USC Football: CFB Columnist Believes Lincoln Riley's Defensive Stigma Will Defy CFP Appearance

Will he prove the doubters wrong in 2023?

The USC Trojans have a big season ahead of them this year and a lot will have to take place for them to fully reach their goals. It's clear that they have the talent and recruiting system to take care of business and make noise once the playoffs roll around but they have to buy in since now and improve on the deficiencies they noticed hit their squad last season.

And it all needs to start on the defensive end. Far too many touchdowns and first downs were given up at an alarming rate in certain big games by the Trojans and with a number of elite freshmen coming in on that end to help them out, things will be looking.

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But the pressure will be on for Lincoln Riley to lead this new group as head coach. Clutch Points' Shane Shoemaker pointed this out that Riley needs to change his reputation of coaching historically bad defensive squads so USC can make a push for the CFP in 2023.

"One significant hurdle for USC football is dispelling the stigma of historically bad defenses under Riley that has seemed to carry over from his time with the Oklahoma Sooners. While Riley has proven himself as one of the best offensive minds in the country, his defenses while as a head coach have been nothing short of awful. In his five seasons as head coach at Oklahoma, his defenses ranked as so: 68th, 101st, 64th, 28th and 60th. And yet, somehow, he still escaped with a 55-10 overall record and landed one of the premier coaching jobs in the country."

(Via Clutch Points)

He also recognized that it's been this way for USC in the past as well.

"It's not as if USC was ranking high defensively before Riley got there. USC's defensive struggles have been a glaring weakness in recent years. In fact, Riley's Oklahoma defenses and USC's were eerily similar from 2017-2021: 60th, 65th, 78th, 46th, and 103rd."

(Via Clutch Points)

Let's hope this gets better in the new season!