It took longer than expected because the ACC teams were fighting over their bowl assignments, but USC will face Louisville on Dec. 27 in the Holiday Bowl at Petco Park. Not even Clemson, who many predicted would go to the Holiday Bowl. This will not excite many people, except Louisville fans. But this is a worst-case scenario for Lincoln Riley. Louisville is 10-3 and will … Continue reading USC vs. Louisville In Holiday Bowl

So the answer to whether Lincoln Riley can resist taking another QB is a resounding “no.” Riley visited Kansas State QB Will Howard on Saturday in Manhattan, Kan., according to Derek Young of On3. This is revealing on many levels. It shows Riley doesn’t think Miller Moss or Malachi Nelson are the answer next season. It would be interesting to hear what they think, especially … Continue reading USC Sunday Buzz: Lincoln Riley Visits Transfer QB

Now that D’Anton Lynn has been hired, the obvious follow-up needs to be brought up again. When does he start making defensive staff changes? If Lynn has any juice at all, and he shouldn’t have taken the job if he doesn’t, then he needs to start purging the defensive staff. And since I am bringing this up again, I might as well mention this: When … Continue reading It’s Time For More Staff Changes

One defense I heard about Lincoln Riley from some USC diehards (including fanboy media) was that he inherited a 4-8 team and won 11 games and it’s a long rebuild following Clay Helton. Well, look at Kalen DeBoer. He inherited a 4-8 team, has gone 24-2 and is 9-0 against ranked opponents. And he is going to the College Football Playoff. Next argument, please! Continue reading One Defense Of Lincoln Riley Falls Apart

I’ve been away much of today so let’s get to the point: D’Anton Lynn is a better defensive coordinator than Alex Grinch. The USC defense will improve. But this is not a home-run hire. This is not what we were promised. Where are all the people that said Jim Leonhard was getting hired? How will they spin this? Nothing against Lynn but USC could have … Continue reading Reaction: Lincoln Riley Hires A Bruin

Darwin Barlow entered the transfer portal yesterday. No surprise there. He was underutilzed and needed to get out of USC. The question is why didn’t Lincoln Riley know how to use Barlow? Was it because Barlow was a powerful, conventional back? The kind of guy who would get you a first down in a short-yardage situation instead of being an Air Raid back? The stats … Continue reading An Overdue Transfer