Luca Evans (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — The calendar has rolled into December, and little has quite changed from last December, with USC regrouping in wait for a postseason that is really more of a preseason. After a frustrating season of setbacks and wrong turns, USC will finish right back where it started: In Las Vegas, up against a team from the SEC.
At the end of 2023, the prospect of playing in the Holiday Bowl seemed a lose-lose situation: another loss further damning a trying season, a win still falling significantly short of season-long hopes. But USC’s performance, in San Diego against Louisville, served a springboard for an offseason of hope and good vibrations: new quarterback, new defensive philosophy, new culture.
Little came to tangible fruition, in a 6-6 season this fall. But the opportunity to win back the same surge of faith in the program’s direction, still, awaits. But at 6-6, the Las Vegas Bowl isn’t much of a consolation considering where the 2024 season began. Now the Trojans will need a Dec. 27 bowl victory against Texas A&M (8-4/5-3) just to salvage a winning season.
It’s a poetic bookend dating to September, when a new-look USC team came away with the first true signature win of Lincoln Riley’s tenure with a 27-20 victory over LSU – before his third year in Southern California devolved into a mess of frustrating late-game collapses.
Much has changed, since that Sept. 1 win, suddenly vaulting USC for weeks into the upper half of Top 25 rankings. Miller Moss, who lit up LSU in his first regular-season start as USC’s quarterback, is transferring after being benched late in the season for Jayden Maiava. Receiver Kyron Hudson, who came away the star with two miraculous one-handed grabs, followed Moss to the portal. Running back Woody Marks, who ran in the eventual go-ahead touchdown over those Tigers, might have played his last game in a Trojans jersey after exiting with an injury in last weekend’s loss to Notre Dame.
Still, there will be plenty to watch for in Las Vegas.
Maiava will finish out a four-game bid for USC’s starting job in 2025, as Riley made clear on last week’s signing day that the Trojans would look for a quarterback in the transfer portal. The stage could be set, too, for a true breakout for redshirt freshman back Quinten Joyner, who ran for 478 yards on 7.6 yards per carry in backing up Marks in 2024. And linebacker Eric Gentry, far and away USC’s best defensive player through four games, appears set to return after concussions shut him down for much of USC’s regular season.
With the Las Vegas Bowl slated for a matchup between current or former Pac-12 programs and an SEC opponent, it seemed possible USC could draw Oklahoma (6-6), the narratives blooming after Riley’s departure from Norman three years ago.
Instead, USC lands A&M as an unmistakably stronger opponent that presents a challenge that is not unlike Notre Dame a week ago. Quarterback Marcel Reed is a dual-threat nightmare, and A&M’s secondary has limited opposing programs to a 53% completion rate.
In the days and weeks to come, USC will see a number of key players make decisions as to their bowl-game futures: chief among them is Kamari Ramsey, as a source told the Southern California News Group the safety is currently planning to play in USC’s bowl game despite a bright draft future. By the 27th, however, the Trojans might be auditioning a wide range of backups and youngsters against the Aggies – the same makeup that yielded such a positive bowl result in 2023.
Texas A&M had its own high hopes in the SEC this season, its first under coach Mike Elko. The Aggies opened the season 7-1, with a win over LSU and their only loss coming to Notre Dame. Like USC, they weathered a midseason change at quarterback, replacing former five-star Conner Weigman (who has since entered the transfer portal) with the dangerous Reed, a freshman.
But the season fell apart in the final month, as Texas A&M lost star running back Le’Veon Moss against South Carolina. The Aggies lost their last three SEC games to fall out of the conference race.
USC has played in the Las Vegas Bowl twice before, in 2013 and 2001. The last trip came under especially tumultuous circumstances. Lane Kiffin had been fired as USC’s coach midway through the 2013 season and replaced by interim coach Ed Orgeron, who left the team before the bowl after USC hired Steve Sarkisian instead of promoting Orgeron. Clay Helton ultimately led the Trojans to a win in the bowl game.
The previous trip, in 2001, was Pete Carroll’s first bowl game as coach. And it did not go as planned. Distracted by the trip to Vegas, the Trojans put up just six points in a loss to Utah.
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At the beginning of this season we were happy that Riley managed to claw back Bear the Spare, who after listless performance announced he was in the portal again. No loss there
I can’t understand team stars jumping ship unless another team is courting the player. If that is the case, isn’t that tampering? Two or three of the players now in the portal I would love to see stay, but only if they get more snaps. I would also love to see Alexander take Branch with him.
