Why USC & Lincoln Riley are "not dynamic" enough to win Big Ten | Colin Cowherd College Football

welcome to the official YouTube channel for the Colin coward podcast go on hit the Subscribe button there you go right down there if you want to be among the first to hear my weekly takes NFL college football more right there well you know there are many that claim simply because of my proximity to the university of Southern California that I am a Trojan Homer well these claims egregious as they are also took place when I worked at another Sports company 3,500 miles away um I will admit that I was a pack 12 fan growing up and I've always rooted for the top dog in the Pack 12 to represent my region of the country where I was born and now live in USC uh Oregon and Washington have been the teams in my lifetime when they're really really good they can at least buy for a national championship um and so I'm just going to lean into it and give you a little 15 minute season preview I know this is primarily for you la peeps but for you big 10 fans now as the Trojans join the conference I think I have pretty good access to that program I've been talking with people today on the phone so I think schedules are really important for good teams not nearly as important for great teams I think Ohio State Oregon uh Georgia Alabama are just going to win a lot of games period regardless of where they're played USC will not be a great team they're too young offensively they're too thin uh offensively and on the D line to be a great team but let's start with our schedule they got several huge breaks Ohio State and Oregon best two teams in the Big 10 in my opinion not on the schedule uh Penn State Notre Dame to me arguably two of the top three teams on their schedule are at home and LSU neutral field but in Vegas closer to the West that's a break that is a scheduling break in fact the only part of USC schedule that's a bad break is the Nebraska game which is scheduled in between two two Rivals Washington and UCLA I think USC is better than all three of those teams but sandwich games are killers uh USC if you go to the last decade has often played very poorly before the UCLA game or the Notre Dame game so Washington and Seattle UCLA in Southern California right smack dab in the middle is a very clever head coach Matt Rule and a Nebraska team I think is underrated undervalued uh that's got that's got upset loss uh written all over it outside of that though a lot of the um go either way games Penn State Notre Dame um you know LSU they don't have to go on the road so that's a scheduling break and no Buckeyes or ducks and they are not as good as those teams I think USC is too young and thin on offense to be great and not talented enough uh on the defensive line to be great let's talk about the offense so they've got four sophomores who will get a majority of the Reps at wide receiver uh all of them talented uh Branch dece Robinson um lemon uh Lane unique body types some more possession than others Duce Robinson's a great baseball Prospect uh tight end hybrid wide receiver they put him out wide they're tough matchups a lot of different body types all sophomores all really really good four and five-star prospects not a lot of depth behind them but um I I think they'll get a majority of the snaps all are capable of beating coverage I think Miller Moss is very coachable they'll be Less ad living it will look more like a Lincoln Riley offense now what do we know about him uh he was dominant against a pretty uninspired Louisville team in a bowl game where those young receivers flourished um the offensive line again really talented a lot of four-star recruits uh Elijah paage left tackle uh they flipped him from Notre Dame at the very last second he's a red shirt freshman uh I think he's their second most talented offensive lineman to uh Manheim who will be one of the top five centers in the country he's moved around the offensive line I think he anchors it at Center I couldn't tell you the last time USC had a really highend n FL caliber first or second round Center been a while um and monheim will Anchor It Paige at left tackle is exceptional but young everywhere across that line it's sophomores red shirt freshman um some actual decent depth on the interior but most of it unproven but again these were highly acclaimed um prospects that USC beat out bigger schools or big schools big brands and so and I've been told the coaches like what they see up front but this offense is not deep it at running back talented not deep at tight end not that talented and not that deep so it's not going to be a dynamic offense like we've seen the last couple of years but I think it can be uh um at times a ball control offense I think there were times last year with Caleb Williams that the staff didn't want to get him hurt once the national Championship Was Out Of Reach um there were some calls they wouldn't make uh you know Caleb was running for his life breakdowns on the offensive line I can tell you the staff really likes