USC Football fans are still digesting the aftermath of yet another road defeat, this time to Washington where the script was all too familiar, the USC Trojans are now facing some existential questions about the program going into 2025, most notably why each of their losses looks the same week-over-week.
Was the D’Anton Lynn scheme worn out by yet another 230-pound running back in Jonah Coleman providing body blows over the course of the game to the tune of 23 carries for 104 yards and two touchdowns? Check.
Did that defensive front seven only conjure up a meager two tackles for loss and zero sacks when faced with a patchwork Huskies offensive line? Yup.
Did Miller Moss make a few spectacular throws only to be intermingled with multiple game-crippling interceptions, notably his third and final pick deep in the third quarter after the Trojans reclaimed control of the game, that all but gift-wrapped victory for the Huskies? You bet.
Did Lincoln Riley panickily abandon the run game yet again in games without talent discrepancies to the tune of 50 passes versus only 29 rushes despite Woody Marks having the most 10+ yard rushes in the BIG-10, and Moss being athletically limited with a mediocre-at-best line? Of course.
Did the Trojans demonstrate a lack of physicality from 1st & Goal at the UW 4-yard line along with an absence of precision from 1st & 10 from the Huskies 20-yard line on their final two possessions with a chance to win the game only to come up with zero points on either drive? Bingo.
Will the Trojans finish the 2024 season 0-4 in true road games and nurse a five-game road losing streak for the first time in the program’s 136-year history? Guilty.
Riley can talk all he wants about being “one play away” but the reality is, he has no clue how to identify that one play, what the causes are of that one play, nor how to fix that one play.
This 2024 season represents the bottom falling out of the Trojans program in the 21st century because of three underlying issues that go beyond schematics, play-calling, or conditioning.
No USC Football Cultural Identity
After meticulously studying John Wooden’s philosophy, Pete Carroll built a USC football culture on three very clear principles: competition, enthusiasm, and physicality.
Nick Saban built the Alabama culture on being meticulous, intense, and process-oriented.
Jim Harbaugh built the Michigan culture on elite trench play, unrelenting conviction to run the ball, and the trust in one another of being Michigan Men in arms.
We’re almost three years into the Riley era in Los Angeles and still don’t have a clue as to what the USC football culture stands for.
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All we’ve heard are excuses of being close, gratitude for not being blown out, and that 99.9% of his job encompasses elements outside of the on-the-field results.
Players will take on the identity of their head coach, and without a culture to lean on in times of adversity, games will continue to be lost due to hesitation, tentativeness, and disengagement.
Not Owning LA Nor Building The Trojan Wall
We’ve talked about this at length on “Salute to Troy” – the USC Trojans coach needs to understand, appreciate, and treasure USC’s place in LA as the quintessential intersection of sports and entertainment.
Carroll was obsessed with “owning LA” over crosstown rival UCLA as Mark Sanchez attested to earlier this week – not only in getting the best recruits, but players being invited to the best restaurants and clubs, interacting with the city’s most interesting people, and having the best promotional opportunities for life after football.
This philosophy was only reinforced by his tactics of building a Southern California Trojan Wall for all top local recruits while also encouraging LA celebrities like Will Ferrell and Snoop Dogg to be unofficial program mascots.
Carroll understood how much USC football was representative of the city itself with a diversity of fans cutting across geographic, political, social, and economic boundaries – from the glamor of Newport Beach to the grit of Watts.
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Neither Riley’s recruiting nor public relations approach is unique to LA; if you close your eyes, everything he says and does could apply just as much to Norman, Oklahoma, or Lubbock, Texas.
Until he appreciates the essence of USC football the way Carroll and his disciples did, he will be repeatedly leaving an excess of talent and fandom on the table.
Lacking Trojan Ambassadorship
In fairness, not all of this is Riley’s fault – he simply doesn’t have the West Coast roots to appreciate all discussed above fully.
He’s from West Texas and thus has intimate awareness and expertise of the Texas and Oklahoma cultures, which is why he was Bob Stoops’ chosen successor along with his offensive mind. This is where the athletic department has let him down because the vast majority of Trojan icons from the past 45 years don’t have positive enough relationships with the program to help Riley build an authentic culture.
Since 1980, USC football’s singular golden period of football was 2002-2008 and almost all the seminal figures associated with that dynasty have apathetic to adversarial relationships with the school.
Reggie Bush is suing the USC Trojans for deferred Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) compensation, LenDale White still has deep resentment for his belief in Carroll bolting for the Seahawks conveniently right before the sanctions arrived, Carroll himself has kept a calculated distance from the school since departing despite a recent foray into teaching a course, Lane Kiffin was humiliated and fired callously by Pat Haden, Steve Sarkisian sued the Trojans for wrongful termination amidst his alcohol challenges, and Ed Orgeron was insulted for not being enough of a “country club guy.”
With the exception of Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez, both of whom also lack the success and recency of NFL careers, none of the other icons from that period feel a genuine connection to the Men of Troy.
While credit must be given for reintroducing Taylor Mays and Mike Williams to the program by hiring them in modest roles, it is imperative for Jen Cohen to support Riley in mending those other relationships to rearchitect a uniquely identifiable Trojan culture.
Riley just announced Jayden Maiava as the starting quarterback presumably for the remainder of the 2024 season, and while that was a strategically wise decision despite Miller Moss representing USC football with the utmost zeal, it only scratches the surface of what needs to be done. Things he truthfully should have embarked on three years ago.