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USC Morning Buzz: This Easy Early Schedule Will Be Masterstroke Or Backfire

The first four games on USC’s schedule feature teams with a 3-10 record.

The team some analysts tried to plug early as respectable — San Jose State — lost to Toledo on Saturday.

Is an easy opening month of games going to benefit USC in the long run? Lincoln Riley probably doesn’t care as long as he gets victories.

But the schedule has an odd look to it because the five best teams — Notre Dame, Utah, Washington, Oregon and UCLA — come in the final six games.

Maybe it matters because a late loss hurts more for College Football Playoff purposes. Maybe you can say the Pac-12 can’t predict who is good from year-to-year when it makes the schedule.

But the fact is the Pac-12 put the teams who aren’t traditionally great in the first half and the more likely powers in the second half. Perhaps they thought this would be better for TV ratings. Who knows?

But it created an unbalanced schedule that will either see USC successfully run the gauntlet or you could get a situation where USC loses an extra game simply from the grueling nature of the second half of the season.

  • USC is a 32.5-point favorite over Arizona State according to BetOnline. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the line had been higher.
  • Lincoln Riley’s interview with Graham Bensinger was broadcast Sunday night at midnight on Channel 4 (KNBC). I would have mentioned it sooner but I had no idea until after the fact that Bensinger even had a show called “In Depth with Graham Bensinger.” Or that it was on Channel 4.

71 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: This Easy Early Schedule Will Be Masterstroke Or Backfire”

  2. Ultimately I think the weak schedule hurts the team from a timing and conditioning perspective. Maybe that is balanced out by fewer injured players but tough four quarter games are coming soon. Even Colorado will be a four quarter games as they will keep throwing the ball until the bitter end.

    I also think the QB play in the Pac 12 means each top team will take a loss or two. For USC, the ND game is a must win for playoffs as they will take a loss or two after that. No faith in Grinch here. At this point, Washington has to be the playoff favorite given the USC plays ND. Maybe Ohio St smashes ND and I change my mind.

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    1. Agreed. The Notre Dame game will represent the first contest in which serious people get to evaluate USC. It is a must win. No one will take USC seriously if we lose it. {The Utah game is probably a must win as well —if USC wins those two games it will firmly establish itself as a serious threat to take the NC from Georgia. As a matter of fact, if USC wins those two games it can afford to lose to either Oregon or Washington —just not both]….

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    2. Agreed. The Notre Dame game will represent the first contest in which serious people get to evaluate USC. It is a must win. No one will take USC seriously if we lose it. {The Utah game is probably a must win as well —if USC wins those two games it will firmly establish itself as a serious threat to take the NC from Georgia. As a matter of fact, if USC wins those two games it can afford to lose to either Oregon or Washington —just not both]….

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      2. btw, If we do lose one of the last 3 games, we’ll probably get to face the PAC 12 team that beats us in the Pac 12 Championship game…
        #…AndWe’llHaveAWeek’sRest&PlentyOfMotivation

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      4. The College Football Championship Playoff that is

        2023-24 College Football Playoff schedule, dates, TV channel, sites
        Rose Bowl (Semifinal) | 5 p.m. ET Monday, Jan. 1 on ESPN
        Sugar Bowl (Semifinal) | 8:45 p.m. Monday, Jan. 1 on ESPN
        CFP National Championship Game (Houston, Texas) | 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8 on ESPN

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      6. We will be in the playoffs if we win the Pac 12 Championship —with Oregon, Washington and Utah in the Pac whoever comes out on top goes to the semis….

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      7. For some reason Michael your second submission is the one I care to respond to-
        Notre Dame is a non-conference game; if SC wins the Pac-12 Championship it would certainly be worthy to be selected as one of the ‘Final-4’ even coupled with an ND loss

        Neuter Dame is bragging that it finally has a worthy quarterback to go with its usual stout line play, and with the Irish being a prospective slight underdog to its archrival the Trojans,
        they will no doubt ‘bring it all’

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      8. John —You picked the correct post to respond to —I’ve reread both and the second has an elegance completely missing from the first. I tried to incorporate more feeling and historical background into the latter –glad it showed!
        You’re right –the Notre Dame game will be a Big Challenge. Coach Freeman —who is a first rate coach —will have his team poised for revenge. And South Bend is never a picnic.
        ##ButTheyDon’tHaveCaleb

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      9. Cowardly, etc., etc.,
        Thank you so much for posting the playoff info —for some cocked up reason I can’t register “likes” for you [I feel like San Marino]….

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    3. I look at the season differently. We are playing alot of very young inexperienced players and players that are new to the team. This team was not ready to go against a good team at Week 1. The defense will get better over time – Domani, Raesjon, Tackett, Shelby, Bear and others – could all get much better over time.

