Inside the Trojans' Huddle: USC - Minnesota review and a Penn State preview

[@antoniopana45]

Hearing Chris' take just pisses me off more. The blunders and bad decisions from a HC getting 10 Mil a year is nauseating.

[@jayrod1980]

We also come out like crap on the road… and Riley won’t even consider leaving a day earlier. He’s a stubborn ass.

[@oomagooma1107]

If there's a systemic issue, its Riley's stubbornness. His stubbornness to keep Grinch, his stubbornness to keep Air Raiding when the D is giving him rushing yardage, his stubbornness to change his gameplan mix to rush 60%/pass 40%. His stubbornness to not make coaching changes on the Offense or bring in an Offensive Coordinator. The better get un-stubborn soon. This is year 3 of his $120M USC Head Coach Training Program. Only question is what year he will get his Head Coaching diploma. For Penn State, I would dump the spread formations and an bring extra back or tight end to protect Moss if he throws down field.

[@chuckincharlie776]

Isn’t it wild that Zachariah Branch and Jeremiah Smith are the #1 WRs from 2023 and 2024, and the separation in skill between those 2 is night and day

[@Talkinsports91]

Branch is clearly overrated

[@ndks2207]

What’s gone wrong is Lincoln Riley is not the coach we thought he was. We lost to an unranked Minnesota team. It’s pathetic and embarrassing. How much longer will we tolerate Riley’s incompetence???

[@antoniopana45]

With Riley's contract quite a few more years of frustration.

[@bryans.7220]

@@ndks2207 WE HAVE TO FIND A SOMETHING BETTER 1ST. CAN'T MAKE THE MOVE AND END UP WITH SOMEONE WORSE. BUT I FEEL YOU.

[@carefulcarpenter]

Minnesota is far better than their early record and lack of ranking. Michigan won because Michigan had some official help. EVERYONE along with the Commissioner knew the onside kick call was a bad call. Then USC bought the bait, as you all are. USC received some help in the final drive by officiating. "Brandishing a weapon"? Call yourself wiser. PJ Fleck outsmarted Riley--- I agree.

[@carefulcarpenter]

And a sincere--- WELCOME TO THE B1G.

[@BrittCoin]

@@carefulcarpenterit was some help that USC got the “brandishing a weapon call” in their favor. It was not helpful that the refs overturned the stop/fumble on 4th and goal without conclusive video evidence.

[@arkansasceltic]

Another thing about Riley is I want to know what’s actually being done in practice. Because every Saturday the team looks so unprepared in the first half. Add to the fact that the defense is starting to show signs of the last few years of miss tackles and not being able to stop the run. To make matters worse is our pass rush is nonexistent. Jamil Muhammad never gets to the QB. Lucas is decent in stopping the run, but the defensive line is still too small. Kam Fountain has to start getting more reps and the pash rush needs to get better ASAP! And again recruiting HAS GOT TO BE BETTER!

[@RJ_Focused]

Air Raid coaches cannot help themselves and will stubbornly go to the pass game to their team’s demise.

[@NiechZyjePolska48]

Soon to be 3-3 and should finish 7-5 or 6-6

[@5555emerson]

Really nice to hear Soul's name. Thanks E.M.

[@pedropagan4227]

Zakaria is overrated.

[@dfdla]

This game will be decided at the line of scrimmage and that is why Penn State will win. #11 Abdul Carter is a first round pick and the other DE (#33 Sutton) is a 2nd round draft pick. The DT (#28 Zane Durant) is a 3rd round pick. Riley is really going to have to come up with an amazing plan to neutralize them.

[@Talkinsports91]

Chris is over riley you can tell.

[@TempeLane11552]

A bit late to the party...

[@Talkinsports91]

🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️​@@TempeLane11552

[@SportZFan4L1fe]

​@@TempeLane11552 I didn't even like Riley when they hired him.

[@TonyB-rv9qd]

It's Not Over! Parity is more prevalent on any given weekend. I agree with your analysts of the Minnesota game. Another great Podcast 💯✌️ And to Marc's point, this was a gut punch. SC will be fine; We know what we have to do... Fight -On🏈🙌

[@RJ_Focused]

This isn’t parity. This team consistently comes out flat and struggles. This is poor recruiting, coaching, and player development.

