O/NSO: From defensive recruiting potential to commitment reality edition

The Obvious: The wrap on Lincoln Riley has been that he is an acknowledged offensive guru whose teams score a boatload of points, win a lot of games, but his defenses have also given up a boatload of points in some of his biggest games, which resulted in losses. The Not So Obvious: Last weekend, USC’s defensive recruiting for the class of 2024 showed some eyebrow raising progress with the commitment of three 4-star prospects. For many USC fans, while they have tried to remain optimistic for the defensive future, it's understandable that they lost a good deal of faith, patience, and confidence waiting for an old school USC championship defense to reappear. Exacerbated by Lincoln Riley’s first defensive product in 2022, there was, however, a jolt of positive optimism last weekend that has raised heads in a hopeful direction, as there appears to be a growing momentum that there may be indeed a recruiting light at the end of that dark defensive recruiting tunnel.