Lincoln Riley, Chip Kelly give initial thoughts on USC - UCLA

USC head coach Lincoln Riley and UCLA head coach Chip Kelly are both trying to avoid three-game losing streaks this weekend as the Trojans and Bruins face off in the Coliseum. It’s been a disappointing year for both programs that started the season a combined 10-1 and ranked firmly in the national polls. The coaches spoke Monday and offered some initial thoughts this week about the opposition.

Lincoln Riley on the UCLA defense

“They’ve done a great job. Really quality players and quality depth on the defensive line and at the linebacker position. The front seven is really strong, just just plain and simple. They’ve got a first-rounder, probable first-rounder obviously that leads them that they came back to school and has done a great job. And then they’ve got three or four others on the defensive line, a big interior kid that’s really done a nice job of helping them with the run game. A couple of other edge rush-type players and very versatile players in there. I think quality depth. They’ve been able to stay pretty healthy in there and that front seven really leads that defense. There’s no question, and they’ve done a good job playing to their strengths. They’ve done a nice job against the run. They’ve made teams hang on to the football and let those guys have a chance to get after the quarterback and affect the game that way. And it’s been successful for them. You’ve gotta give them credit. They’ve had a nice turnaround. They certainly have improved a lot. And when you’re as strong as they are up front, that’s one hell of a place to start.”

Riley on the UCLA offense and quarterback health issues

“The quarterback kind of carousel that they’ve had a little bit looks like it’s affected them. You know, Chip’s as good as anybody at getting the quarterbacks to play at a high level. But it’s hard to play with that many guys and they’ve had some injuries and all of that. They had some really good playmakers last year, some really dynamic guys, some guys really experienced. Losing [Zach] Charbonnet — obviously Dorian [Thompson-Robinson] was tremendous last year too — but Charbonnet I thought was the one that really made them pop. And so you can tell they’re missing a few of those guys. They’ve had their moments where they’ve shown some explosiveness. And they’ve had some games where they’ve really run the ball well. I mean, we’re gonna get their best effort. We understand that. They’re gonna get ours, too. And so we’ll see what happens with the quarterback situation and be ready for anything and everything.”

Chip Kelly on facing Caleb Williams

“He’s probably as good as there is in the country. There’s a reason he won the Heisman Trophy last year. He’s a truly special player in all of college football and in one for the ages in terms of what he’s been able to do. He makes some plays where you just kind of shake your head and go, ‘Oh my God.’ And I think he’s probably the only one that can make them. Maybe Mahomes at the next level…He’s got those type of qualities. His ability to make plays off-schedule are as good as I’ve seen in person. His ability to throw the ball and find open receivers, keep plays alive…it looks like he’s hemmed in and going to be sacked but then he keeps himself alive. I think that’s a really, really special quality that he has. And I think we have to really be disciplined in our rush lanes in terms of trying to get after him and contain him because the big plays that he makes — non-scheduled big plays — have been huge for them. Not only this year, but last year.”

Kelly on whether he saw any changes in USC’s defense without Alex Grinch

“They were similar. There were some personnel changes. I think some guys that haven’t played much earlier in the year played in that game. And then some guys that have played in that game didn’t play much. And I don’t know if it was injury related or not, just because you don’t get that information. But it seemed like there was a few tweaks in the lineup. But basically when you’re 10 games in, your defense is your defenses. They did similar things that they had done during the year. There wasn’t a totally new look. I think they worked within their system that they have and did things within their system that they have. And so I don’t think there was anything specifically in the Oregon game that they hadn’t shown earlier in the year that they hadn’t already put on tape. But there were some changes personnel-wise.”