USC takeaways: Lincoln Riley pushes talented Trojans to hone their killer instinct
Thuc Nhi Nguyen (LA Times) — Records fell, fans gushed, Lincoln Riley shrugged.
Despite USC delivering its highest-scoring game ever against Stanford in the last Pac-12 meeting between the longtime rivals, the Trojans coach didn’t indulge in any over-the-top praise after a 56-10 beatdown of the Cardinal on Saturday at the Coliseum.
Was the first half that ended in a 49-3 USC lead, the third-largest halftime margin for a Pac-12 team in a conference game, the best half that the Trojans have played during Riley’s USC tenure?“I mean, it’s probably the best half of football we’ve played this year,” Riley conceded begrudgingly.
The second-year coach immediately turned his attention to USC’s next challenge. After beating up on San José State, Nevada and Stanford at home to extend their win streak in the Coliseum to 10 games, the No. 5 Trojans play three of their next four games on the road, starting with Arizona State on Sept. 23 and No. 18 Colorado on Sept. 30.
“A team has to have a killer instinct to reach its potential,” Riley said. “We’re getting ready to go on the road a lot here in the next several weeks and to go on the road and win, you gotta be a killer. You do. That’s just part of it. And new challenges are coming up for us. I’m excited about how we’re progressing, but we gotta keep doing it and keep being ready for these challenges.”
Here are four takeaways from USC’s win:
Keep Rising
USC scored 50 or more points for three consecutive games for the first time and matched the second-best three-game scoring stretch in program history with 178 points. And the Trojans aren’t done yet.
“Our goal is to be the best offense in the country,” said running back MarShawn Lloyd, shown here stiff-arming a Stanford defender. Lloyd led the Trojans with 77 yards and one TD on only nine carries.
USC (3-0, 1-0 Pac-12 Conference) is first in offensive rating, per Pro Football Focus, and the No. 1 overall team in the country, according to the advanced statistics network. But three blowouts won’t satisfy the Trojans when the road through the Pac-12 is more treacherous than previously believed. Pac-12 teams are 20-3 in nonconference games. Arizona State’s 27-15 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday was the only defeat by more than one possession.
The Pac-12 has eight teams in the Associated Press top 25 this week with No. 23 Washington State and No. 24 UCLA making their season debuts in the poll. The Trojans still have to play five Pac-12 teams that are currently ranked — No. 8 Washington, No. 12 Utah, No. 13 Oregon, No. 18 Colorado and their crosstown rivals — and No. 9 Notre Dame. Then the Trojans will show what they can really do.
“I think in due time that there’s going to be a little bit more adversity that strikes us,” receiver Brenden Rice said, “and we’re really going to see what the Trojans offense is made of.”
USC’s defensive front is surprising itself with a newfound physicality through three games.
“I didn’t know it as much as this,” rush end Solomon Byrd said of USC’s aggressiveness up front. “You see it in practice, but that’s practice. We’re an extremely physical group and we’re ready to get after it and stop the run.”
The Trojans gave up 208 rushing yards to Stanford, their most this season, but 59 came on one carry by Casey Filkins in the third quarter of the blowout. USC is second in the Pac-12 in tackles for loss per game with nine, trailing UCLA’s 10.
Byrd, who notched three tackles for loss and a forced fumble on four total stops Saturday, has 4.5 tackles for loss and his fellow starting rush end Jamil Muhammad has two tackles for loss with two forced fumbles. The front’s aggressive mindset has created “a certain edge” that’s evident on all levels of defense, safety Bryson Shaw said.
“When they’re hunting like that, it’s a mentality,” said Shaw, who had a season-high five tackles. “These guys, you can feel it. Jamil, the older guys, they have a certain [mindset]. I’m going to go get this quarterback, we’re going to get off the field. I’m going to make the play. The DBs aren’t going to have to make the play because we’re going to make the play. They say that on the sideline and we believe them.”
Bear Down
Bear Alexander smashes away Stanford QB Justin Lamson’s pass at the Coliseum Saturday. (Ashley Landis / AP)
Max Williams got the interception. Bear Alexander deserves an assist.
