Tag: Trojans

National analyst declares it’s over for Lincoln Riley at USC

Is it over?

Entering December of 2022, the situation couldn’t have been going any better for USC football.  In Year 1 of the [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] era, the Trojans were headed to the Pac-12 championship game. A win over Utah in that game would have sent the Trojans to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.

Instead, Heisman Trophy winning quarterback [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] was roughed up by Utah’s defense. And despite a 6-0 start to 2023, life has never really been the same in Troy since.

After the unbeaten Trojans were thoroughly dominated by Notre Dame 48-20 in mid-October, they went 1-5 in the back half of the regular season. Now they enter the Big Ten without Williams, who is off to the NFL, and considered only a fringe top-25 team.

As a result, one prominent national college football analyst has declared it’s over for Riley at USC.

After a discussion with analyst Bruce Feldman this week, Paul Finebaum said the following of Riley’s time with the Trojans:

“Bruce Feldman said a minute ago that he thought they are looking at about seven wins, which is pretty dangerous when you are the USC coach and you have two back-to-back bad seasons,” Finebaum said.

“I mean, I think it’s over for Lincoln Riley, anyway. To me, he’s lost control. And once you lose control, you’re like in the middle of quicksand,” Finebaum added.

USC opens the year against LSU and trips to Michigan and Washington  await. The Trojans also welcome stiff competition against Penn State and Notre Dame in the Coliseum.

I don’t know if I’m willing to go nearly as far as Finebaum does with Riley.  Navigating the name, image and likeness licensing landscape and transfer portal in a new location is ridiculously tough.  However, the stock has certainly dipped with a difficult season likely ahead.

Not that Riley has been without fault at USC, but from afar it seems the  university and athletic department aren’t as invested in fielding a football powerhouse as they seemed to be not long ago.

Declaring it over is a bit strong but I’d expect nothing more from Finebaum.  It is safe to say USC is entering its third year of Lincoln Riley in a place they certainly didn’t expect to be at this point.

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A Late Spring Check-In With Trojans Wire

Checking in on Troy

We’re still a way away from the college football season getting underway but headlines are being made just about every day for some reason or another.

Over at Trojans Wire they’re getting ready for the third season of Lincoln Riley and USC’s first year in the Big Ten.

That is, if you still consider USC a football school.

USC has assembled what appears to be a women’s basketball big-three since the NCAA Tournament’s conclusion and will enter the 2024-25 season among the favorites to end up in the Final Four (as will Notre Dame).

These were only a couple of the topics on hand when Trojans Wire editor Matt Zemek invited me and Geoffrey Clark for a visit on the Trojans Wired Podcast earlier this week.  You can check out the episode below.

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Saints were on hand for Bo Nix’s big performance in Oregon vs. USC

The Saints were one of 13 NFL teams with a scout in the building for Bo Nix’s big performance in Oregon vs. USC:

Take a bow, Bo Nix. The Oregon Ducks quarterback dismantled the USC Trojans defense on Saturday night with a passing line of 412 yards and 4 touchdowns — having completed 23 of his 31 pass attempts without turning the ball over. And the New Orleans Saints were one of 13 NFL teams with scouts in the press box at Autzen Stadium, per ESPN’s Jordan Reid.

Now that’s not to say Nix was the only 2024 draft prospect to show out. Junior running back Bucky Irving ran for 118 yards and scored a 19-yard touchdown run to extend Oregon’s fourth-quarter lead, also catching 5 passes for another 43 receiving yards. Oregon defensive end Brandon Dorlus, a senior who weighs in at 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds (fitting the Saints’ archetype), had his fifth sack of the year.

Their efforts frustrated USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who completed 19 of 34 pass attempts for 291 yards and a score. He also ran for a touchdown but fumbled once and was sacked three times. Williams is still going to be a top-two pick once he declares for the 2024 draft, but he isn’t looking like a surefire first overall selection with North Carolina’s Drake Maye playing at a high level. Either of them could end up in the NFC South with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tightening their grip on a top-10 pick.

Maybe one of those prospects caught New Orleans’ eye. It would be a surprise to see them spend an early-round pick on a quarterback after investing so heavily in Derek Carr, but he hasn’t played well enough this season to rule out the possibility. They’ll go back after the season and study game tape of all the major prospects ahead of the 2024 draft; sending scouts to catch games in person is just one part of the process, and it isn’t much of a tell. We’ll see whether any of the Ducks or Trojans who competed on Saturday end up hearing their names called by the Saints next April.

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Notre Dame-USC: Lasting thoughts from Trojans Wire colleagues

A final look at ND-USC 2023 from @trojanswire

Notre Dame turned in its most impressive victory last Saturday when the Irish put a 48-spot on USC, winning 48-20 and dashing their biggest rival’s hopes of a College Football Playoff appearance.

