USC Trojans vs. LSU Tigers | College Football Week 1 | Game Preview 🏈

week one has finally arrived which means real football and we have a real treat with this one USC at LSU on Sunday and to help us break down one of the biggest games of the weekend our friends Ryan Abraham from USC foot.com in Glenn West of go247 let's tell you a little bit more about the Trojans and the Tigers in this matchup there are a lot of similarities between these two squads outside of going by three-letter acronyms we'll talk about it more but despite all of those connections I got to point out the most insane stat this is the first ever matchup between Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly two guys who have won a lot of football we'll see who wins on Sunday but let's start the comparisons with the quarterbacks both teams having to replace Heisman Trophy winners so how do we feel about the plan for replacing each of them Ryan start us off with USC's situation never easy to replace a generational Talent Caleb Williams goes number one in the NFL draft and uh probably going to have a big year there it's not easy to do but you look at Lincoln riy he does have a track record of having a lot of success at that position he's had five starting quarterbacks so far now he has Miller Moss he'll be the sixth but four of those five were Heisman finalists and the one that wasn't Spencer Rattler still got drafted and uh he was replaced by a Heisman winner in Caleb Williams so I think the track record for Lincoln Riley has shown that he's able to kind of keep guys rolling different styles of quarterbacks he's had and had a lot of success he's the only head coach that's ever had three number one overall picks and he's only been head coach for eight years so I think statistically and just the the pedigree what Lincoln riy brings to the table you know you can do it will it happen though will Miller Moss be the guy he was an Elite 11 quarterback uh he was named the starter uh you know about a week or so ago and I think he's got the tools to do it high IQ he's definitely been a good leader on the team will he take that team to the next level we'll see but Lincoln Riley's got that track record and I think Miller Moss has the talent there to be able to do that yeah following up uh Jaden Dan is going to be a guy that you know I think is has a pretty unique story for this day and age of college football you know Garrett nus me is a fourthe guy who's been around the program now for several years has waited his turn I think there's a lot of people here in Baton Rouge that are you know hoping to see nus Meers has some success here in year one he's a little bit of a different case obviously Jaden Daniels is a guy who uh is very explosive and and you know was able to do it with his legs and his arm over the last year which is what helped him win a Heisman Trophy in 202 three uh with nus me you're going to see a guy who likes to sling that ball he's going to be a guy that I think you uh look at you know at the end of the season and wouldn't be surprised if he's up there with you know some of the top quarterbacks in terms of passing yards he's got a lot of you know experience weapons around him guys that are going to be asked to step into some bigger roles this year at wide receiver and at running back but uh he's a guy that you know I think his story is is going to be really shaped by his decision making this year a guy that can make all the throws but I think in his limited action that we've seen him throughout his career uh it's been that you know decision making that's been a little bit you know up and down at times so uh we we'll see this is a guy that I think has a lot of potential he's been kind of on the outside looking into some Heisman Trophy considerations kind of goinging into the year just because of LSU's offense and how explosive they've been over the years so uh definitely somebody to keep an eye on but I think LSU fans are excited about the NM area finally being here so those are the offensive U positions that we need to talk about uh defense that's another comparison both of them needed to fix their defenses in the off season and both teams they did bring in new coordinators both would like to have probably add more Talent than they were able to especially across the defensive line but they have who they have so tell me how each team's defense is going to be better Glenn you can kick us off here yeah I mean U really has gone full force here of adding a a Litany of new defensive coaches you know they made that staff overhaul back in January and Brian Kelly wanted to go after the big names and he got some of the biggest in the business hiring Blake Baker as his defensive coordinator uh you know Bo Davis Cory Raymond Kevin peoples just some of the position coaches that have been brought in that are very highly respected across college football so I think the biggest thing here for LSU is that they're hoping that this defensive staff can really rub off on these players you know in 2023 it was a group that was very much kind of just uh you know not not always knowing what they were supposed to be doing you know on the field and I think that there was a lot of communication errors last year um you they weren't really aggressive it was a very passive defense and I think the kind of high energy coaches they brought in at LSU they're they're hoping to really turn that around this year uh and they're going to be physical they're going to attack they're going to be physical I think definitely in the front seven uh is where you could see kind of the most Improvement here in year one uh but certainly you know across the board here they're hoping that this defensive staff uh can really rub off on these players and bring some high energy playmaking back to the Tigers defense yeah similar on the USC side uh lincol Riley you kind of thought defense would be more of an afterthought but he really went all in trying to improve on the defensive staff bringing in Danon Lynn from your rival across town at UCLA you know he took to UCLA defense that was in the around a 100 and they brought it into a top 20 kind of defense and he's hoping that he can do the same thing uh while at USC