USC – Page 52 – Syndication Server

Alex Grinch and one other coordinator are the favorites for the 2022 Broyles Award

Alex Grinch, 6 games into the 2022 season, is one of two leaders in the race for the Broyles Award, given to the best assistant coach in college football. #USC

The Broyles Award is one of the better and more prestigious awards in college football. Nothing matches the hype and attention visited upon the Heisman Trophy, but among all non-Heisman awards, the Broyles is significant for one obvious reason college football fans can readily appreciate: The winner of the award is almost always part of a very successful team.

The Broyles Award, named after legendary former Arkansas coach Frank Broyles, is given to the best assistant coach in college football. This is almost always a coordinator, given the prominence and centrality of coordinators in modern football.

One guy who won the Broyles Award several years ago? Lincoln Riley, who won in 2015 as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops. Riley helped Stoops make the College Football Playoff.

This year, a Riley assistant is in the running for the Broyles Award. We discuss why Alex Grinch is a leading contender, and maybe the favorite, for the award. Find out the identity of the other man who stands most centrally in Grinch’s path, too:

Notre Dame-Stanford preview: Pac-12 expert talks Cardinal

Should Notre Dame be on upset alert this week and would Stanford really fire David Shaw? Our Pac 12 expert shares his knowledge.

You don’t have to flip the pages of your scrapbook back all that far to find a time that Notre Dame’s annual clash with Stanford was significant in the major college football landscape.

The Cardinal went to a bowl game each year from 2009, which was Jim Harbaugh’s third year on campus, to 2018, which was David Shaw’s eighth as head coach. Since then things haven’t gone as desired for the Cardinal as they’re just 1-4 overall this year and just 13-25 since the start of the 2019 season.

So what has gone wrong with Stanford, is there any hope in Palo Alto that they’ll be turning things around anytime soon, and would they really force Shaw, a coach who NFL teams were said to be kicking the tires on a few years back, out after what he’s accomplished?

Matt Zemek is the managing editor of our sister-site Trojans Wire where they cover all things USC. He also follows the Pac 12 incredibly closely and has insights to the rest of the league, not just USC.

Zemek was kind enough to take a few minutes away from his currently unbeaten football team to discuss how Stanford has fallen like they have and what to expect this Saturday.

Trojans Wire previews Utah game and its spicy plot points on national YouTube show

We joined @MarkRogersTV at the @VoiceOfCFB for our weekly #USC show. It’s #Utah week, and Kyle Whittingham is trying to plant seeds in his players’ minds.

It’s USC-Utah game week here at Trojans Wire. We joined our friend Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football for our weekly USC show on Mark’s USC channel.

We obviously had a lot to talk about during Utah week. We looked at the Utes and their struggles, noting how they fell short against UCLA. We explored how USC needs to approach this game on a tactical level, and we mentioned which players need to step up and give the Trojans more than what they have provided the team in the first six games of the season.

We also looked at Kyle Whittingham’s eye-opening comments about USC at the start of the week, and why the Utah head coach said what he said at this point in time.

We also noted that skeptics of USC can’t be allowed to change the goalposts in terms of shifting their standards or expectations for USC after six games. The team needs to continue to be judged according to preseason expectations. Get all of this and more with Trojans Wire at The Voice of College Football.

Subscribe to, like, and share the USC channel and all of Mark Rogers’ team channels at The Voice of College Football:

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Lincoln Riley isn’t getting enough credit for the job he is doing … because people still see USC’s flaws

Fascinating but true: People know Lincoln Riley is doing a great job, but they also see that #USC is not a finished product in 2022, which is why criticism persists.

Why isn’t Lincoln Riley getting enough credit for what is happening at USC? This is a question worth asking, when you realize that some college football experts still think USC will fall to the Alamo Bowl, and won’t even make a New Year’s Six bowl, this season.

It might seem that Lincoln Riley is getting plenty of credit, and to be sure, we can all realize the job he has done through six games. Yet, plenty of USC skeptics remain, and it’s true that the Trojans aren’t playing the very best football in the Pac-12. UCLA does look better, and Oregon is certainly putting up big numbers in the process of pounding weaker opponents.

If it does seem that Lincoln Riley is not getting full credit for what he is doing, let’s make this simple point: The offense is not scoring 50 points. There are flaws. There are mistakes. The engine is not roaring at full strength. People can see the potential in this team, and they want to see that potential become realized before giving Riley more credit.

The team at The Voice of College Football discussed this after the Washington State game. Check out the USC postgame show after the Utah game this upcoming Saturday night:

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Utah will be angry, fired up, and desperate vs USC; Trojans must match Utes’ intensity

The team at the @VoiceOfCFB discussed how angry Utah will be vs #USC. Catch the USC postgame show after every Trojan football game this season.

One of the key challenges of USC’s upcoming game against Utah flows from the fact that the Utes are coming off a stinging loss to UCLA. Utah will not want to lose two games in a row. It will not want to fall to each of the Los Angeles Pac-12 schools in consecutive weeks. It will want to stay in the Pac-12 race; a loss would essentially (though not officially) knock the Utes out of contention.

Utah figures to be very mad, very desperate, and very intense in this game. That’s a real challenge for USC, which will be walking into a hornets’ nest at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Can the Trojans handle the heat? Can they deal with the crowd? Can they deal with what will surely be a fired-up and energized Utah team trying to save its season?