Notre Dame is finally into their first of two bye weeks as they don’t play again until Oct. 28 when they host Pittsburgh.  With that in mind, we had a little more time to keep the book open on the USC game following things.

And quite frankly, given the result, we don’t mind doing so.

Matt Zemek is the editor of Trojans Wire and knows USC football incredibly well.  He shared a few thoughts following the game both on the state of things at USC and a few thoughts on what he saw from Notre Dame.

Here is what Matt had to say following the 48-20 rout.

Notre Dame blows out USC, 48-20: Instant Takeaways

A thorough butt kicking that was desperately needed!

After falling in embarrassing fashion a week ago at Louisville you wondered what kind of team would show up for Notre Dame as they hosted USC on Saturday night.  As it turns out, it was one that dominated on defense, did enough on offense, and came up with a huge special teams play en-route to a blowout victory.

The win puts an end to USC’s hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff, a feather in the cap for Notre Dame after what has been an up-and-down year through eight games.

Notre Dame moves to 6-2 overall with the victory.  Let’s discuss some instant thoughts from the 41-20 win.

Questions Notre Dame has to answer to defeat USC

Which questions do you have for the Irish on Saturday night?

Notre Dame football has the end of their top-25 gauntlet this weekend, as they host USC.

The Trojans enter the game undefeated, touting the reigning Heisman Trophy winner along with an offense that has been one of the best in the country. Their defense, on the other hand, has had it struggles and isn’t playing to the same capacity as the offense.

For the Irish, they have their own set of questions that they will have to answer to get back to the win column. Here are five questions that I view are the most impart and if Notre Dame answers them correctly, will be celebrating late Saturday night.

Notre Dame-USC: Staff picks for Saturday night showdown

Does Notre Dame get back on track against their biggest rival?

What a couple of weeks it’s been for Notre Dame.

A near win over Ohio State in what would have been the biggest victory for the Fighting Irish program in years.

A narrow escape at Duke to right the ship and move to 5-1.

A drubbing at the hands of Louisville to make even the most loyal of fans questions just about everything about the state of the Notre Dame program.

Oh, and now undefeated USC and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams are headed to town.  

What Notre Dame team shows up Saturday night?  One that will play spoiler to the rival Trojans or one that will fall to 5-3 and only set up more questions entering the off week?

The morale is not great with Notre Dame fans right now and what they could use more than anything to help build it back up would be a win over their biggest rival.  Will they get it?

Here is what the Fighting Irish Wire staff sees happening on Saturday night:

Chargers EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu making early impression: ‘A real bright spot for our defense’

Tuli Tuipulotu has been the Chargers’ best rookie early on.

The Chargers’ pass rush brought the heat on Sunday.

They pressured Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill 14 times and sacked him a whopping five times.

It was a collaborative effort, but rookie Tuli Tuipulotu made his presence felt. The team’s second-round pick finished with three pressures and a sack.

“He has made a lot of progress,” Brandon Staley said. “He has made a lot of plays through two games and has been a real bright spot for our defense. He continues to improve. He’s been a playmaker for us for two games.”

Tuipulotu saw an uptick in playing time as Joey Bosa was on a limited snap count e was playing through a hamstring injury that kept him out of practice all of last week.

Tuipulotu was often used in pressure packages with Bosa and Khalil Mack lined up, which created mismatches and stressed blockers with their speed and power.

Tuipulotu’s most notable rep in the subpackages came on Bosa’s first sack. Tuipulotu occupied and split the left tackle and left guard to allow Bosa to loop around freely.

But Tuipulotu had one-on-one opportunities, including on his lone sack. He was lined up off the edge and went speed to power against the left tackle, which he bullied into the backfield and then disengaged to get to Tannehill.

Tuipulotu was also credited with four run stops on the day.

The Chargers need to work on defending the deep passes, but it helps when the pass rush is a well-oiled machine to minimize the amount of time for quarterbacks to get rid of the ball. Tuipulotu should continue to be a vital part of it.

Remember that Tuipulotu just recently turned 21 years old, so the best is yet to come.

Notre Dame-USC: Weekly check-in with powerhouse Irish rival

USC: National champion threat or beating up on bums?

Every college football fans knows you can’t tell the history of college football without discussing both Notre Dame and USC.  It just so happens that this year’s Notre Dame-USC game has the potential to be the biggest between the two since at least 2005 and perhaps even longer than that.

Both teams are currently 3-0 and have some tough opponents before the October 14 meeting, but I feel safe in saying both sides of the rivalry are hoping for the other to be unbeaten when the matchup takes place.

We’re again checking in with the Trojans this week as Matt Zemek, the editor of Trojans Wire, was kind enough to update us on the 3-0 Trojans.