The defensive lineman’s pressure in Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels’ face caused the wobbly pass that Williams easily grabbed for USC’s first interception of the season to end Stanford’s first drive. Williams returned it 39 yards. Alexander didn’t even get a quarterback hurry in the box score for the play, but Williams was quick to share credit.
“[I] want to shout out the D-line,” Williams said, “because when they get pressure like they’ve been doing, it makes our job in the secondary a lot easier.”
Georgia transfer Alexander has been a breakout star of the defensive line. He had two tackles and a pass breakup Saturday and his four quarterback pressures per game are tied for second in the nation among interior defensive linemen, according to Pro Football Focus.
While his progress during preseason camp was slowed by a nagging injury, he started to emerge in the weeks before the season opener as he could participate more regularly. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound lineman quickly blew away his teammates with his speed.
“His feet — I’m like, ‘How do you move that fast?’ ” said Shaw, a nimble 6-foot, 190-pound safety. “You’re big as hell moving that fast.”
Fellow interior linemen Kyon Barrs and Stanley Ta’ufo’ou help Alexander anchor USC’s defensive line. Ta’ufo’ou is one of the team’s unsung heroes, Byrd said, and notched two more tackles Saturday.
“A lot of D-tackles historically don’t get a lot of stats. It is what it is,” Byrd said. “But when you watch film, you see the knockback, position points, they’re just doing what they’re supposed to do. That helps us out a lot. Me and Jamil, we had strip sacks, but that wasn’t just us. You play it back, you see other guys doing their jobs, that allows us to do ours.”
Something Special
Zachariah Branch easily outraces Stanford’s Gaethan Bernadel and scores a TD Saturday at the Coliseum. (Wally Skalij/LAT)
With a second touchdown in three games, USC’s special teams unit is finally living up to its name. After Zachariah Branch returned a punt for a 75-yard score in the second quarter against Stanford, the Trojans nearly pulled off a second one before a holding penalty on freshman Duce Robinson wiped off Michael Jackson III’s 74-yard return. USC is averaging 34.5 yards per kick return and 19.44 yards per punt return, vast improvements from last season’s marks of 18.19 and 5.47 yards, respectively.
“You’re seeing a little bit the depth of this roster,” Riley said. “They’re excited because they know we got some dynamic returners back there and they’ve really blocked well and so it’s been a real group effort. I told you guys in the offseason that the special teams taking a big jump was going to be a big key for us and you saw that tonight.”
Having a talent like Branch certainly helps. The freshman phenom is the first Trojan since Adoree’ Jackson in 2016 to score punt, kick and receive touchdowns in the same season. Curtis Conway, in 1992, is the only other USC player to accomplish the trifecta since 1971, when records are available.
Even after burning San José State on a kickoff return in his college debut — which was his first kick return for a touchdown since eighth grade, Branch said — teams insist on testing the former five-star prospect by kicking him the ball. His teammates are surprised by the bold strategy, but they like how it’s working out so far.
“They don’t learn lessons,” Rice said. “But hey, they’re going to keep that wound open, keep going.”
latimes.com
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Two years ago today, USC announced Clay Helton was fired!!
Sark just beat the living crap out of Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa and it looks like he might finally have a team at TEXAS that can help him shed the longstanding, underachieving Seven Win Sark baggage. OLE MISS rolls into Tuscaloosa on Sept. 23 and Lane Kiffin will also get a crack at the man who totally rescued the careers of the two Trojan castoffs who met their L.A. Story shakedowns at the bottom of a bottle and on top of a Tarmac. This season has launched off to an incredible start with Primetime Fever so all-engulfing that both GameDay… Read more »
I bet the Jets wish they had Sam Darnold back now.
Deion Sanders: CU Getting ‘Absurd’ Number of Recruiting Calls After Unexpected and Wildly Impressive 2-0 Start Erin Walsh (B/R) — The number of players wanting to suit up for Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes has grown exponentially since the start of the 2023 season. Coach Prime told reporters Tuesday that Colorado is getting an “absurd” amount of recruiting calls following the team’s 2-0 start to the year. “We’re receiving so many calls at this point right now that it’s absurd,” Sanders said. “Just inquiring about what we do and how we do what we do, visitation and desiring to come on… Read more »
Wouldn’t wish the Jets OL on any QB.
A Rodgers lasted 4 plays before injured for season being sacked.
