First things first: We know that most of the criticisms of the 2022 USC Trojans in the offseason referred to the defense. We’re aware of that. We know that the defensive line is a mess and the team’s rush defense is a real concern heading into Week 3 against Fresno State, with a Week 4 showdown versus Oregon State just around the corner.
However, while keeping those points in mind, it’s still notable that when analysts downgraded USC and expressed skepticism about this 2022 team, one of the big central points made throughout the offseason was this:
“It’s a 4-8 team last year with tons of new faces on the roster which weren’t around last year. It’s going to take time to teach new guys the system and bring everyone on the same page.”
Most of this did refer to the defense, but some of this did refer to the offense. Yes, I do think critics of USC acknowledged that the offense was going to be very good, so I’m not trying to paint this as a reality in which critics completely wrote off the USC offense. They did not do that.
However, I do think critics didn’t fully grasp — or weren’t fully willing to acknowledge — that on offense, the “new roster” questions simply weren’t going to be an issue with Lincoln Riley, the coach, and quarterback Caleb Williams having a second year together after spending 2021 with each other at Oklahoma.
I think the Riley-Williams coach-QB combo was always going to be supremely lethal for opposing Pac-12 defenses, and I don’t think critics fully grasped that point.
If you saw how USC started the Stanford game — five possessions, five touchdowns, zero third downs faced — you might have realized how high the ceiling is for this offense. I don’t think USC’s critics expected this level of precision.
We tried to tell you this was what Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams are capable of.
During ABC’s broadcast of USC-Stanford, Kirk Herbstreit came out and said this:
"The Pac-12, they're not used to seeing this. They're not used to seeing the tempo, the efficiency, and the execution." — Kirk Herbstreit on the Lincoln Riley offense#USC
— USC Trojans Wire (@TrojansWire) September 11, 2022
This is what we told people throughout the offseason on this website and on YouTube shows and other national media appearances. This offense wasn’t going to be very good; it was going to be great. The pieces were going to fit smoothly as long as the offensive line stayed healthy, which it has. (It’s early, but no serious injuries have emerged.)
Thank you, Kirk Herbstreit, for telling a truth USC’s and Lincoln Riley’s critics didn’t seem 100-percent willing to admit in the offseason.
The defense is a problem, and we’re not ignoring that, but I do think this offense was underestimated by many.
No one should be doing that now.
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