[@arkansasceltic]

The problem with Lincoln Riley lead teams are their finesse and soft while not being tough enough. The defense improvement from that side of the ball has been better by far. But the Oline recruiting and coaching is HORRIBLE. Hell recruiting period under Lincoln is below par, Clay Helton recruited WAY BETTER classes until his last few seasons before he got fired. And one last thing can Riley please STOP calling plays, he has ZERO feel for the game. We were running the ball at will against Minnesota but instead of running the ball and getting the 3 points if we got stopped on 3rd down and being up 10 points in the 4th he has to throw the ball which led to an INT because Murphy can’t block to save his life! I’m beyond disappointed and almost to the point where I want the Riley experiment to be over he is not ready to be an elite head coach at all

[@guysmithson1835]

Really right about the ol recruting

[@KamLife1]

I agree with Eric. How does the secondary have no interceptions and the defensive line Starters have no sacks. What the Hell!! SC has been missing 'that guy' IE stud for a long time on defense. Chris is right, who do you fear on our defense. Mascaranus Arnold is overated, sorry!!

[@Talkinsports91]

Teams don't need to throw the ball in order to beat USC. And USC doesn't have elite talent on the d-line.

[@smedleybutler8787]

The running back for Minnesota had to wait for his blockers to get a "hold" of the defenders. The running back was patience he knew they were going to get away with holding.

[@Talkinsports91]

Stop crying jesus

[@jayrod1980]

Nothing but holding in this miserable league whenever we are on the road.

[@Talkinsports91]

​@@jayrod1980USC was getting away with holding too. The officials don't call anything I'm this league

[@asianwoof]

USC's o-line specializes in blocking air, exhibiting excellent technique, albeit during inconvenient points during a game. They've eschewed the old saying, "find a guy to hit".

[@XXDSCOTT]

USC going 10-2 or even 9-3 will be a miracle.

[@frunkdup828]

Riley did not - throw 2 picks (both killed drives) - get called for the stupidest grounding penalty ever (killed drive) - get a devastating clock penalty (killed drive) - miss WIDE open receivers all night long (killed several drives) - fumble in the red zone (killed drive) - corruptly over turn call on the field without INDISPUTABLE EVIDENCE (conference admittedly the officials did have have indisputable evidence to do so) Did Riley make mistakes - of course - he decided to play moss knowing he can’t move with a line that can’t protect - he trusted Moss to be competent & take care of the ball - he allowed officials to fck his players

[@5555emerson]

This was on Flecks & Minnesota's Super Bowl. Chris knows it & so does a lot of us. They weren't running on the field beating a great majority of other teams.

[@5555emerson]

You 3 are lights out on so many points.

[@davidgardner8364]

STOP COMPARING THIS YEAR TO LAST YEAR....Please

[@RJ_Focused]

We’re seeing a trend.

[@TonyB-rv9qd]

Success is not measured by how many hits you can take and get up as a QB; being a dual threat is a major advantage... Defense at times overshoot.. Injuries to key players on Defense plays a part.✌️🏈

[@5555emerson]

Yes, EG not being available was the difference between a W & a L. Yes, Bear, Davis at lb & Lucas out late really hurt. The inside d-linemen could've used an extra quality body.

[@mxl_reps_951]

Knowbody has mentioned 1 thing; USC comes out the tunnel with no fire or passion before game's showing no fight or heart like their head coach like all these bad calls in 1st 2 road games he has not once got fired up in front of referee pleading his case hell he didnt even challeng the 1st down against Michigan i dont think i ever seen him use a challenge, also on road game's Riley is going the cheap route landing in on fri instead of Thursday which is just plain stupid giving his guys no time to get use to new time zone

[@SportZFan4L1fe]

Lincoln Riley scammed USC for $110+ Million! 😂 Lincoln Riley can afford NOT TO GIVE A FVCK for 5 lifetimes. 😂. That boy Jimbo Fishered the USC Athletic department. 😂

[@5555emerson]

Gosh, some of our players used to be great at blocking up field. That's unfortunate.