A QB will be running for their life with the Jets
Some amazing match-ups await.
Close to 10 million people watched CU/NEB in Week 2. TEXAS v ALA attracted only 8.8.
That’s insane.
I can’t wait to see USC play the Buffs in Boulder on Sept. 30.
Me too. USC by 24! Deion gets shown he’s not there yet on national TV. Caleb rockets to Heisman lock.
I’ve been to Folsom Field before and it’s a wonderful place to see a game. Ralphie is just an incredible mascot (Traveler notwithstanding) who is worth the price of admission. Ralphie generally has one pre-game run and another at the half, when she (always a female because they are smaller) gloriously stampedes at up to 25 mph around the field, semi-dragging her numerous handlers along the way before she runs directly into her trailer. Just a great way to kick off a game. I love your outcome prediction. This game is kind of like an extra bonus for us Trojans.… Read more »
About 20 minutes ago NY JETS Fan Blog ( Now That Aaron Rodgers got knocked out of tonights game ) >>>>>2023 NFL Season – Week 1: Jets vs Bills
Discussion in ‘Game Threads’ started by Petrozza, 59 minutes ago.
Suck for Caleb
If the New York Jets Jets Jets have the first round pick and I am Caleb Williams, I am returning to USC to try to win 3 Heismans in a row!
Will never happen, of course. I wish I had an extra $ mil or so lying around. I’d immed bet every cent of it that Caleb and his handlers will talk all kinds of negotiation stuff to get his butt into the NFL with who he wants. But the chances of him not being an NFL rookie in 2024 are completely nonexistent. Woo Hoo! Can’t wait to see him looking downfield for NFL targets as he manipulates the pocket. Until then, what a treat it is to watch this charismatic phenom do damage for the Trojans, and maybe even win… Read more »
Yeah, but going to the Jets is like going to the Falcons. Both franchises cannot have nice things. Bad career karmain both places!😂
Who would have ever thought Aaron Rodgers would only play four downs for the Jets before suffering a probable career-ending injury for the 39-year-old.
That’s almost more crazy than the earth-shattering disintegration of the Pac-12.
Maybe the Pac-12 just can’t have nice things either.
Really sucks for the Jets. They payed Aaron for one, maybe two years. And, got zip. At 39, there is no way he recovers from this and returns to play at age 40. He is now moving on to the booth.
I heard the docs say he will make a full recovery, but why would you want to risk it? I think he signed just to get back at Green Bay, anyway….
Aaron Rodgers:Jets::Mo Vaughn:Angels
Shocking. Man plans, God laughs!
Nicole Auerbach (The Athletic) — “Watching Oregon State and Washington State argue for a temporary restraining order to not allow the Pac-12 to have a Board Meeting on Wednesday & we have just learned that the outgoing schools wanted to use Pac-12 money to cover part of their transition costs.”
I doubt any school that is leaving anticipated what WA and OR States are doing. I hope they pull it off, only because I guess I feel sorry for them. I never had anything against them like I do Oregon and Stanford. ucla and Cal will be the two schools affected the most.
I hope they do pull it off and are able to keep all the PAC 12 money for themselves. I also hope they can work magic and somehow merge with the MWC but keep the PAC name. This is all going to blow up again sooner than later. There will be about 50 teams that play in their own league for their own NC and the rest will be left to play for something else, maybe an NCAA?