      As long as we dont have a key injury, the back-half heavy schedule was probably important for this team. But it is brutal.

      Washington is the toughest opponent in my view, because their receivers will be hard to stop and our secondary is our weakness. Notre Dame might be a tougher game simply because it is on the road.

      As fun as it is to see USC romp over these teams, it doesnt feel like a real season. It feels like the season starts with Colorado.

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      1. CBS has USC in the Peach Bowl against Ohio State….somebody else, maybe ESPN, has us in the Cotton Bowl against, I think, LSU….
        Will Lane Kiffin crush the living shit outta Alabama and end Saban’s career?

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      2. I wonder what the teams in the “gauntlet” think about playing against USC. The Trojans are marching, and these upcoming teams haven’t seen anything yet. One loss my ass, run the fucking table and go in as #1 seed.

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      3. Gametv your right Washington is our toughest game because they throw the ball 85,% of the time. Their defense plays a base defense that doesn’t over pursue. We must continue on offense to spread the ball around. Please don’t deviate from the early preseason games. Oregon will be a shoot out n ND n Utah will be a defensive type of game. As long as we do what we are supposed to do we will be fine. OL must keep Caleb upright.

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  3. The question raised prior was “Does this early schedule prepare SC for
    “The Bigs?’-With one grueling match after another
    But in the NFL those tough-guys do it Every week
    So get used to it

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  4. Grinch’s defensive schemes involve late shifting, overloading one side of the line, multiple blitz packages, and disguised coverages. It is a high risk/reward defensive scheme. The upside is you have a lot of tackles for loss and the down side is the runner cuts back and has an open field or the defensive players are otherwise out of position. You saw that in the Tulane game. A question arises as to why you need to employ this scheme when your defensive line can now manhandle your opponent’s offensive line. You no longer need to assume the risk of the big play. Just go at them straight up for the vast majority of snaps. Grinch refuses to adjust the schemes.

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    1. Smart observation. You can’t change Grinch’s personality —he’s a gambler by nature. Other sites have mentioned the emphasis he placed on stripping the ball and jumping routes last season. He teaches opportunism instead of sound defense….
      #IfHeHadAll2StarPlayersThatWouldMakeSense…
      #…ButHeHasAll4StarPlayers

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      2. Agree. Why not just play a fairly basic, sound scheme that prevents teams from getting big chunks of yards over the top or on the edge. Let the offense donors thing and prevent shootouts that will bite us. I can’t stand Grinch.

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    2. I will throw out a rationale for what Grinch/Riley might be doing. These early games are pretty much assumed to be wins. So why not experiment in these games? Test out the ability of the defense to execute tougher assignments and higher risk strategies. Put guys in difficult spots and get tape on them so you can coach them up.

      Fans also need to realize that we are seeing the growing pains for some young players, like Domani and Tackett and Raesjon, that have a very, very high ceiling of play due to their athletic abilities.

      USC fans have been damaged by the Helton years. We cant enjoy a 56-10 blowout, we fester about the big plays that the defense gave up.

      Just be glad you arent an Alabama fan this year.

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      1. You could very well be right …..but…..the idea of playing a defense in the early games which you won’t be playing in the late games [the games that matter] doesn’t seem smart to me…

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  5. ASU isn’t very good and having 4 of their top 5 OL out plus using their 4th string QB doesn’t help.

    Wolf has a bug up his ass about Riley, so he’s driven to school, so his parking space was moved, BFD.

    The troubling thing for me in the Riley interview was his lack of drive to be great, he seems like a guy who is happy to just win the conference title, that shouldn’t fly at USC.

    Isn’t the ACC lucky to be getting Cal & Stanford ? They would have done better by accepting Wash St & Ore St.

    Graham Bensinger has had his show for 11 years, he’s 37, I see more pettiness from Wolf here.

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    1. Perhaps Graham shouldn’t have called the show “In Depth” —it sounds like the opening phrase of a tebow sexual slur….
      #StayTuned…
      #…TebowWillShowYouExactlyWhatIMeanBeforeTheDayIsOut

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    2. “The troubling thing for me in the Riley interview was his lack of drive to be great.”

      Could not disagree more. He left a successful Oklahoma program and came to USC because he could see that USC had a much higher upside. Guys that are complacent don’t do that. He wakes up early and puts in 20 hour days. Extremely detailed, always adjusting the offense to his talent and the defenses weakness. Complacent coaches don’t make adjustments. Places a premium on recruiting and personally evaluates the high school talent by going on recruiting trips. Compare Reilly to Chip Kelly, a guy who seems to lack drive.

