Lincoln Riley Says He 'Likes The Job' USC's Defense Is Doing After Weeks Of Atrocious Performances

USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley may be the most embattled 6-0 coach of the 2023 college football season. And while it might seem absurd to criticize someone with arguably the top offense in the country, an undefeated record, reigning Heisman Trophy winner who may have somehow improved and legitimate hopes to win a tough Pac-12 Conference, it makes a lot more sense once you look at his team's defensive performance.

USC, for all its offensive prowess, has been, yet again, abysmal on defense in Riley's second season as head coach.

According to S&P+, an advanced metrics rankings system, the USC offense ranks first. Its defense ranks 61st. That makes the Trojans the only team in the top 10 with a defense ranked lower than 26th.

USC's defense nearly blew a 41-14 third quarter lead over the Colorado Buffaloes and Deion Sanders a few weeks ago. A week after giving up 28 points to 1-5 ASU.

The Trojans followed those poor performances by allowing 505 yards of offense to 3-3 Arizona in a home game, allowing the Wildcats to go 8/16 on third downs and 2/2 on fourth downs. With tough matchups against Notre Dame, Utah, Oregon, Washington and UCLA upcoming, there's a lot of justifiable skepticism about the USC defense. Yet Riley this week defended the defense yet again, saying he thinks the team is "set up to play really well" in the second half.

Based on what exactly?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 9: Head coach Lincoln Riley of the USC Trojans congratulates his players after a touchdown against the Stanford Cardinal at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 9, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

USC's Defense Set To Test Lincoln Riley's Faith

After practice this week, Riley spoke to the media and defended the close call, three overtime win over Arizona by saying every team has tough games they have to overcome.

“A lot of people in the media had their mind made up that the first second there was any adversity this year, it was like, ‘Oh my God, they should have done this, and they should have made this change,’ and blah blah blah. And it’s not true,” Riley said. “Like, listen — you’re going to go through the whole year, you’re going to have a tough game. You’re going to have a tough quarter. Do you respond?

"We’re not hiding from the areas that we’ve got to continue to make improvement, and there certainly are some. But this is a much-improved unit,” he explained. “There is no question about it. I mean, this is a unit that, I think, when you talk about the top-end potential, has a chance to really grow and get better fast given some of the youth, some of the new people, some of the quality depth that we have, some of the injuries that we’ve had that have prevented guys from being able to continually get snaps, but there are a lot of good things happening on this defense, man. You don’t sit there and do what we’re doing in TFLs, do what we’re doing in sacks; like, there’s so many great things.”

Those positive stats, on tackles for loss and sacks, means he "like(s) the job" the Trojans are doing on defense, while acknowledging a need to improve.

"There's a lot of great things happening here," Riley said. "We will own the things that need to get better. People need to make sure they're seeing the other side of it as well. That's what we have been trying to say for a long time. ... we are venting a little bit of frustration with that to be completely honest. I like the job we are doing there. I think we are set up to play really well in the second half of the season."

Are There Actually Reasons For Optimism?

The short answer is no, probably not.

USC forces a lot of tackles for loss and sacks because their defensive line's one specific skill is pass rushing. But on run defense and defending the pass, they're well below average.

Up until this point in the season, the Trojans haven't played quarterbacks capable of fully taking advantage of their vulnerabilities down the field. And they've still been lit up.

READ: USC DB COACH WEARS PADS DURING PRACTICE AS TEAM’S DEFENSE STRUGGLES

But Michael Penix, Bo Nix and Sam Hartman are significantly better than anyone they've played this year. And that's not counting the potential return of Cam Rising from Utah.

It's hard to see the USC defense withstanding the second half schedule onslaught, and as good as Caleb Williams is, the clear deficiencies essentially keep every opposing team in the game. Regardless of the scoreline.

Obviously a coach like Lincoln Riley isn't going to throw his players under the bus, or publicly criticize his defensive coordinator in the middle of the season. But whether it's evaluation issues, scheme problems or lack of development, Alex Grinch and the defensive side of the USC program simply hasn't been good enough. Or even shown significant progress after an atrocious 2022.

Riley may be able to hire a more accomplished, successful defensive coordinator after the season. But by then it may be too late to not have wasted the last year of Caleb Williams by missing out on a Pac-12 or even national title. All because the defense isn't good enough.