the talent level of this offensive line they were greatly disappointed in last year's unit but again it's a really really there's a lot of stuff here uh body type speed Dynamic running backs it's just thin um and I've said this before Jim Harbaugh could double Brady hoax wins the first year at Michigan Brian Kelly could do the same at Notre Dame but those teams really didn't look like a Georgia or aama or an Ohio State until about year six for Harbaugh year six for Brian Kelly USC fooled a lot of people with Caleb Williams they were a play from 12 wins the first year they were not a they were not an 11 win team oh that may have been their record but it was a lot of Caleb Williams Jordan Addison and you know people in the 12 didn't know what to make of Lincoln Riley they had never faced him before he had a competitive Advantage um last year came back down to earth Miller Moss more than capable fourstar kid good body size decent arm uh willing to throw the ball down the field I think he'll be really strong but it will be a different offense maybe Les Less ad libing a little less risk-taking more of it in the pocket but I think they're going to score high 20s low 30s on on most Saturdays if you're ever injured check out Morgan and Morgan it's America's largest injury law firm and they are there for you over a hundred offices Nationwide think about that more than a thousand lawyers with over 20 billion that's a B20 billion dollar recovered for over 500,000 clients things happen in life unexpectedly submitting an injury claim with Morgan and Morgan is really really easy like when in the NFL is hard we know that quarterbacking in the NFL is hard submitting a claim is easy you're ever injured check out Morgan and Morgan their fee is free unless they win for more information go to forthepeople.com Colin or dial pound law from your cell phone Morgan and Morgan has a proven track record of fighting for you to get a full and fair compens ation if there's an unexpected accident in your life and I've had a few defensively the secondary due to transfers and good recruiting um is about as deep and about as talented as I remember it even during Pete Carol's great years Corner was kind of a soft spot you know Pete did so well at linebacker defensive line uh skill players offensively built great staffs Norm Chow Sark Lane kein but Pete's teams weren't great at corner this team's actually got size and depth and speed and experience at both safety and corner I think it's the strongest part of the team I really do the back end uh I also think they have some depth finally for the first time in years at linebacker um and a couple of their if you go to this past Year's recruiting class they'll be special teamers but they've got some young true freshman at linebacker won't get a ton of snaps in games they also have some commitments going ahead it was it was a unit that has been down at USC for years I think it will be a stronger linebacking core they do not have the size be Alexander has an NFL body he's hit and miss when it comes to effort um I I don't I think they'll have a a decent Edge Rush more Talent there I don't think they have uh the depth of the size of the talent on the interior I think they'll get pushed around a little bit by LSU in the opener by Penn State uh and by Notre Dame at various times in the season season but I think the biggest upgrade this to this entire staff is the defensive coaches whenever you leave a program Nick Sabin leaves Michigan State to LSU hey guys who's getting on the plane who's getting on that boosters jet or that school Jet and flying to the new job whoever gets on that jet on your staff you're not going to move their family for one year there may be guys getting on that jet that you wouldn't have chosen but Alex Grinch got on that jet as a defensive coordinator for USC and Lincoln Riley was disappointed after year one um suffered greatly in year two they have significantly paid for and upgraded the defensive staff I talked to two people that have been at practice this week and they said they think the defense especially early in the season will lead the team it will not be the offense the offense is Young the feeling with USC is the offense will get better as the season progresses but it will be the defense initially that carries the team and that's hopeful because Michigan is very early in the season in the first month they are really rebuilding that offense LSU lost two worldclass college receivers and an excellent number two pick in the draft Jaden Daniels at quarterback and this LSU program like USC can't get their defense right so facing LSU first game bit of a break they could be really good I don't think they'll be great early um and I don't think USC offensively will be a great team early that'll grow but I think what I'm hearing um and what I'm seeing at a camp from people I really trust is the defense has really come together it's been simplified there's been an elevation of coaching and I and I when I looked over the schedule today I