[@49erLA]

It's time to Play Jayden Maiava. WE DO NOT have the Oline to Protect a Pocket, Statue QB. We don't, We need a mobile guy thats a threat to run for a first down at Minimum

[@Louthelucky568]

Stop

[@49erLA]

@@Louthelucky568 You stop. You either don't watch games or understand Football 🏈.. 😂 Man getting abused out there

[@nan5715]

Stop you don’t understand football. Go listen to coach Rowe from LAFB, he played at USC and coaches now, so unless you played in the nfl he knows better

[@5555emerson]

Marc hit a grand slam on his opening remarks. The 3rd & 4 call belonged to Woody & the o-line.

[@frunkdup828]

We don’t “have to trust” this team - why? They’ve proven to not be trustworthy

[@hrpickinstuff]

Fun fact: In both loses USC opponents are 5-5 on 4th down . That's a 100% success rate. ** This is why the lack of pass rush is important. For example. It's 3rd and 4 on the 40. There is no pressure and Michigan's QB runs and gets 3 yards. Now it's 4th and 1 and they go for it and get a 1st down. Same situation: 3rd and 4 on the 40. USC sends the blitz, gets a sack now it's 4th and 14 on the 50 and they punt. Lincoln Riley is full of it if he doesn't think sacks are critical. Especially when in your losses, you have a 100% fail rate on 4th down. A sack on 3rd down eliminates 2 downs it takes them out of the opportunity to go for it on 4th a situation you haven't been able to figure out.

[@guysmithson1835]

This whole thing is so frustrating and we shouldn’t be smarter than the coach lol

[@frunkdup828]

How many Marc Kulkin offenses have been in the top five nationally? How about top five in HS JV football? Any?

[@teeoff406]

It’s difficult being the “quarterback” whisperer, especially in this league.

[@5555emerson]

Chris should've just went with Marc's score. Chris, you had your chance.

[@johnsierra9265]

Danger ! ……..losing to pop Warner teams , John McKay is spinning in his grave …..I’m just wandering how many times I am going to be turning off the TV set this weekend ? I think ….alot ✌️

[@5555emerson]

It would've been awesome if Eddie O was still there & thus went up against Lane.

[@SportZFan4L1fe]

DO NOT blame the Defense for the loss. Both losses are on the Offense. 24 points vs Michigan and 17 vs Minnesota. The Defense is holding opponents to 17 ppg. The Offense SUCKS.

[@KamLife1]

We need to use 12 personnel more (1 back & 2 Tight ends.) You will still have a 2 receiver set with that, possibly Lane and Duce and lets go with it. Have the tight ends chip the defensive ends and then go out in the route patterns after you slow the edge guys down. But those tackles need help, STOP leaving your tackles on an island! Come on Riley!!

[@barryfisher4734]

It seems that Lane just sort of disappeared. What happened?

[@rogerdodger9567]

I just hope Riley is not a B12 fraud…cooked he’s record VS garbage teams

[@PhatLvis]

