It was only Week 1. It was a non-conference game.
It doesn’t matter.
This was the biggest win for Lincoln Riley since his heavily hyped arrival at USC. The most significant victory. The kind of complete performance that has been an anomaly for the Tr🐻ojans.
U𒐪SC didn’t beat a national title favorite in Las Vegas on Sunday, let’s acknowledge. LSU entered the season ranked 13th in the country, having lost Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels and superstar receiver Malik Nabers to the NFL. The Tigers were projected to finish fifth in the💯 powerhouse SEC as a fringe contender for the College Football Playoff.
However, this was still a signature victory for Riley, a win over a quality program from the best league in the country, because of what it may mean for this USಞC team. It was coming off a dismal 8-5 season. This is a program that hasn’t won more than 11 games since 2008 — when Pete Carroll was still the coach — and is joining the Big Ten this year. Expectations were low, a season full of uncertainty. Caleb Williams was gone. A new defensive coordinator, D’Anton Lynn, was brought in. USC was ranked 23rd entering the year, the lowest ever for a Riley team. Remember, this is a coach who took over for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma in 2017 and proceeded to go 55-10 over five seasons, reaching the playoff four times. When he left for𝔉 USC, the expectations were a bit unrealistic. It was going to take time for the Trojans to be a title contender again, even if Williams followed Riley to the West Coast.
The last two seasons were disappointing. The Trojans piled up points, but couldn’t stop anyone. All they needed to do in Riley’s first season was win the Pac-12 title game, but Utah smoked them, and that was followed by a loss to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl. Last year was worse. After a 6-0 start, USC lost five of six games. The defense was a sieve,ꦅ allowing 186.5 rushing yards and 34.4 points per game.
That was the biggest takeaway from the win over LSU, the improvement on that side of the bal𒁃l. The Tigers were held to 117 rushing yards and 20 points. USC had a goal-line stand on the game’s first possession and held LSU to a field goal in its final four possessions. The defensive stars — linebackers Mason Cobb and Eric Gentry — were holdovers, although UCLA transfer safety Kamari Ramsey had a big game himself. It was hardly a surprise to see the offense put up 450 total yards under new starting quarterback Miller Moss. Riley is an offensive savant, developing three different Heisman Trophy winners — Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Williams — at the position.
But defense has always been his teams’ shortcomings. That wasn’t the case against LSU. Maybe the Tigers just aren’t very good, and in time, we’ll look back at this win as less impressive. For now, though, it was pretty signif♚icant. Lincoln Riley hasn’t had a better win since landing in Los Angeles.
Eye on the Hurricanes
I was interested in Miami before the season, and I’m even more intrigued now. Not only did the Hurricanes whip Florida in The Swamp, but the two teams they are expected to battle at the top of the ACC — Florida State and Clemson — were extremely underwhelming in defeat. It’s way too early to declare that Miami is the team to beat in that league, but that 41-17 win at Florida sure was impressive. New quarterback Cam Ward torched the Gators for 385 yards and three scores, and the defense produced eight tackles🐟 for loss and three sacks. The Hurricanes’ p🔯ath to a 7-0 start, leading into an Oct. 26 showdown against Florida State, is there. On paper, their toughest game was a Sept. 27 meeting with Virginia Tech, but that was before the Hokies lost to SEC punching bag Vanderbilt. Maybe the Oct. 19 trip to Louisville will be tricky. But Miami has a legitimate chance to equal last year’s win total of seven by Halloween.
Gator needs aid
It’s not too early to wonder about Billy Napier’s future at Florida. After going 11-14 in his first two seasons, this year has the potential for disaster. Seven ranked teams remain on the Gator❀s’ schedule, including visits to No. 15 Tennessee and No. 4 Texas along with home matchups with No. 1 Georgia and No. 6 Ole Miss. It’s hard to see this team avoiding another sub-.500 season, and would Florida really keep a coach with three straight losing seasons?
