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Lincoln Riley describes emotions of facing Alex Grinch with Wisconsin

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•09/26/24
Alex Grinch
USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch on the sideline during the Trojans' win against San José State (acscottphotography/WeAreSC)

When USC takes on Wisconsin this weekend it’ll be a reunion of sorts between Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley and Badgers co-defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.

The two spent the previous five seasons working together, with Grinch handling Riley’s defensive units.

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So there’ll be a good deal of familiarity between the two when the meet, something that could afford an edge here or there, depending on how similarly each side sticks to known tendencies and habits.

“It’ll be just, personally, it’ll be good to see him,” Riley said. “It’ll certainly be unique being on opposite sidelines with all the good times and great memories that we had together, all the years working together. Yeah, and I’ve been a part of this before where you have guys on previous staffs, or I’ve even coached against my brother before.”

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It might be a little awkward, too.

Lincoln Riley fired Alex Grinch last year due to poor performance, so the Wisconsin assistant will surely be out for vengeance. But it’s hard to fault Riley’s decision.

And so far it seems to be paying off for USC. Consider the change in defensive output from last year to this year.

USC Defense – 2023 Ranks
Scoring Defense: 34.4 PPG (121st)
Total Defense: 432.8 YPG (119th)
Rushing Defense: 186.5 YPG (119th)
Passing Defense: 246.4 YPG (103rd)

USC Defense – 2024 Ranks
Scoring Defense: 15.7 PPG (29th)
Total Defense: 311.0 YPG (47th)
Rushing Defense: 163.3 YPG (91st)
Passing Defense: 147.7 YPG (24th)

Clearly USC has improved across the board defensively, even though this year’s competition has mostly been in the non-conference portion of the slate so far.

Will that be enough for Lincoln Riley and company on Saturday? Or will Alex Grinch anticipate what’s coming and have an excellent gameplan awaiting the Trojans?

“We’ll see how the game unfolds,” Riley said. “I mean they’ve obviously, coach Grinch has a good familiarity with what we’ve done. But I still think the game comes down to players and who executes the best on Saturday afternoon. So I think we’ve prepared hard but we know it’ll be a good challenge going against a very good defense that he’s obviously a part of.”