Putting aside the fact that Kulkin is misreading Fleck - who in no way "called out" Riley, and was merely noting that SC is 2-dimensional, unlike Minnesota's previous opponent, Michigan, which could ONLY run the footbal (and, hence, did NOT want to throw), and how this disparity meant his team had to prepapre to defend the pass....Oy. This kind of misapprehension of reality is why there's wars, climate problems, rampant misinformation, strife, ad infinitum....Double Oy. It is the tiredest of old saws, which is why it's the First Thing everyone always says in a loss: "Shoulda just run" - and also that they should have just done the Opposite (George Costanza-style). Only here it's not actually the opposite. USC DID run the football, often - but we'll table that as well. Kulkin states SC Averaged 6 yds/carry, therefore they should have run on 3rd-and-four. But USC also Averaged over 5 yds per pass. So, According to Kulkin's "logic" (one hesitates to call it that), SC was GUARANTEED to make a first down whether it Ran OR Passed - because that's what it means, obviously, when your AVERAGE is greater than the distance needed on third down. Right? Holy Moses. Getting back to the Rational World, SC made 13 first downs on the day - 8 through the air, 5 by ground. Passing on third down conversion attempts, before Moss's hideous 4th-quarter forced throw to a covered Ja'Kobi Lane instead of an open Walker Lyons, SC was 4-for-6 (but really was 6-for-6 if Branch and Hudson don't miss easy catches) - certainly weren't having trouble converting with passes. Spouters of the ever-handy Shoulda-Just-Run cliche seem to be referring to SC's penultimate possession, where Moss's defeatist & dumb intentional grounding (ball didn't make it past the line of scrimmage) had given the Trojans a 2nd-and-20. This was a good time to run? In any event, a nice pass on the next play brought up a third-and-four. On this play, Moss might have scrambled, or thrown to a wide-open Lyons over the middle (as mentioned). But, as we've seen all too often, he made a panicked, bad throw to a pretty well-covered Ja'Kobi Lane. USC's offense scored half its points on the night passing. Many more possible points through the air were erased due to Moss's poor performance - not helped by a couple of missed catches. At some point, for any Riley offense to work, the QB must be expected to not stay a Statue in collapsing pockets, taking non-blind-side sacks and repeatedly throwing into pass-rushers' arms for tips and interceptions, or just forcing throws because the very Thought of scrambling is anathema (and we've seen that Moss is a nifty runner when wants to be). He also overthrew Two would-be TDs, and several wide-open would first downs - play-calls that Worked (good throws, of course, being another requirement - in Any successful offense). If, when all is said and done, the statement is: "USC is so Inept at passing that Running should always be its default choice" - well, this might not be incorrect, unfortunately; in which case, Riley will just have to ditch his playbook and turn the team into Michigan. But if this is a squad that wants to make the playoffs, it must be capable of running Any Kind of play, at any time, esp. so as to surprise opponents fully expecting one or another call.

[@SportZFan4L1fe]

Jonah Monheim Never should have moved to center in the first place. He should have stayed at Tackle and get a Center from the Transfer Portal.

[@PSUJIM]

Expecting USC's best this week with back against the wall. Should be a good one.

[@garrysinger9704]

Josh Henson should never have been retained as he cannot coach up the talent he has, and he has not recruited top HS players. He is the new Grinch and Riley keeps him around. Regarding the OL, is Eric Henderson overrated as a college coach? Coaching the Rams DL with great talent is a lot different. USC DL looks like midgets against these Big 10 OL too.

[@dt81819]

Marc Kulkin should've written an article criticizing Mason Murphy's play. Murphy proved last year he can't run block or pass block. With his size, he should be pancaking ends and blowing up LBs and corners! The dude's listed at 6"5" 315 lbs. and he plays likes a 5"10 WR that only wants to push people!!! Sit him down and put him on the FG and PAT units. On those units, he's perfect: Stand straight up and he won't have to shuffle his feet!

[@toddtabbaa1023]

I learned his kid, it was true then and it’s true now: inconsistent teams are not good teams. And the Trojans under Lincoln Riley are inconsistent.

[@bfigs1235]

USC wins 30-27 on a game winning FG. We finally win the TO battle & Branch finally returns a kick for a TD. Fight on! ✌🏻

[@Talkinsports91]

Ok the branch prediction is absurd lol

[@charlesgordon7212]

The OL takes years for the guys to jell. Bring them in as freshmen and pay top dollar, use the portal to fill in gaps as last resort. Defense prevents you from losing, the OL is were the real points are scored.

[@elvinware8033]

CLR is stubborn to a fault, and of course, he has an ego. That's why he's where he's at in life he believes his way is the right way,however, he needs an OC to help manage the game and certain in-game situations ,but his ego won't allow him to.

[@bryans.7220]

If we had a great O-Line, would we still be mad about the same thing and for the same reason?

[@jayrod1980]

No but Riley has had opportunities to win and Riley has been directly responsible for play calls late in the game that cost us both losses. We were taking care of Michigan and running well… it was time to run out the clock and Riley calls for pass and we give Michigan all the time needed to get the go ahead and lose. Against Minnesota we run at will… Fleck was daring Riley to keep running knowing he couldn’t go a drive without a bunch of passes. If they had continue to run until stopped this would have likely been a 10 point minimum win even with the putrid pass blocking. He’s too damn stubborn and just will not acknowledge his errors until it costs him games and his reputation. It took this guy 5 years too long to fire Grinch for crying out loud.