said LSU is a coin flip uh they're favored LSU by six so let's say it's a loss I think they beat Utah State Michigan and Wisconsin and at Minnesota I think they lose to Penn State I think they beat Marilyn ruter and a close one over Washington Washington in a complete offensive rebuild though I do think Jed fish is a really talented offensive coach Nebraska I'll put that as a loss it's a sandwich game they beat UCLA lose the Notre Dame so I have four losses um eight wins and that's kind of that's kind of where the DraftKings in Vegas has them um I think the offense by the end of the year will be very hopeful I think the defense initially will stand out as a major upgrade um but I I've tried to pump the breaks for all the people that are critical of Lincoln Riley first of all there's a lot of good news at USC the collective may not be Texas or Oregon but it's around 13 13.5 million and if they if they beat LSU if it feels very good up to that Penn State game which is a toughy Penn State is to me the third most talented team in the conference behind Oregon and Ohio State um it's at home it's at the Coliseum but it's a tough one um you know that Collective May improve fans boosters donors can be fickle based on momentum of the program momentum of the program so you know I think there's the collectives good I think Jen Coen and Lincoln Riley have some symmetry now may have been bumpy early they have some symmetry I think the defensive staff has been upgraded I think uh the freshman class that just came arrived here in Fall Camp has some real size in the defensive front it's going to be a lot of special teams guys and red shirting but there's some promising size on the interior of the defensive line and I think uh I think Miller Moss is going to surprise people uh Miller's a guy that uh I had been in a conversation with him and a friend about a year ago and you know it was tough for him not that he was considering transferring but it had it had gone through his mind that he knew he wasn't going to play much at all last year and it was tough for him he was a a very B hooded local recruit but um I think he was smart to stick it out I think he's talented and I think he saw it against Louisville and again he's he's a risk taker he's he's not he's not going to play at safe he'll he'll let It Rip but I think the offense will look different it will look more conventional uh it will look a bit maybe more predictable uh less out of the pocket and that's okay I felt you know I said this with Matt leflour and the Green Bay Packers with Aaron Rogers it felt like a 50-50 split half Matt's offense half Aaron last year with Jordan love I felt like it was Matt lefleur's offense at the end of last year mid to the end of the year I thought it was Caleb's offense right right I thought the first year was a combination of Caleb and Lincoln I I thought there were times last year it it kind of felt like Caleb was doing what Caleb wanted to do and as we've seen in the preseason that's okay that's not Miller Moss um but I think it'll take a step back in terms of being Dynamic but it'll work and I and I I still contend that Lincoln Riley is one of the smartest offensive coaches in football uh is he a great culture Builder staff Builder that's yet to be seen But the expectations off that first 11 win season which could have easily been 12 if they hold the lead in the last 45 seconds against Tain Ray the bar Beyond reasonable expectations third year at Michigan Jim Harbaugh won in only eight games and they were losing to Michigan State and getting clubbed by Ohio State this stuff takes time the idea that the transfer portal was this magic Elixir go ask Deion Sanders Brian Kelly or Lincoln Riley you can improve first of all people that leave programs there's usually a reason mostly except quarterbacks um you know quarterbacks generally they're going to go find the best coach available the best receivers available a lot of rece a lot of quarterback moves in college football I get they're upgrading to better coaches and and better programs but a lot of transfers in the transfer portal um nobody's losing any sleep when they leave I mean if you're a USC fan look at all the players that have transferred out of USC how many stars did you lose super valuable players you know players transfer when they're not playing or when they're unhappy with their situation so I think there's limitations on cultural development uh chemistry um you know Jordan Addison and Caleb were obviously home runs who's the third best transfer they've had seriously so uh I think I think Brian Dion and Lincoln are all sensing that High School recruiting has to be the backbone of your program so there you go say it again again lose close to LSU close to Penn State Notre Dame and that sandwich game against Nebraska but I see eight wins don't get into the playoff but you'll feel good when the season ends the offense is Young getting better you got your quarterback and the defense finally has a legitimate coaching staff [Music] he [Music]