Duce…….next year is looking bad……..no way he signs enough folks to fill all these holes.
So far we have sat and watched USC lose player after player. Thing is it is going on almost everywhere, USC is not unique in this. Only team with little movement is Oregon, where everyone is already overpaid.
See my earlier post. There are only 4 teams with more defections in the Big10 than USC. It’s bad! Winners don’t lose players.
With respect, I’d modify you’re saying to, “Winners don’t lose winners.”
So true, good point. Losers who have winners on their roster will lose them. Winners don’t have losers on their roster in the first place.
Matt Zenitz — A source tells CBSSports and 247Sports that coveted UK DL transfer Keeshawn Silver is focusing on four transfer schools: UF, MIA, MICH and USC.
The 6-4, 335-pound former five-star prep should be locking in visits in the near future.
Larry Ellison’s wife will make sure he goes to Michigan.
MICH just beat OHIO ST in Columbus in a game for the ages. That might have something to do with it.
Good coaching, good team, good money. Unbeatable combination! USC may have half that.
USC Football Transfer Portal Departure Live Tracker: WR Duce Robinson is leaving Trojans suffer another big Portal blow Chris Trevino (USCFootball.com) WR Duce Robinson, 2023 Class, ranking: Five-star; No. 19 overall, No. 1 TE USC CAREER: Robinson was part of USC’s heralded WR class but signed as a TE prospect. The 6-foot-6 Robinson never stepped foot in the TE room and was instantly a WR He saw 11 games of action as a freshman with 16 receptions for 351 yds and two scores. He moved into a bigger role in 2024 but the numbers didn’t reflect more reps as he finished… Read more »
Oh my goodness, you don’t replace that talent every day. This is getting dire, there is clearly something going on among the team. I expect now the sharks are circling, picking at every shred of talent on the team. 2025 is shaping up to be similar or worse than this year. I honestly do not see how the team will be more talented than this year.
Trojan Portal Departures So Far (13):
QB Miller Moss
OL Amos Talalele
OL Gino Quinones
PK Denis Lynch*
QB Jake Jensen
WR Kyron Hudson
DE Sam Greene
TE Kade Eldridge
PK Garth White*
DL Bear Alexander
OL Mason Murphy
RB Quinten Joyner
WR Duce Robinson
*Non-scholarship
The players know what we all know and see. Coaches will be next when the job offers come in.
UCF approached The Brat. That seems about right for a non-starter, and for a coach who has never proven he can actually build anything.
Something is going on that is causing this mass exodus. I wish there would be a limit on the number of times a player could enter the transfer portal because this seems like unlimited free agency.
Good for players that if they get in a bad situation they can get out and are no longer stuck for their college days.
The Duce is loose! 13 now out the door! USC is now tied with UCLA for 5th most defections in the Big10!
Some bit of perspective in this portal season and NIL. Oregon and Ohio St reportedly have an NIL budget north of $20 million. USC appears to be around $14 million. A report today has SDSU “hoping” to get $1 million this year and maybe $2 million next year. Guessing no billionaires in the Aztec Alums.
I know a couple of very bucks-up self-made SDS guys. They don’t care about Aztec football and never have. I also know a couple of totally middle-class SDS people and they don’t care about Aztec football either. I’ve asked all of them about the relative unpopularity of SDS football and none of them had ever even thought about it.
Nobody cares about SDS football. It’s just not in their wheelhouse. San Diego wouldn’t sufficiently support the Chargers either.
San Diego’s such a great place to visit or live in, maybe they just have better things to do there.
Since Don Coryell left and Steve Fischer came in, SDSU has become a basketball school. Certainly doesn’t take the NIL budget compared to football. Any billionaires in that group of SDS guys you know? Seems what it takes for football is a billionaire benefactor.
I disagree totally. There are plenty of non-billionaires who help NIL significantly for the school of their choice.
But USC’s problems are just as connected to The Brat as they are to NIL. USC has plenty of NIL money to spend. But their head coaching (as well as some staff especially with Entz now gone) sucks.
Agree on that, one billionaire or several millionaires. The Brat and his staff are the problem.
Top 6 Big10 teams with the most out going transfers;
Purdue 19Nebraska 18Wisconsin 16Washington 14UCLA 13USC, Michigan, Michigan St 12Top 6 Big10 teams with fewest out going transfers:
Rutgers 1Oregon 2Penn St 3Northwestern 5Ohio St 5Indiana 6So, generally, the better you are the less turnover you have, the worse you are the most. Surprising stability at Rutgers and Northwestern, why?
