What Lincoln Riley said about USC defense before Notre Dame

USC coach Lincoln Riley spoke to local reporters in Los Angeles for about nine minutes Tuesday evening. He spent a good chunk of that time ranting about the No. 10 USC (6-0) defense ahead of his team’s tilt with No. 21 Notre Dame (5-2) in South Bend on Saturday.

He wasn’t dogging his own defense. He was standing up in full support of it.

Here is what Riley said about a Trojans defensive unit that brings the nation’s No. 112 total defense to Notre Dame Stadium this weekend, plus a few comments on what he sees in this year’s Notre Dame team.

On USC quarterback Caleb Williams sticking up for the Trojans defense

“How long do you got? You get to that point in games like that and somebody’s got to make the play to turn it around. Reality is, in regulation, here’s the deal, we kick that field goal and win it in regulation we’re all talking about how the defense only gave up 11 points the rest of the day. They started the entire run that got us back on the same page. But it’s one field goal that we don’t make that the defense has no control over then all anybody wants to do is look at the final score and say, ‘Oh, well, this and that.’ It just doesn’t tell the entire story.

“Caleb was exactly right. It’s what we’ve been trying to say. We’re not hiding from the areas that we got to continue to make improvement. And there certainly are some. But this is a much improved unit. There is no question about it. And this is a unit that, when you talk about the top-end potential, has a chance to really grow and get better fast given some of the youth, some of the new people, some of the quality of depth that we have, some of the injuries we’ve had that have prevented guys from continually getting snaps.

“There are a lot of good things happening with this defense. You don’t sit there and continue doing what we’re doing with TFLs and sacks. There are so many great things. But here’s the deal; everybody in the media had their mind made up. I won’t generalize. A lot of people in the media had their mind made up at the first second there was any adversity, ‘Oh my God, should have done this and they should have made this change and blah, blah, blah.’ It’s not true.

“You’re going to go through the whole year and you’re going to have a tough game. You’re going to have a tough quarter. Do you respond? Do you show continued growth? That’s going to continue to be written the entire year. But there are a lot of great things happening here. We’ll own the things that need to get better, but people need to make sure they’re seeing the other side of it as well. That’s what we’ve been trying to say for a long time.

“Myself, Caleb and some of our other players were venting a little bit of frustration with that to be completely honest. I like the job we’re doing there. I think we’re set up to play really well the second half of the season. And I can promise you inside these walls there is no expectation other than to play at a high level the second half of the season.

“Y’all didn’t think you were getting all that, did ya?”

On the 2023 Notre Dame team vs. the 2022 Notre Dame team

“I don’t like comparisons. I understand the question. This is a good football team, though. This is a very good defense, and it feels like they’ve been energized by the quarterback that’s come in. He’s obviously played pretty well for them the entire year and has a ton of experience. A good football team. A very complete football team. Playing at a very high level defensively. [Notre Dame’s defense] returned a lot of guys. It will be one of the older defensive groups that we play all year. And then obviously an extremely experienced offense at the quarterback position. It’s a very good, impressive football team.”