[@bryans.7220]

@@jayrod1980 EVERYONE SHOULD BE ACCOUNTABLE. 💯

[@nan5715]

Rewatch that 3rd and 4 and it was a good call. With that said pass protection was horrible so why chance it. So like most people I agree run the ball.

[@5555emerson]

Lincoln is such a great leader. I prefer his ways 100% more than Sark or Kiffin. Sark & perhaps Muffin are better play callers than Lincoln.

[@frunkdup828]

SC is OUT - they lost to Minnesota (awful team this year) - I blame Riley for trusting Moss - if you’re going to play Moss you must have him hand it off ONLY - so Marc would be right

[@SportZFan4L1fe]

Is Alabama out too? They lost to 2 loss Vanderbilt who lost to Georgia State. 🙄

[@hrpickinstuff]

Please look at this. We can all agree next year USC needs to fix some holes through NIL, but they dont understand how enormous these holes are going to be. Lets start with the defense. These guys are all seniors: DL Gavin Meyer DL Nate Clifton DL Kobe Pepe DE Jamil Muhammad DE Solomon T LB Eric Gentry LB Mason Cobb LB E.M Arnold CB Jaylin Smith CB De Carlos Nicholson CB Greedy Vance CB John Humphrey S Bryson Shaw S Akili Arnold On the OL you lose the 2 best players who are Sr's . Jonah Monheim C Emanual Pregnon OG Gino Quinones OG You will need to sign 5 new OL starters especially LT, RT and center and an entire DL with depth. Then if you do that hope Lynn and Entz dont take the UCLA, Florida, Cincinnati, Baylor, Arkansas jobs.

[@JamesClampitt-ju5jd]

We were winning the fight but got knocked out.

[@jayrod1980]

The issue is even Fleck knew what to do. Just drop 8 into coverage, keep grinding and Riley will give you the game because even when the running game is lights out, Riley will abandon it. I don’t even care about the defensive play. Without picks, it would even be talked about. We are doing enough on defense. Riley not scoring more than 25 points a game is on Riley. He won’t commit to the run EVEN WHEN it’s winning you the game! Even with this garbage line we could easily be undefeated

[@nan5715]

Kulkin in denial that defense gets a pass. Come on they ran crazy and the last drive looked like last year.

[@Talkinsports91]

He's just happy they aren't complete dogshit anymore

[@MC-fn7is]

Coach Riley is not paying enough attention to the teams he is facing. Sure the squad has some limitations but all teams have limitations. If the coach does not spend enough time looking into his opposition trying to find a way to play more to his teams strengths then you have losses. I was watching some of Riley's interviews from today and yesterday and could not understand what he was smirking at. Why do you have that smile on your face, when you lost??? Furthermore, no one should be pandering to this guy, he needs to be called out and held accountable for failing to lead and prepare his team for what should be achievable victories. If he is as stubborn as some say maybe he should be out looking for another job. Its sickening to hear him respond like a politician, spin here, spin there, spin everywhere, this isn't politics and he needs to be doing a better job leading the team. He needs to do it and prove he is capable. Him first and then align the coaching staff and the team to a common goal- WIN...

[@dalton1473]

As psu fan this homerism is so delusional it’s gonna hurt more. Better front 7 than anything you’ve seen. Better running game than Michigan and we can actually throw the ball. You’re praying on jet lag more than anything

[@eddievalencia464]

Bench miller moss he aint got legs to move...this is like when we had max browne

[@SportZFan4L1fe]

Akili Arnold is a liability. Yes he's experienced but that's about it. Christian Pierce and Zion Branch should be playing.

[@Jomari702]

Jayden time.

[@MC-fn7is]

Let me clarify, Coach Riley the other teams don't seem to be fooled or confused by your schemes. In fact it seems like they know what you're going to do. Apparently they are studying you but not the other way around.

[@JamesClampitt-ju5jd]

Penn State is a good team and I hate to say it but we are an average team. We could be a good team if we ran the ball but Lincoln likes throwing the ball.

