The month of July is now here, which means we are finally entering the preseason for college football. While media days are still a couple of weeks away, players across the nation are flocking back to campus and starting to ramp things up, getting prepared for fall camp to begin.
It will be a historic season of college football across the nation, with conference realignment and an expanded College Football Playoff shaking up the landscape. It will also be a different season for the Oregon Ducks, who enter the Big Ten Conference for the first time starting on August 1. To help forecast what Dan Lanning and his team will see this year, and preview the opponents on Oregon’s schedule and beyond, we’re going to go through all of the members of the conference and detail everything Duck fans need to know.
We continue with USC.
Team Previews: Illinois Fighting Illini — Indiana Hoosiers — Iowa Hawkeyes — Maryland Terrapins — Michigan Wolverines — Michigan State Spartans — Minnesota Golden Gophers — Nebraska Cornhuskers — Northwestern Wildcats — Ohio State Buckeyes — Penn State Nittany Lions
Position Previews: Quarterbacks — Running Backs — Wide Receivers — Tight Ends — Offensive Linemen — Defensive Linemen
USC was the first school to leave the Pac-12 Conference and started this domino effect where UCLA, Oregon and Washington followed. That led to major conference realignment and now we’ll all see how it plays out here in 2024 and beyond.
But the Trojans are going to have a difficult time competing with the elite teams of their new league, at least right away. USC has never had a problem acquiring talent. It’s what they do with that talent has been the question mark. Now it’s going to have to recruit more directly against teams such as Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, and Oregon still pick off talent in their own backyard. Hopefully, Lincoln Riley is up to the task.
Meet the Coach
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Lincoln Riley (3rd season) 19-8
When Riley was hired away from Oklahoma where he was an astounding 55-10 in five seasons, promises of national championships were put upon the USC program. But in two seasons in Los Angeles, the Trojans have been good, just not national title quality yet. Assistant coaches have come and gone and recruiting has been all right, not great. Overall, the Trojans are in a much better space than they were under the previous regime of Clay Helton, but it’s not at a level many expected.
Recent Team History
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The Clay Helton Era was a dumpster fire, according to those who follow the program. USC was a decent 8-5 in 2019 and 5-1 in the shortened Covid season on 2020. But then things went completely off the rails in 2021 as the Trojans were a mere 4-8 and Helton was handed his walking papers even before the season was through.
They made a huge splash with the hire of Riley and at first it was a success with an 11-3 record and quarterback Caleb Williams securing the Heisman Trophy. But a disappointing 2023 where the Trojans fell to 8-5 again, losing five of their final six games. Now 2024 won’t be a make-or-break season for Riley, but another season like that will cause the whispers to become louder and that seat to become a bit warmer than usual.
Most Important Returning Players
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QB Miller Moss | 2023 stats: 46-of-65 passing (71.7 percent), 681 yards, 7 TD, 1 INT
WR Zachariah Branch | 2023 stats: 31 catches, 320 yards, 2 TD
TE Duce Robinson | 2023 stats: 16 catches, 351 yards, 2 TD
OL Jonah Monheim | 40 career games
DL Bear Alexander | 2023 stats: 48 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 1.5 sacks
LB Jaylin Smith | 2023 stats: 75 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 1 sack
Biggest 2023 Departures
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QB Caleb Williams (NFL) | Career Stats: 735-of 1,099 (66.9 percent) passing, 10,082 yards, 93 TD, 14 INT
WR Tahj Robinson (NFL) | Career Stats: 209 catches, 3,234 yards (15.4 ypc), 21 TD
WR Brenden Rice (NFL) | Career Stats: 111 catches, 1,821 yards (16.4 ypc), 21 TD
WR Dorian Singer (Utah) | 2023 stats: 24 catches, 289 yards (12.0 ypc), 3 TD
OL Justin Dedich (NFL) | 48 games, 3rd team All Pac-12 (2023)
Biggest 2024 Additions
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RB Jo’Quavious Marks (Mississippi State) | 2023 stats: 121 carries, 573 yards (4.7 ypc), 4 TD
LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold (Oregon State) | 2023 stats: 107 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 2 sacks
CB John Humphrey (UCLA) | 2023 stats: 31 tackles, 2 INT
DB Akili Arnold (Oregon State) | 2023 stats: 60 tackles, 2 INT
DB Kamari Ramsey (UCLA) | 2023 stats: 40 tackles, 1 INT
Win Total Over/Under
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Over/Under: 7.5 Wins
Although quarterback Miller Moss was impressive (23-of-32 passing for 372 yards with six touchdowns) in the 42-28 win over Louisville in the Holiday Bowl, it remains to be seen how he will do as the full-time signal caller. Suffice it to say USC didn’t hire Riley to go 7-5 or 8-4 every season. According to Matt Zemek of TrojansWire.com, the Trojans should go 9-3. If not, Riley better be looking over his shoulder for a replacement.
Bowl Projection
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Bowl Projection: Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Louisville
This would be a rematch of last year’s Holiday Bowl and while bowl committees try to avoid this kind of scenario, it would be another offensive shootout and an entertaining game. But let’s just say USC has higher aspirations than the Mayo Bowl. This would be a colossal disappointment in Los Angeles if this came to fruition.
Overall Season Outlook
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USC is a difficult team to project. The Trojans could easily go 9-3 or with some luck 10-2 and a shot at the playoffs. On the other hand, they could just as easily go 6-6 with Lincoln Riley having a lot of explaining to do. Moss looks like a capable quarterback and if he develops chemistry with his young receivers, who have a ton of talent, a nine-win season is more likely.
Ultimately, however, the Trojans’ fortunes hinder on how much that dismal defense from 2023 improves. Defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who came across town from UCLA, has his job cut out for him. But if he’s as good as the Trojans thinks and hopes he is, Lynn might be USC’s savior and be ripe for a head coaching position of his own.
