Lincoln Riley compliments improved USC defense for first half vs. LSU

One of the biggest problems that has plagued Lincoln Riley’s coaching career is having a stout defense. In the first half on Sunday with the USC Trojans facing the LSU Tigers, his defense made massive improvements. In the offseason, Riley brought in new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, and the move seems to be paying dividends early against the Tigers.

At halftime with the Trojans tied 10-10 with LSU, Riley spoke with Holly Rowe of ESPN and gave some credit to his much-improved defensive unit.

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“We’ve played gap sound. We’ve played very physical. We’ve tackled well in the open field. We’ve been pretty resilient a couple of times when they got drives started. We had to get some big stops,” Riley explained.

The USC defense was impressive on a number of fronts, limiting the Tigers to just 45 rushing yards in the first half. And LSU entered the game with one of the best offensive lines in the country.

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USC quarterback Miller Moss had some impressive accuracy in the first half. How did Riley like how Moss ran the offense in the first half?

“He’s doing a good job,” Riley started. “He’s made some really good plays. Playing his game and that’s what he’s gotta do. Just stick to being himself. Not trying to play like anybody else. Just be Miller and go ahead and do our offense.”

Does he have any regrets about not going for a touchdown instead of going for the field goal at the end of the first half?

“When you miss it, there always is. But we’ll come back out in the second half,” Riley noted.

USC wide receiver Kyron Hudson had one of the plays of the year on Sunday night, with an absolutely spectacular one-handed grab. He was able to reel in the catch in midair while rotating his body. There’s no question that the play will be up for one of the best plays of the 2024 college football season.

It’ll be exciting to see how the second half plays out. For now, it’s been a well-played, but surprisingly low scoring affair on Sunday night.