but not just there going out and getting some really experienced staff members a guy like Doug Bel who is a you know defensive coordinator at Houston comes in to coach your secondary Matt ens who won two national championships is the head coach uh at the FCS level comes in and he's going to be your linebacker coach and uh you know Eric Henderson comes in from the the LA Rams where he was coaching Aaron Donald to come in and Coach your defensive line so I think he's put a lot of resources into trying to make this a much better defense I think last year 2023 they tried to add the players and they still the same schemes and it didn't really work I think the the reason you would have optimism that USC's defense can be a lot better it's not just the schemes and the plays that are going to be called by Danon Lynn but there was so much confusion with USC players looking at their wristbands and the sidelines trying to figure out what's going on as the ball's being snapped I think the guys get it uh they understand what they have to do dentel is really trying to focus them on playing fast and knowing what their assignments are instead of being confused and being playing on your heels so I think the players going play a lot faster and that's why there's a lot of optimism optimism this defense can be a lot better it's crazy the similarities both of these teams taking defensive coordinators from fellow conference Rivals as well to beef up their defenses so we were sick of waiting for this game we actually simulated it 20 times on EA college football 25 it was a tight one LSU pulling out the win 12 times so that's a video game in the real game for each team Ryan you can kick us off what's the key to pulling out a win week one I think the key for USC is going to be I mean both teams obviously you got to get better on defense but I think USC cannot be pushed around they have to be able to play at the point of attack especially on the defensive side of the ball LSU's come out players have come out and said we're going to come and run the ball and I think LSU can control the game if you're able to run the ball get a lot of success on first down and you're in second and threes and third and ones and you can really have uh take a strangle hole and control this game and sort of take Miller moss and those wide receivers out of it a little bit so for me the key to the game is going to be the old adage we talked about in the 70s NFL whatever stopping the run I think USC really has to stop the run against LSU to have any success yeah I think I see this one being a game of the trenches uh for LSU on both sides you know we were talking with Will Campell the the All-American left tackle for LSU and he said look they're coming into this thing in Las Vegas and they're not going to Caesar's Palace they're not going to go there to have a good time this is a business trip and they're going to be expecting a fist fight from start to finish so uh you know this is an LSU team that has a lot of Pride especially on the offensive line they've got a veteran group there and I think they really have to open up some holes in the Run game up front you know some of the the big games that LSU's played in the last couple years uh one of the struggles that they've had is opening up the Run game from a running back perspective you know Jaden Daniels was always there to escape and pick up 100 yards himself but uh they weren't able to always get the ground game going with their running back so I think that's going to be a huge key for LSU on the offensive side of the ball and then defensively trying to make Miller Moss uncomfortable you know at the end of the day these are two quarterbacks that are you know firsttime starters and kind of in their first year is kind of helming these offenses so uh getting as much disruption in the back field getting as much pressure on the quarterback as possible uh is going to be where LSU strengths lie in this game uh because you know defensive line linebackers I think that's probably been the one strength that LSU's shown this fall camp and Harold Perkins is going to be right there in the middle of it to try to wreak some Havoc there on these uh on these offensive Playmakers for USC Ryan you mentioned a bit of a throwback I'm going throwback with this question what is the Monday morning headline going to be talking about what are we going to be talking about after this game is over I know both of you probably have to file much sooner than Monday morning so that's why it is a throwback Glenn kick us off what are we talking about Monday yeah I'll go for a headline five times a charm you know it's been four it's been five years since ls's won an opening game and you know they they've really got to get this opener I think you can really feel that you know from everybody that we talked to in the program it's been since that 2019 national championship year that LSU was won a game one so I'll go with five times a charm but at the end of the day I do think this is going to be a game where LSU is going to have to win in the trenches and and really get off to a really nice start to kind of give LSU some balance in that offense in the Run game yeah I think if USC get gets the win on this one it'll be the sophomore studs shot USC's four sophomore wide receivers everyone knows about Zachariah Branch but jacobe Lane I think he's going to have a a huge year for USC Duce Robinson 6 foot6 all you know plays baseball too but just a great wide receiver there and then maai leban maybe the the less Herald of those but he might have a huge year as well I think for Miller moss and this offense to go those sophomore wide receivers going to have to have uh some big games and I think they can they showed a lot in that bowl game against Louisville and I think they can do the same thing against LSU in Vegas this weekend I love it fantastic headlines and fantastic analysis from both of you we do appreciate it throughout the season you need to keep it locked into these two websites starting with USC foot.com of course all things USC and then you've got go 247 for everything you need to know about LSU these writers their entire cruise they've got you covered all season long [Music] oh