With so much pressure facing the Trojans, Fox college football analyst RJ Young said he believes this year’s USC team is a “sleeper” to win the National Championship. Maybe “deep sleeper” would be a better description.

“I think we should be paying attention to USC,” Young said on FS1’s “First Things First.”

“You’re returning Jayden Maiava at quarterback, you’ve got Lincoln Riley calling the plays, and quiet as it is kept, USC was the No. 1 offense in the Big Ten last year.”

USC Football HC Lincoln Riley on the sideline. LAT via Getty Images

Per official Big Ten Team Offense Statistics, explosive USC finished first in the conference for total offense (which returns an FBS-leading nine starters), averaging 458.5 yards per game.

While the Indiana Hoosiers did win the national championship and led the conference in scoring (41.6 points per game), they actually finished third in total offense averaging 442.3 yards per game, behind both USC and Oregon.

Jayden Maiava behind center at QB for USC during the Alamo Bowl vs TCU. USC blew a 10-pt lead and lost 30-27 in OT to finish 9-4. Maiava threw two picks. The Alamo Bowl loss was eerily similar to Lincoln Riley’s first postseason loss as USC HC, when the Trojans fell 48-45 to Tulane in the Sugar Bowl with former USC Heisman winner Caleb Williams. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Maiava is considered by many to be one of the top QBs in college football this season despite being plagued by inconsistent play and turnovers (10 picks), and will be playing without wide receivers Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane, who are in the NFL now with Eagles and the Ravens.

But Young added that the running back duo of Waymond Jordan (2) and King Miller (30) is the best Riley has had since he coached Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon at Oklahoma.

Last season, the Trojans’ defense crippled their team, ranked outside of the top ten in the Big Ten conference, giving up an average of 143.2 rushing yards and 207.5 in the air.

On top of struggling to find ways to stop opponents, the Trojans’ defense (which returns six more starters) was among the most penalized teams in the conference, averaging 5.7 per game.

Over the offseason, the team parted ways with former defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn and hired former longtime TCU head coach-but-in-limbo Gary Patterson, to what Young calls one of the best coordinator tandems in him and Riley.

“The marriage of those two coordinators, I am fascinated by,” Young said. “I think that is the best coordinator combo in the sport.”

Yahoo Sports

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