Lincoln Riley on USC's bye week accomplishments

The USC Trojans had a somewhat unusual early bye week this season. It came after just three games in which the Trojans were hardly pushed, scoring at least 56 points and comfortably winning each. But this past weekend off is the only break the Trojans will get before launching into a 9-game run that includes six teams currently ranked in the AP and Coaches polls.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley spoke Monday night during Trojans Live about how his team dealt with the bye week.

“It was a good week,” Riley said. “I thought the guys did a good job with their approach. Bye weeks can go a few different ways and it comes down to the team’s approach during that time. Are you out there to get work done or are you just punching a clock?”

The team took Friday, Saturday and Sunday off but pushed hard on the practice field through Thursday leading up to it. The Trojans were back at it on Monday.

“I think this team, there were definitely some areas that we needed to get better at,” Riley said. “There were some guys that needed to take advantage of the time to get healed up. But I think this team was very eager to get back on the field today.”

USC’s performance in all three phases seemed to improve in each of the three games this season. It would be understandable if the scheduled early bye was a disappointment to a team looking to showcase itself after playing three games largely out of the spotlight. This weekend will be USC’s first opportunity to play on the road as the Trojans travel to Tempe to face an Arizona State team that has been devastated by injury and if coming off a home shutout loss to Fresno State.

“They’re ready to go play again and honestly, I think they’re excited to go play on the road,” Riley said. “They’re very much looking forward to that opportunity here this week and over the next several weeks.”

Riley said the bye week served as a chance to attack two fronts throughout this USC roster. The added depth this season means more position battles across the offense and defense. Riley said that meant fewer players resting or taking fewer reps during this bye week compared to last year.

“We’re not doing anything so good that you don’t need to still spend time on it,” Riley said of finding improvement after the good start to the year. “And then there’s still a lot to build in terms of the continuity with these groups and getting them ready for the next challenges that we’re going to see. I think we were very comprehensive in the review. There was a lot to work on. But again, I think our guys’ approach was good. And the other thing that you feel, there’s still a lot of competition going on with this team. And there’s a lot of guys that are fighting for spots, fighting for playing time. That’s going to continue. It was not a kind of casual, happy-go-lucky type of feel out there. There’s a lot of guys that are straining, that are in battles and they know it. They’ve got to bring it every day or somebody’s going to replace them.”

But the bye week is also a chance for coaches to really push the younger, inexperienced players, including all the freshmen who haven’t seen game action yet.

“The opportunity to continue to rep a lot of these younger guys that you’re developing for, whether it’s some point this year, or whether it’s in the future,” Riley said. “That talent base is there. So every day there was a sense of urgency on our part, as staff, to make sure we’re creating a block of time to continue to develop these guys. Because there’s a lot of guys there that are going to be really good players. And we’ve got to keep their arc on an upward climb.”