USC's season started off strong, notching four straight wins over San Jose State, Fresno State, Louisiana, and at Rutgers. But the Trojans under Lincoln Riley have once again struggled to compete when matched up against quality opponents. They lost 41-27 at home against Oregon, who were without Dante Moore for most of the game and are now just 4-3 on the season, and were heavily outmatched by Wisconsin last weekend, falling 24-7 in Madison.
Expectations were high for this program coming into the year after they brought in the top-rated recruiting class in college football and continued investing in its football facilities. But the Trojans now find themselves just 6-2 overall and 3-2 in Big Ten play, with a daunting schedule remaining, starting with No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday. As USC prepares for its biggest game of the season, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt explained why the Trojans have struggled so much and why Riley has failed to live up to expectations.
"The biggest difference between Lincoln Riley at USC and Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma is the lack of a run game for the Trojans," Klatt said. "Breadcrumbs for USC suggests that they are not even close to what I thought that they could be or anticipated that they could be or even what I thought they were last week. Sloppy wins are the breadcrumbs.
Sloppy against Washington. Sloppy against Penn State. And now here comes Ohio State.
"Why is it different than Oklahoma for Lincoln Riley? Their run game is 103rd in the country in yards per carry. Run game, not the passing game.
It's the run game. 103rd in yards per carry. 103rd. At OU, what were they, Joel? Number one," Klatt added.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
