Timing is everything. Just ask Lincoln Riley about choosing this moment in history, this point in time, to change his life by leaving Oklahoma and joining USC.
Timing is so essential to the success of the USC Trojans on the football field this fall. There’s zero doubt that the Trojans will be a better team in November than they are now. There will be a lot of growth and improvement. Players are going to learn a lot from Riley. In 2023, USC should have a lot of seasoned players who are familiar with Riley’s system. The Trojans are definitely going to be a headache for their Pac-12 opponents next year.
This year, it’s still likely that USC will cause problems for Pac-12 foes, but there is this small shred of doubt which exists. It is connected to concerns about the ability of the defense to be good enough to keep USC in games.
What is the timetable for the USC defense this year? It isn’t going to be great, but it needs to attain a certain degree of basic competence by a certain point in time in order for the Trojans to reach their goals.
When does USC’s defense truly have to evolve? When do the Trojans have to get more from their defense? We discussed this with Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football.
Our weekly USC live show with Mark is on Tuesdays just after 1 p.m. in Los Angeles.
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