Riley be like running backs? We don’t need no stinking’ running backs! I am beginning to think he’d actually try a scheme where two or three quarterbacks line up side by side, each calling signals and only the center knows who to hike the ball to. I thought hiring Riley was a swing for the fences, but it turns out he lets go of the bat mid-swing and it knocks out the guy in the on deck circle. They used to call Helton Gomer (as in Gomer Pyle) because he was such a humble hick. Now we have Homer (as… Read more »
Who would have ever thought it was even remotely possible that feeble Gentleman Clay would be 27-10 after three years at USC, and The Brat would be only 25-14. It boggles the mind.
Riley seems to be a air raid only coach.
All the games was winnable but he stuck to passes when running was a
better solution.
After awhile the other team knew they were going to pass and blitzed.
A good HC balances the pass and run to fit the situation.
Is Riley really a good OC?
Let alone HC
To answer your two questions, usc50, no and no.
https://usc.rivals.com/news/lincoln-riley-opines-on-financial-aspect-of-transfer-portal-decisions
If you were to read LR’s words without knowing or having seen the results of the past 3 years, you’d think he knows what’s going on and is completely in control of things. Such a huge disparity between his words and his actions/results. Building a program foundation through recruiting? Really?
It seems it is much much different than it used to be. The player loyalty is in question and because of that the coaching decisions are at time ruthless. Just like the pros.
One has to be careful when using the phrase “building a program” in reference to LR. He doesn’t know how to do that and never has. He never needed to do that at OU. Bob Stoops did it for him. At USC, LR’s just been a big talker who carefully guards himself, thinks he’s a true QB Whisperer, but hasn’t been able to build anything while numerous other CFB coaches have run circles around him. He’s really not much of a leader and is certainly no inspirational culture changer of any sort, which are both things that USC needed desperately… Read more »
I will say right now that, 12 months hence, we will wish we were able to achieve a 6-6 season like in 2024. Something like 4-8 is in our 2025 future.
I used to think 2025 would be when we joined the elite in the game again.
That idea suddenly seems like a bizarre Trojan football mirage I cooked up.
I’d love to spend a couple of days as a fly on the wall in the Trojan football offices listening to what these guys think and say all day long.
We all adapt our opinion when new info becomes available.
Who knows….maybe he brings in several top notch linemen and we do well…….do I believe that will happen…..no…..he’ll screw it up somehow.
Last year it was…..if he would just change that and change this……2024 could be good…..now……
If he would just be a different person totally we might have a chance. Its impossible. For every good move, he’ll screw up two others.
There seems to be this misconception that LR prefers the portal to recruiting. In ’22 he had 8 recruits and 20 transfers, quick try at talent upgrade. Since then he has had a total of 46 recruits and 33 transfers. For ’25 he has 21 recruits, doubt he will get close to that many from the portal. I don’t see talent acquisition or NIL as the problem. The problem is, for one reason or another, he can’t coach in games.
The team is being decimated by the transfers and the meh recruiting cycle. The kids don’t want to play for an average or sub-average coach who won’t develop their skills.
University of Chicago, here we come. 😡
Would you say USC football is at an extended lower point than any other time?
I honestly don’t know if I can think of another time when the program has seemed so embedded in mediocrity.
I must be overlooking some other dreadful time. When was it?
The only big deficits I see in the program is the HC can’t coach during a game and the Offensive staff needs upgrading. Otherwise things aren’t that bad. NIL is decent, talent is good enough, both can get better with better results on the field.
You’re completely overlooking some of LR’s poor game plans, non-existent strong culture installation, subpar overall program management, lack of leadership skills, and his blah, non-winning lack of appeal as a coaching personality to recruits, both prep and portal, in general. Oh, I forgot. Poor recruiting organization and lack of focus on local talent pipelines while out-of-state powerhouses steal the best recruits.
The game plan I would lump into coaching a game. The others exist for sure and maybe can get fixed with an offensive staff upgrade. He needs an Ed O type for OL coach and a run first OC.
I am not old enough to remember, but the ’40s and ’50s were pretty bad, right?
Wiki — USC achieved intermittent success in the years following Howard Jones’ tenure. Jeff Cravath, who coached from 1942 to 1950, won the Rose Bowl in 1943 and 1945. Jess Hill, who coached from 1951 to 1956, won the Rose Bowl in 1953. From 1957 to 1959, the Trojans were coached by Don Clark. Then came John McKay.
Yeah, but no Nattys during that time frame. That was what I was thinking. The CalExtention Campus football program had their single national football championship in the 50s?
