USC isn’t playing like a team which trusts its head coach and believes in the plan the coach has for the group every Saturday.
USC has listlessly dragged through the past few games except for the first half versus Colorado. For a month, the Trojans have drifted. When do we see the passion and commitment of a team which is all-in for its head coach and loves playing for its coach?
Notre Dame played for its head coach this past Saturday against USC. Fighting Irish Wire editor Nick Shepkowski said this to us:
“This team buys into Marcus Freeman. It’s easy to appear as a leader in front of cameras and during interviews, but what actually happens during the week in preparation? I thought this was a huge game in terms of what Notre Dame can be under Freeman. Win and feel good about the long term, lose and he’d have been 14-8 as a head coach with a 5-3 season mark. Instead with the buy-in being obvious, it quiets the worries (at least for a bit) of Freeman’s ability as a head coach.”
USC needs a strong statement game against Utah to similarly quiet the worries about Lincoln Riley.
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Oklahoma fans were right about Lincoln Riley, at least for this specific season.
USC assistants need to be coaching for their jobs against Utah and into November.
Lincoln Riley did not assemble an elite 2023 roster, which surprised us and a lot of other observers.
Is USC ready to win in 2024 with Miller Moss or Malachi Nelson at quarterback? Lincoln Riley has to be honest about how he answers that question.
Brent Venables is coaching Oklahoma far better this year than Lincoln Riley is coaching USC. It’s up to Riley to change that reality against Utah.