The USC football recruiting outlook — while not bad — is still not good enough. The simple reason: Oregon is better right now. Until it becomes clear that USC is matching Dan Lanning in recruiting, the successes the Trojans might accumulate are not going to add up the way they want. USC must do better, and that’s part of the backdrop to the USC-Maryland game this Saturday.
Yes, Caleb Williams was not successfully recruited by USC. He basically came to Los Angeles from Oklahoma as part of Lincoln Riley’s move, a package deal. Yet, it still remains that Caleb Williams is from the DMV. You can be sure recruits in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., are all very much aware of USC football and will be interested in the Trojans’ game versus the Terrapins this Saturday.
USC football fans will say — and they’re right — that locking down Southern California, particularly Mater Dei, has to be priority number one for Lincoln Riley. That’s true. Yet, recruiting well across the United States will not cease to be necessary. It will still remain very important even if the Trojans begin to recruit their backyard better. This USC-Maryland game is, first and foremost, a chance for the Trojans to change the trajectory of their season. In the background, however, the recruiting angle of this contest can’t be entirely ignored.
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