How does Lincoln Riley & USC regroup after Caleb Williams' departure to NFL? | ALL Big Ten Podcast

so Corey I want to open it up to you like this we're going to hit a broad angle here Miller Moss coming in replacing Caleb Williams are you a believer in Miller Moss are you more and this could be positive for USC either way are you more of a believer in Miller Moss are you more a believer in Lincoln Riley maybe getting back to his offensive program his offensive system to put up some points for USC and have them compete in the Big 10 that's what I'm hoping Lincoln Riley gets back to his bread and butter he calls things the way he needs to to to get the best out of his team and I think he's got away from that especially last year in the second half of the Season you know with Caleb Williams and whatnot and big shoes to fill arguably the best college football player to ever play um so Miller Moss has big shoes to fill but Lincoln Riley he's another guy Joey that like you know he has a pedigree of winning hasn't done that much are you staying hot seek Cory are you saying a little hot seat I I think he's I'm not gonna say Hot Seat but I do think if he has a bad year this year right you look you look at their schedule Joey right LSU that's going to be a tough game right there right Utah state is a tough game they always play everybody tough right Michigan Wisconsin Right Minnesota now we're talking about if they get that running attack going that's a tough game right there Then Penn State what come on then they got Maryland right could go either way Ruckers they're chopping wood Washington could go either way Nebraska UCLA and then Notre Dame to finish him out so they got a pretty tough schedule Joey and I think they need some of Lincoln Riley's Oklahoma magic to come to USC right because we didn't see much of that we saw Caleb Williams make some plays but Lincoln Riley has needs that explosive offensive tack that we were used to seeing in Oklahoma so hopefully he can get back more of that hopefully Miller Moss really steps up big but you know USC always recruits well they do have athletes but Joey we were kids USC were the goats of college football right Matt ler right Reggie Bush Brian Cushing all these guys Dwayne Jarrett uh Klay Matthews Jr Ray maluga they had studs on there right are they are they going to start to do that I know it takes time when a new coach comes in but when is Lincoln Riley's effect gonna gonna take over and that's what I'm hoping for this year they could have a season where they can surprise people but Joey the schedule it is a tough schedule it's some one of one of the toughest schedules I think in the Big 10 Cory man you're making some great points here you know when you look at it the second half of the Season kind of Mars a little bit some of the positives that they did have on offense last year they still finished 10th in the nation scoring or uh excuse me they finished third in the nation in scoring last year uh especially with Caleb Williams we talked a little bit about that offensive line you would have to think that that offensive line has to be just a little bit better than it was last year because it was so atrocious that even there was guys like Colin coward who says that he's super plugged into everything USC so at one point Lincoln Riley just decided to try and protect Caleb second half of the year and got out of his offensive philosophy just to protect the kid because he couldn't keep the off the offensive line couldn't keep him upright and as we saw Caleb Williams was scrambling for his life so maybe now if they approve the offensive line just a little bit get Miller Moss to play Within that system and then dial up from some explosive plays from one of my favorite dudes in the Big 10 especially from the Pack 12 coming over I love Zachariah Branch um I don't know if like the Devon Hester and me but I just love him on the offensive side of the ball and returning kicks you know maybe they've got something here and maybe that pack 12 offense of USC that explosive Lincoln Riley offense is enough to overtake some of these big 10 teams but Corey again just like the offensive line how are we not talking about USC's defense um which was a glaring issue last year 0 and four last year if their offense didn't score more than 42 plus points a game how is that even how is that even possible um you know can the linebackers rebound can the secondary show up I mean look you talk about that tough slate but Corey is there enough on defense or is it still a unit that's maybe in transition for another year and they still have to play these high-scoring games to win some games yeah I think we're going to see that I think they're a rebuild right now um lck and Riley taking over it's going to take some time uh Jamal Muhammad I thought had a pretty good start of the season last year had a bunch of sacks early on tailed off is he GNA step up this year right because they're going to need an X Factor defensively especially on that defensive line but yeah Joey th this is this is a year that even last year was just so uncharacteristic for what we're used to seeing from a USA USC team rather um I'm hoping they can get back this year I think defensively I just don't know if they're strong enough to to Really carry it right I think offensively they're going to have to put up some points because last year right putting up 40 50 points and still losing games like that's stainable dude yeah so I think this year is is a critical time because I think it's a rebuild I I I want to say that I think USC will be a lot better football team next year um but this could be a year where hey you know you have eight nine wins I think that would be a great season for them but I think it just it's a tough schedule Joey I don't even know if they'll get to eight wins I know I'm gonna push you on it over under 7.5 for USC I'm I'm GNA say under I am you know yeah I'm I think it's just this is one of the toughest schedules in the Big 10 um Caleb Williams leaving uh offensive line question marks right defense question marks um and especially playing LSU um early on and if that game gets ugly that's that could that could be you know week two yeah yeah Cory if you think about it too yeah LSU and then they get they get Michigan within the first month so they could be looking at two losses right there and if you roll even forward to Penn State they could be at three losses by October 12th and if you're at three losses then all of a sudden you know USC is a very esteem program they care about it so much out there three losses you're at that ceiling right there for cfp contention yeah can the wheels fall off a little bit with this team if those losses stack up early and that's why I'm worried that we might have an under situation on the 7.5 Joey if the the the the key game this year is the LSU game if they can start out the season with a big win at LSU right playing them in Vegas totally yeah right playing them in Vegas just the momentum even though they they graduated Jaden Daniels right um but if they can win against a great LSU team because they have a great defense they got all the surrounding Parts if they can win that game I think this is going to set their season up for Success if they lose that game Joey what I worry is they're gonna you put put their put their head down say and then Utah State's going to upset them right and then you look at the then they're going to have a bye week and then they're going to go at Michigan they're going to lose and then they're going to go to Wisconsin and lose honestly I I think I could go 0 and four real quick um so LSU I think it's a must-win game for them you know it really is to set their season up and especially improve you're coming into one of the best conferences in the country so week one is huge and and I'm with you look uh when we talk about Lincoln Riley and hot seat I don't really think it would get very probably above lukewarm but I'm with you though this is an opportunity for Lincoln Riley to maybe have his great great coaching season ever with the type of roster that he has or it could be something that's a little bit more of a transition moving forward