[@bfigs1235]

Watched the whole game & then relooked at the play by play, I don’t really see the narrative of LR just completely abandoning the run. On the drive where they had the 1st INT it went P/R/R/P/R/R/R/P-INT, where the Pass on 3rd & 4 against a Cover 1 is a good call even had the running back chip unfortunately to the wrong side because our RT got blown by on a 3 man rush, so good call bad execution. Following drive 1st play was a pass with the intentional grounding penalty forcing them to pass the next 2 plays. Then last drive only had 50 seconds so needed to pass every play. You take away the last drive and the play calling was essentially perfectly balanced 31 passes 28 runs & I believe this balanced play calling is what made the run game so successful ypc wise since the D couldn’t fully commit. Hindsight’s 20/20 when being able to criticize LR for passing on 3 & 4 or 1st & 10 where the penalty happened but I don’t think they were bad calls or that he called a bad game Saturday just poor execution, dropped passes & too many turnovers all in plus territory. Yes, those all need to get fixed in practice & get the team more focused & ready to play every week, but I think a lot of people are overreacting to LR’s play calling.

[@nan5715]

I agree, I think they are just zeroing in on that 3rd and 4. I agree on that single play but the narrative of they stopped running isn’t true.

[@bfigs1235]

@@nan5715 yeah I can understand the logic of wanting us to run the ball there but if we run it then run again on 4th down & don’t get it everyone’s yelling at LR for being to predictable or calling the wrong run play or something else haha

[@barryfisher4734]

So we won one you expected us to lose (LSU) and we lot one you expected to win. Revisit the expectations you had before the season started and chill. We have quite a few injured players on defense.

[@antoniopana45]

@@barryfisher4734 Defense we can understand first year coaches and bunch players working for the first time. However the offensive problems due to lack of Offensive Line depth and competition is glaring problem. The Two Tackle positions and right guard are manned by default, we can't expect 3Star redshirt freshmen to provide competition.

[@scotthillen3617]

Sad team sad coach. Need a new start. This is nonsense

[@SportZFan4L1fe]

You guys are NOT good analysts. You should have seen this Loss coming. Minnesota runs the ball. That's just what they do. It's a Night game On The Road, so the environment was going to be very difficult. And USC started off the last 3 games very poorly. Eventually it was going to catch up and that's what happened. In saying that, don't be surprised if USC beats Penn State this week. They're averaging 43 points at the Coliseum while the Defense is holding opponents to 10.5 points. 🤔🤷🏻‍♂️

[@user-gs7zd5zm6g]

I said it when they hired thinking Riley that offense is not going to work because there is nothing physical about that. It’s a Mike Leach hyped but you guys still praise him like he is the best offensive guru. Answer me this question has any of Lincoln’s Riley’s Heisman Trophy winner ever won a national championship for him? He gets exposed every time he’s been in the CFP and now you guys are starting to see that you guys are a bunch of idiots.

[@B_3_3_3]

I’m sorry USC lost guys, but this is why you guys have to stop saying (Mark) that USC’s defense is elite etc I saw the USC practice film before the season, you saw it. I’m not saying my team is the best team in CFB rn, but I just noticed a huge difference in the practices. I truly believe that our defense is elite, so when you said that it kind of offended me or I just thought you were ignorant. You guys need to stack recruits before you start even mentioning elite IMO. It’s going to take time, I think you three guys are cool, but let’s be real Caleb W was Superman for you guys. Now hes gone, Godspeed & #BoomerSooner

[@DuckyBent]

No surprises here, predicted 8-4 and that our oline would get Moss killed on simple pass rushes and we’d struggle to score on 2 high safeties who’d force our offense to play underneath. LR is really not as innovative as some slobber about, his offense is seen throughout college football and it’s being run better by teams with less personnel than us. We might squeak out a win this weekend but it’s more likely we get embarrassed in our own 80% filled stadium 🏟️

[@johnsierra9265]

Danger ! ……..losing to pop Warner teams , John McKay is spinning in his grave …..I’m just wandering how many times I am going to be turning off the TV set this weekend ? I think ….alot ✌️