Are Lincoln Riley, USC Trojans entering ‘reset’ year?

Head coach Lincoln Riley is entering his third season at the helm at USC — and one that features a lot of changes.

Is that change ultimately going to hold back the Trojans in the 2024 college football season?

On Thursday’s edition of “The Herd,” FOX Sports College Football Reporter Bruce Feldman explained why he has a bleak outlook for the 2024 Trojans.

“It feels like a reset right now. They’re three years in, and it feels like it’s kind of back to square one, perception wise,” Feldman told host Colin Cowherd about USC’s 2024 prospects. “[Quarterback] Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison and Lincoln covered up a lot of flaws because they were awful before he got there. … the culture of that program was toxic, and when Lincoln got there, I think there were steps that were taken, but there were still a lot of flaws within it that he inherited that were still there. 

“I think Caleb Williams’ greatness overcame a lot of that, but then last year, the personnel was awful on defense, and I think that was something that they just could not overcome. The offensive line was worse last year, and the schedule got harder, so I think that’s why we saw them struggle.”

USC is coming off an 8-5 season that saw it start 6-0 and then lose five of its next six to finish the regular season 7-5. Their losses came to Notre Dame and a bevy of then-Pac-12 powerhouses including Washington, Oregon and Utah. The Trojans closed out the regular season with a 38-20 loss to backyard rival UCLA.

USC is now entering its first season in the Big Ten, along with former Pac-12 rivals UCLA, Washington and Oregon.

A lacking overall defense has plagued the Trojans under Riley. After a pedestrian 2022 season, USC surrendered 438.8 total yards (10th in the Pac-12) and 34.9 points (11th) per game in 2023. USC hired former UCLA defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to run its defense for 2024.

Williams, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, put together a decorated three-year collegiate career, the last two seasons spent at USC. In his first season at USC (2022), Williams won the Heisman Trophy and helped lead the Trojans to an 11-win season that had them penciled in as the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff before losing to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Williams’ Heisman heroics under center and USC’s 2022 campaign as a whole came one year after the program went 4-8 and fired head coach Clay Helton after just two games.

Prior to venturing out west, Riley was the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners from 2017-21, racking up two College Football Playoff appearances, four 10-plus-win seasons and never losing more than two games in an individual season. Riley coached Williams in his freshman season at Oklahoma (2021) before the quarterback followed his head coach to Los Angeles.

Presumably taking Williams’ place under center for USC is junior quarterback Miller Moss, who had a legendary performance against No. 15 Louisville in last season’s Holiday Bowl, throwing for 372 yards and six touchdowns in a 14-point USC win. Miller has just 92 career pass attempts under his belt.

Additionally, USC lost running back Marshawn Lloyd (7.1 yards per carry in 2023) and wide receivers Tahj Washington (team-high 1,062 receiving yards in 2023) and Brenden Rice (team-high 12 receiving touchdowns in 2023), among others, to the draft.

“Can they be an eight-win team? Yeah. Can they be a real playoff contender? I doubt it,” Feldman said about USC. “They have good, young receivers. I think Miller Moss will play well, but the problem, I think perception-wise, is it doesn’t look like they’re recruiting that well.” 

USC’s 2024 recruiting class includes 39 players but no five-stars, as 247Sports ranks its recruiting haul 20th in the country.

Regarding the upcoming season, a neutral-site date with LSU, road matchups against Michigan and Washington and home battles against Penn State and Notre Dame are among the standout games on USC’s schedule. 

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