I wouldn’t mind seeing WSU and ORE ST keep a boatload of cash for themselves. They got left in the dirt and I can’t help but think they deserved better, even though they were always part of the problem too. Glad the judge ruled in their favor in this first legal skirmish. It’ll be very interesting to see what becomes of the Pac name and brand. It’s pretty darn significant. The Conference of Champions surely has staying power and big value after all these years, no? I’d like to see it continue, if for no other reason than as a… Read more »
Jets vs Bills just started. Normally, I wouldn’t be caring about Monday Night Football. But I’m very intrigued to see how much Aaron Rodgers has in the tank. He was easily in at least 40% of the coverage, one way or another, on Hard Knocks. Seems like Aaron’s reenergized about the game. Big surprise, huh? Update: Aaron quickly knocked out of the game with an ankle or Achilles injury on a sack. Carted off. He never even completed a pass. All those plans … Crowd looks and sounds like it’s at a funeral. As said by NFL writer Frank Schwab… Read more »
Judge rules for ORE ST and UW, says departing Pac-12 schools can’t hold meeting “A judge granted a request by Oregon State and Washington State for a temporary restraining order on Monday to prevent departing Pac-12 members from meeting until it can be determined who has the right to make up the disintegrating conference’s board of directors. “At a hearing in Whitman County Superior Court in Washington, Judge Gary Libey ruled that a meeting scheduled for later this week with conference commissioner George Kliavkoff and university leaders from 10 departing members cannot take place. “Oregon State and Washington State want… Read more »
This is an interesting game of “chicken” those two remaining schools are playing. Right now they need to get busy joining the Mountain West, but it is a joke that they would consider continuing the Pac-12 and absorbing the Mountain West, rather than the other way around. And, in any event, if OSU and Wazzu took full control of the assets, and voted them all to the conference or themselves, that would be a serious breach of fiduciary duty to the remaining members, that will not leave the conference until after this season. The P12 By-Laws may actually give those… Read more »
I have read that it may be in the MW’s interest to look at a merger rather than acquire. There is a lot of future money the Pac? will get as a Power 5 conference. Wonder if the By-Laws cover a complete dissolution of the conference. Lots of lawyer meetings going on behind closed doors till we hear.
Rock, Great point on the fiduciary duty, similar to that duties owed to non-voting shareholders. I obviously am very rusty at mergers and I have no knowledge of what the documents say, but I read somewhere that the NCAA allows a conference two years to get to the required 8 members. I do not know what the MW media rights says, but my guess is this is, in part, a game of chicken with those rights. It also has to do with the conference Bowl tie ins (a LOT of money is at stake). I have no idea what the… Read more »
I freely admit I am still recovering from Helton PTSD. Part of me wants to believe that what I am seeing (particular the last game) is real and this team is really special. Then I remember Helton playing Stanford at the Coliseum in Sam’s last year (2017). It was an amazing performance on O and decent performance by the D, with SC winning 42-28. After winning the 2017 Rose Bowl, I thought SC was about to have a special year (and it did, thanks solely to Sam, winning the league). But that team was special in the sense that it… Read more »
I don’t go to as many SC games in person as others, but I was at both the Stanford game with Helton and the Texas game we won in OT. Considering how those turned out, maybe I need to go to more SC games in person!
One thing about Riley that makes him different……he does seem to have the killer instinct……I watched Oregon vs Texas Tech…….It seemed they were waiting for something to happen that would allow them to win……it happened but they were lucky. I love Riley going crazy with the team up 49-3.
Taking no prisoners is a great approach.
The team could have really coasted in the 2nd half. The first string were standing around joking it up. Riley is screaming about special teams slacking, and wants a review on the Stanford TD like its 0-0. Way to keep team discipline. We are going to need those guys that played in the 2nd to be able to step up when the time comes, and it will come.
Famous Last Words “Obviously, we’re not at their level right now,” new STAN coach Troy Taylor said. “But we will shoot to be there, and we will continue to work at it. “We’re a young team, we knew that. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be a really good team, so we’re going to continue to work, and I can promise you that those guys will not go in the tank. They’ll be ready to move on.” The Takeaway Stanford: The impressive offense displayed at Hawaii last week disappeared against an elite opponent. The Cardinal appear to have a talent… Read more »
Remember when Helton said the same of David Shaw’s Stanford team?
2nd Heisman, here we come!
Through three games, Caleb Williams has passed for 897 yds, 12 TDs with no picks.
Question is how much better does he need to be over last year to win it again.
With this very strong-looking USC team, I give Caleb a 50/50 shot.
Agreed.
Utah, With its schedule, if SC goes 12-0 or 11-1, he is almost a shoe in. This is the toughest schedule I can recall. Can you recall a team playing 6 top 25 teams in a year, with 6 of 8 and no bye? I certainly cannot.
That’s how it sits now. A couple of those teams will fall off. It will still be a tough schedule, but not as brutal as it currently stands.
My only nitpick is that he did all that it in 2.5 games!
Rock,To be accurate, he did in 2.0 games. He played about 3/4 of the SJS game, about 3/4 (really less than that) of the Nevada game and 1/2 of the Stanford game.