position as far as being in the right gap, being fundamental. So they couldn’t even get into the align and assign portion. So, even if guys were trying to fly around, they weren’t tackling very well and the effort then never even paid off even if they were trying really hard. It didn’t pay off because the alignment and the assignment weren’t there.

“Now what you see with D’Anton Lynn is that they were in the proper positions and then, all of a sudden, the effort was rewarded and then, all of a sudden, you get more effort.” Klatt continued. ‘It’s like this feedback loop where they started to have success and are like, ‘Oh, wait, we are better than everybody thinks? We are better players than everybody thinks! We are highly-recruited, we are talented, and we are physical’. Then you start to see that play out during the course of that second half.”

USC has to continue to show this newfound success on that side of the football. Still, after just the opener, it was enough to lead them to a primetime, Top-25 victory in Sin City.

“It was an impressive win for USC,” said Klatt. “It’s big for the Big Ten and it’s massive for USC.”