Lincoln Riley on USC Team Defense, Learning From Travis Dye, and Self-Inflicted Troubles

Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans have been on the right side of the scoreboard all six times they’ve taken the field this season. But the toughest test of the season awaits this weekend in Salt Lake City. Utah is coming off a tough loss at the Rose Bowl this past weekend. Because of that, the Utes know that any chance of a Pac-12 title likely requires beating the Trojans and winning out.

Riley spoke to the media following Tuesday’s practice of Utah week and touched on a variety of topics, including how USC’s team defense is leading to sacks, what Travis Dye brings, and how the Trojans can control their issues on offense.

Sacks Via Team Defense

USC leads the nation in sacks through three games. The 24 quarterback takedowns the Trojans have at this point is already more than USC registered throughout the entire 2021 season. The defensive front has been a big reason for that.

“They’ve bought into the notion that if we’re not in the backfield, we’re not playing the way that we want to play,” Riley said.

But it hasn’t always been about immediate pressure. And the secondary has had every right to celebrate a few of the USC sacks this season.

“Sacks are typically, unless you have just four elite, elite pass rushers, most sacks typically had a team defense aspect to it,” Riley said. “Everybody’s got to be doing their job. And we’ve been able to do that and have some explosive plays. And our pass rush has certainly gotten better as of late.”

Here’s a look at how USC’s 24 sacks shake out this season.

Tuli Tuipulotu leads the team and the country with seven sacks. Nick Figueroa logged two against Washington State and now has 3.5 this season. Rush end Solomon Byrd has three. Tyrone Taleni has 2.5. Linebacker Shane Lee and defensive lineman Solomon Tuliaupupu both have 1.5. Defensive linemen Stanley Ta’ufo’ou, Brandon Pili and Jamar Sekona, linebacker Eric Gentry, and nickelback Latrell McCutchin each have one.

How Raleek Brown Can Learn From Travis Dye

True freshman Raleek Brown looks like the next big thing for the USC offense. And Trojan fans likely would have seen plenty more had Brown not suffered an injury late in the season-opener against Rice. Veteran running back Travis Dye established himself quickly with the Trojans as a team leader and go-to force for the offense. Riley was asked following Tuesday’s practice what Brown might be able to learn from Dye in their time together.

“Consistency,” Riley said. “You all see it on Saturday. We see it every single day. There’s a reason why the guy plays like he does week in and week out. He prepares at an elite level. He’s very consistent. He makes very few mental mistakes. He’s very mature. He’s a very consistent competitor. And because of that, it shows up all the time on Saturdays.”

Riley said Dye likely didn’t have the knowledge as a freshman to be all those things and needed to grow into it over his career. He expects the same thing of Brown.

“It’s a great kind of thing for him to shoot for, a great role model,” Riley said. “If he can develop his game the way Travis has, he’ll have a chance to be a very good player.”

USC’s Self-Inflicted Offensive Lulls

There have been a few games and other stretches this season where quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense have looked a bit out of sync. He completed just 44.4% of his passes against Oregon State and 51.7% of his passes against Washington State. There were some slow stretches against both Stanford and Fresno State as well.

Riley was asked about the passing game being a bit off at times against the Cougars.

“We missed a couple of throws and we dropped some balls,” Riley said. “When you throw it 30 times. You take away 10 of those off the board that were either a missed throw or a dropped pass…I mean, we’re pretty good on the rest of them. There’s just not a whole lot left.”

Williams was 15-for-29 against the Cougars. Wide receiver Mario Williams was credited with two dropped passes (as well as a spectacular sliding touchdown grab). Brenden Rice and Tahj Washington also had passes they’d likely expect to regularly catch.

“Totally controllable on our end,” Riley said. “Missing things that we would expect to finish.”

Riley did say it was “fun” to be able to go into what he referred to as basically an inside-run drill for the latter portion of the game. The Trojans ran the ball on 16 of their 19 plays in the fourth quarter. The lone pass completion was a 10-yard throw to Dye on 3rd and 4.

Left Tackle Decisions

Bobby Haskins started at left tackle for the Trojans. Riley said heading into the game that he felt it was the most healthy that he and Courtland Ford had been at the same time. Ford saw some reps the previous week against Arizona State but did not come back into the game after going to the sideline following a holding penalty.

When Haskins was hurt against Washington State and missed a handful of plays, USC coaches inserted Mason Murphy at left tackle.

“Just felt like it’s the right decision at that point,” Riley said. “We’ve got some guys that have been practicing well. We’ve got some tough decisions to make there. We felt like it was, in that situation, was the right thing to give Mason a shot.”