These points were raised at The Voice of College Football. Check out the USC postgame show after the Utah game on Saturday night. The USC postgame show at the Voice of College Football airs following every Trojan game this season:

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USC first-half season overview: Trojans simply refuse to lose under Lincoln Riley, Alex Grinch

We noted #USC’s toughness with @TJAltimore @LBCTrojan and @TPrangleyJr at the @VoiceOfCFB. Catch the USC postgame show after the Utah game this Saturday.

It really has been something to see: USC not only winning, but winning without its offense playing great games. We knew the offense had loads of talent, but could this team win when the offense wasn’t humming along and playing its very best?

We have received a clear answer to that question through the first six games of the 2022 college football season. The job Alex Grinch has done with this defense has been phenomenal. Who would have expected USC to not give up at least 30 points in any of the first six games of the season? You would have found very few people who would have expressed that much faith in Alex Grinch. Yet, he has pulled it off. The Trojans aren’t just allowing fewer than 30 points, either; they are averaging fewer than 20 points allowed so far this season.

USC is getting contributions throughout its defense and throughout its roster. The team is far from fully healthy, but guys are stepping up.

Trojans Wire discussed this and related topics after the Washington State game on The Voice of College Football.

Be sure to catch the USC postgame show after the Utah game this Saturday, and after every USC game this season, with co-hosts Tony Altimore, Tim Prangley, and Rick Anaya:

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Mid-term season grades for USC with college football TV analyst Greg McElroy

The ESPN college football analyst discussed #USC and Lincoln Riley while also looking at Brent Venables and Oklahoma plus Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame.

ESPN college football television analyst Greg McElroy handed out “mid-term grades” for USC’s 2022 season. We give out a report card here at Trojans Wire after every USC football game, and you will want to see what we said after the Washington State game. McElroy offered his own grade for USC for the first six games of this season. He had plenty to say about Lincoln Riley, Alex Grinch, and the whole operation at Heritage Hall.

One of McElroy’s foremost insights is how Alex Grinch has been able to steer this defense from collecting takeaways in the first few weeks to an aggressive style which attacks the quarterback in more recent weeks, particularly against Washington State. Tuli Tuipulotu got three sacks versus the Cougars in Week 6.

McElroy also noted how cleanly USC is playing, having committed just one turnover and having lost zero fumbles in six games.

Does McElroy think USC is the best team in the Pac-12 right now? Find out in the video below, which also includes his mid-term grades for other teams led by first-year coaches: Brent Venables and Oklahoma, Brian Kelly and LSU, Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame, plus Sonny Dykes and unbeaten TCU:

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Lincoln Riley attends LA Dodgers’ opening playoff game

Riley and the Dodgers are both winners. They face very important games this week, and they will have to beat a Southern California-based rival to win a title.

Lincoln Riley faces a very significant week in his USC coaching career. He is preparing to take his Trojans to Salt Lake City for a big game against the Utah Utes. This doesn’t mean, however, that Riley couldn’t enjoy three and a half hours on a Tuesday night, a diversion from football and his pregame preparations.

By Tuesday night, the game plan has been arrived at. The film study sessions with players have been conducted. The groundwork has been laid for the rest of the week. An evening of fun and entertainment is certainly allowed.

Riley attended Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers won, 5-3. Game 2 is Wednesday at 5:37 p.m. in Los Angeles.

Riley threw out the first pitch at a Dodger game earlier this season. He has done nothing to diminish the USC brand thus far; precisely the opposite. Riley has USC unbeaten and playing above expectations in Year 1 of his tenure. The Trojans were widely expected to be a three-loss team. They haven’t lost any of their first six games and seem likely to win at least 10 games this season.

All for LA. Let's get it @Dodgers! #WinForVin ⚾️✌️ pic.twitter.com/2gaUOO40V6

— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) October 12, 2022

USC faces Utah this Saturday on Fox Sports. The Dodgers are scheduled to play the Padres in Game 4 of the NLDS on Saturday.

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10 key Utah players to watch when Utes face USC

USC fans need to keep an eye on a number of Utah players when the Trojans take the field against the Utes in Salt Lake City.

As the USC Trojans prepare for their battle against Utah on October 15, everyone can agree on the following statement: This is easily the biggest challenge of Lincoln Riley’s first season as USC head coach.

The Trojans face the Utes in a massive battle, although it would’ve been even bigger if Utah hadn’t lost to the UCLA Bruins last weekend.

The reigning Pac-12 champions go up against one of the favorites to win the Pac-12. Utah-USC has all the makings of a monster game, and the Trojans are traveling to Salt Lake City for this contest, making things even more difficult.

Here are 10 key players to watch for Utah, with some on each side of the ball:

College football rankings: Kirk Herbstreit updates his Top 6

Is unbeaten USC one of the six best teams in the country?

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit releases his college football Top 6 on a weekly basis, giving who his four College Football Playoff teams would be at the moment while sharing the top-two that are knocking on the door of entry.

Last week Herbstreit moved Ohio State to the top spot after Georgia struggled on the road at lowly Missouri. Did Herbstreit keep his six the same as a week ago or did he make another change or two this week?

What did Alabama’s narrow victory over Texas A&M mean for the Crimson Tide in Herbstreit’s rankings? Did the Buckeyes rout at Michigan State further solidify themselves as number-one in his eyes?

And did Oklahoma State stay ranked ahead of USC this week after passing the Trojans and gaining entry to the top six a week ago?