Red Sanders coached at VANDY (1940–1942, 1946–1948) and UCLA (1949–1957) while compiling a career record of 102–41–3 (.709). Sanders’ 1954 UCLA team was named national champs by the Coaches Poll and the Football Writers Association of America. Sanders was inducted into the CFB HoF as a coach in 1996. Wiki — Sanders is widely credited with coining the saying, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing”. When asked about the UCLA–USC rivalry, Sanders said, “It’s not a matter of life and death, it’s more important than that!” He was the first “Wizard of Westwood” before that title was attributed to UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. As the Bruin HC, Sanders led UCLA… Read more »
Colin Cowherd thinks it’ll be either Mike Vrabel (best culture changer) or Brian Flores to next lead Caleb Williams and the Bears
There are a few OLmen in the portal that I hope LR is at least looking at.
who wants to get coached by Josh Henson?
I won’t be driving up to see the Las Vegas Bowl. $200 for a game ticket and $300 for a night at a nearby hotel is too steep for someone who lives on Social Security like me. $500 plus gas money is too much to see this team play under an inept head coach.
Just watched Vikings – Falcons game replay. Darnold was lights out. Great to see him doing so well, and his connection with Addison produced 3 TDs. Fight On NFL Trojans!
And next week on MNF we get Darnold versus Williams.
Vikings -7 in Minnesota
Vikings to debut all-new ‘Winter Warrior’ alternate uniforms in Week 15 vs. Bears
The Falcons have collapsed after a pretty good start for this season.
If Lincoln Riley thinks he can actually replace all these Trojan Portal defectors, some of whom were undoubtedly booted, he better make sure — and know — he can actually reel in these potential incoming Portal target kids.
There have already been way too many damaging swing-and-misses so far under LR.
Yes we need to realize some of these Portal declarations are due to coaches decisions and not player defections. We know the reason for a few obviously. Being in this situation and how tricky it all pans out, LR & staff will be under the gun they can succeed in the team patchwork as other programs are in the same situation and will compete with NIL bags as before. LR can only blame himself for the program still having to deal in this magnitude level makeshift mode after 3-years of bad decisions. Absolutely no excuse for it. And I trust… Read more »
There’s been a noticeable increase in USC fan concern as the “untrained eyes” of the Trojan Nation focus more and more on the deficiencies of Lincoln Riley.
Hopefully, Jen Cohen remains fully committed to being USC’s AD. I would imagine her job, at least as it relates to Trojan football, is endlessly frustrating.
Now that Carol Folt, the person who hired her, will soon be gone, you have to wonder if Cohen has been affected by Folt’s resignation and how she feels about being at USC under new leadership.
LR wanted players who were loyal to SC. Little by little he is getting them. All the good players are leaving. The question is when he finally gets a team full of totally loyal players who want to be at SC, will any of them be any good. Texas A&M is a really good team. We’re not going to beat them with reserves.
Oh Boy! More Trojans are dropping into the Portal like flies. USC potential star RB Quinten Joyner enters transfer portal Chris Trevino (USCFootball.com) — Joyner, the No. 2 RB behind Woody Marks this season, was primed to be USC’s starting RB in 2025 with the graduation of Marks. It would’ve marked a big shift in the roster as all of Lincoln Riley’s starting running backs in his USC tenure have all come from the portal; Joyner would’ve been the first HS RB signee for Riley to start. Joyner shined in spot play this season with a career-high 478 yds and three… Read more »
Joyner?…….this is starting to feel like a guy in Holland plugging leaks in a dam with toilet paper.
Found in the USC Football Offices Broom Closet
The way to be able to pass 100% is to drive all your RBs out the door.
Assuming that big back from Utah is coming … but QJ is a loss, loved that kid
Couldn’t believe LR thought he was Saban and benched QJ for unlucky fumble vs Minny, Saban did it because he had 5 NFL backs, only reason he did it
LR better have a grand plan for 2025
If you are trying to say that LR wants to set up a situation where he has to pass, I would normally say that that is a nonsensical statement but I’m not so sure anymore. It’s like saying that LR really is trying to destroy this team. It sounds like a nonsensical statement. But then I have to ask myself….if I wanted to destroy this team, could I do a better job than he is doing?
Does anyone know the story why he is leaving or are we making assumptions. We are now dealing with a professional system, nobody wants to win one for the gipper. Pay me more or I leave. Play me more or I leave. Pay me as much as the new guy or I leave. When does it end?