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      1. Riley is a winner all the way. His record speaks for itself.
        I disagree about Chip, though. He’s a great coach who doesn’t try to dazzle reporters in post game pressers…cuz he doesn’t give a shit about them or their views or what they write….
        #HeOnlyCaresAboutFootball

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      3. I think Chip is a really good offensive coach too. One of the best. But I can’t get over his lack of dedication to recruiting. UCLA should have a top 15 recruiting class every year and yet they are north of 50. The transfer portal should supplement a team’s high school recruiting, not replace it. I think it is about Chip’s ego. He thinks that he can win with inferior talent.

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      5. Just because he says he doesnt think about his legacy doesnt mean he likes to lose. People dont always really tell you the truth. Look at a man’s actions, not his words.

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      6. 67 –Chip is on the record on the very subject you raise: “Don’t ask me to choose between a jelly donut and a National Championship”…
        #A”Sophie’sChoice”ForChip

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      7. @ gametv
        Riley has won nada, he acts like he’d rather be home watching tv with his kids than being a head coach.

        When he concentrates on defense, both lines and fires his incompetent DB & DC, maybe I’ll believe he cares about winning NC’s, until then……………

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    3. Riley is driven, but his mind is like way ahead of everyone else. I like the way he thinks, I just don’t understand it all the time until he proves it. Like the guys he recruits, etc.

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  6. D line definitely much better this year. We all talk about Bear and Muhammed, and Kyron Barrs is highest rated interior D lineman at USC, and is ranked second in Pac 12 among interior D lineman by the pro football focus guys.

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    1. Grinch has the pieces that were missing from last year’s defense — he just needs to hope everybody stays healthy —and, speaking of health, we go from contender to pretender if Caleb isn’t 100% in every game….nobody can step into his shoes if he’s out…
      #He’sTheStrawThatStirsTheDrink

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      1. Yes, Caleb is the X factor, looks like he will go down as having the best career record among college QBs (for comparison, and just looking at TD/INT, Joe Burrow had 78 TD with 11 INT in his career, Caleb has 75 TD and 9 INT through last week).

        Caleb is worth 3 TD per game, perhaps more. Maybe Scottie will come to appreciate him as the transformational player he is over the remainder of the season.

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    2. Bear and Barrs is an impressive combination. Can’t double team both of them. And Byrd and Muhammad have been much better than expected. Hopefully, Anthony Lucas and Braylon Shelby continue to develop as the season progresses and become real disruptors on the edge. (They have the talent) If that occurs, we should have a top 20 defense. Still concerned about the corners but the safeties look good and linebacker play has improved.

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    3. They have played NO ONE, I repeat NO ONE. Stanford lost at home to Sac St, SJSU to Toledo and Nevada hasn’t won a game in a year, ASU is shitty, UA is, Colorado will probably be prisoned raped this weekend, the schedule starts in the dump in South Bend, then we’ll see how good this team is from that game on

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      4. That had BOTH the prison rape and the curb stomp!!

        Loved the little brotha who kept him safe. Also gave him great advice about always making sure his woman left their visits very happy!!

        P.S. Gotta love Buddha’s new avatar…Joe trying to lick an ice cream cone that isn’t there! The same way he shakes the hands of people who aren’t there or calls out to dead people.

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      6. So Cal— Forgot that American X featured the entire list of horribles. Some very strong messages.
        [I love the fact the far left forever points out Biden has his lucid moments —it means he has the capacity to form legal intent and can be tried for treason].

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    4. Those rankings dont tell the real story. Bear is clearly the most disruptive force in that d-line. They have to double-team him and run away from him all game long.

      The fact that you didnt even mention Solomon Byrd tells you the potential for this d-line. The real work that remains on the defensive side is the linebackers and corners. I was pretty disappointed by the play of CRW, I thought he was the lock-down corner. Domani should be the lock-down guy by end of season. You cant teach his speed.

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      3. There again, perhaps the firts string will have to play longer to achieve the win, but fear not, they have the horses to pull through that “gauntlet”.

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  9. Don’t horse trainers run their horses in weaker meets to get their horse used to running? We put 49 points up on Stanford and the jockey eased up on the whip. I’m not as worried about the next game as I am the one before us. Are the teams easier to beat, or we getting better?
    Remember we got pounded by Alabama and won the Rose Bowl with Helton as coach. Helton! You know the guy who was up by 17 and then lost without covering the spread on Saturday.

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  10. UCLA should win against Utah Saturday. Ohio St will run away from Notre Dame because the Irish lack talented 2nd and 3rd strings. Plus, QB Hartman can’t scramble very far. USC should be favored against anyone on their schedule. Grinch is listening to the analysts this year and starting to make the game plans more simplified.

    Ole Miss is done. Georgia is overrated. Put your money on Washington for the rest of the year.

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