Tough to lose QJ but this is the reality of college football these days. Players care more about the money they can get than the school they committed to out of high school. Hopefully, Riley can find replacements in the portal as weill us use the players we’re bringing in to help us in 2025.
Players also care more about playing for the best coaches, the ones who teach them the most, establish the best relationships, win the most, and provide an inspirational culture that is conducive to success, development, team goals, and recognition. The Brat doesn’t measure up to a lot of other coaches these days, which makes bringing in replacement portal players and preps all the more challenging. USC needs a lot of help. Hopefully, Jen Cohen can sign up a football GM to relieve LR from some duties which he is not qualified to perform well. Time is of the essence here,… Read more »
LR is gradually becoming like Clay Helton. He’s losing his mystique. CH, at the start, had a good reputation and he was a pretty good recruiter.SC was 10th in recruiting in 2015, 2nd in 2016, 4th in 2017 and 4th in 2018. But then he lost whatever mystique that he had and towards the end, he couldn’t bring in the great players or the great coaches. Everybody started to see that this guy is not a great coach. That’s beginning to happen with LR. When he first came in, even Paul Finebaum said it was a great hire and SC… Read more »
It’s sad. But it The Brat’s own fault. He started off so undeservedly high, simply because he was coach of the heralded Sooners, as though that’s a god-given imprimatur of success. The ridiculously huge LR contract actually ended up hurting him because he never deserved it. America dislikes a phony, which is oftentimes how The Brat comes off to the press — and fans as well. Too bad for LR that the world is not so simple-minded when it comes to competing with the very best. You have to really earn your stripes to be sincerely well-respected across a broad… Read more »
I really do want to see this guy succeed but from what I can see so far, SC got hosed on this deal. This guy is not worth $110 million.
The problem I have with Jackson is that he doesn’t seem to have that quick burst of accellation that Marks and Joiner have. They get the ball, look for daylight and when they see it they burst through that LOS like a bat out of hell and before you know it they are in the secondary. Jacksons forte is that he runs hard but at the college level those defenders hit hard. Peterson has potential if they can hold onto him. SC has some really good players on that D-Line. Stewart and the guy from Canada look like they will… Read more »
USC lacks enough playmakers to be great.
I saw firm evidence of that time and time again this season, and we just lost another one in QJ. For the life of me, I have no idea why he would not want to be USC’s starting RB for a year. Maybe someone here can fill me in.
Has to be the portal, those guys know coming and then who is going …. the big back from Utah and another maybe
Joyner was one of last guys thought we would lose damn don’t like no matter who comes
One reason could be that he thought he could get more money in the transfer portal. Maybe he’s homesick. Let’s see where he transfers to. If he transfers to Texas university or SMU or somewhere in Texas then maybe he’s homesick. I can only think of one other reason why he would transfer.He was scheduled to be the next great running back at USC. These great players almost always want to play for a winner. Maybe he’s just convinced himself that, under LR, SC will always just be a 5-7,6-6 or7-5 team. So he decided to look elsewhere.
IMHO this is a telling transfer. QJ would have been the starting running back after showing how good he is when Woody went down. He probably was pissed that he never got a chance until Woody’s injury. LR is not a good manager of men and his lack of a personality doesn’t help in situations like this. On another portal note, LR got another QB transfer that has me scratching my dome. Dylan Gebbia a 3star comes in from that powerhouse North Texas via Hawaii. His claim to fame is that he took over from Miller Moss in HS when… Read more »
Trojan Nation these days under Lincoln Riley and his ridiculously burdensome contract which has USC in chains…
Allen it gets worse! Troy Polamalu says “No flakes here”…except LR.
Seriously? Care to provide a link? ✌
7:30 at night in Las Vegas… what could go wrong? I hope it’s USC playing and not some guys in Trojan uniforms who showed up for the swag. Speaking of swag I wonder what the team gets? I guessing a coupon for $15 off on any tee shirt at tee shirts world in the outlet mall. $100 free play on the slots at Lucky Lucy’s on the strip. Front row seats for the 11:30pm show at Circus Circus. All you can eat breakfast buffet at the Luxor. This is so prestigious I can hardly wait. Finally what was all the… Read more »
There will be no sellout on the USC side. These level bowl games are not up to our standard and our attendance will show this. With few exceptions we have not played well enough to win in games that don’t really matter. This is one of them. If Jayden continues to throw easy picks in this game, I can see where the brat may feel pressure to have a truly open competition among the QBs. He will not depend on the run, ever, so he will start whoever makes the least throwing errors next season. The aggies are usually a… Read more »
ho-hum.