Lincoln Riley addresses numerous topics surrounding USC football
Lincoln Riley had a lot to say on Monday. He has a lot to think about in terms of how he handles USC football heading into the start of November. Chief among Riley’s concerns: managing the workload for less-than-fully-healthy players these next two weeks.
Riley needs to strike a balance between giving Eric Gentry, Jordan Addison, Andrew Vorhees, and other players at least some work heading into the UCLA game, and — on the other hand — resting them to make sure they’re 100 percent for the Bruins. Riley doesn’t want them to fully sit before UCLA. They need to remain sharp. However, they also don’t need to be overextended and pushed too hard.
There’s a lot more to get to, so let’s share Riley’s remarks plus some other USC notes, including a #Pac12Refs error you might have missed from the Arizona game:
PASS RUSH
#USC HC Lincoln Riley said when attacking a mobile QB there's a fine line between being aggressive enough to get there in time so a QB can't deliver a pass and slowing up just enough to not overrun the potential sack when the QB makes his first move.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
FOLLOW-UP
Referenced how it's almost like punt coverage where they tell the first guy down the field to take their shot at the returner and force them to go laterally so that the rest of the net can follow to make the tackle.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
HOME SWEET HOME
#USC HC Lincoln Riley said 'there's still so much out there' for the Trojans. Says they have lots of areas where they can still improve, but that they have an awesome opportunity ahead of them with four straight weeks with games in Los Angeles.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
MASON MURPHY
Lincoln Riley said it has been critical for redshirt freshman Mason Murphy to be in a room with veteran offensive linemen. Murphy needed to learn how to prep at the college level – a need for all freshmen, Riley said.
Murphy had his first start as a Trojan against Arizona.
— Keely Eure (@keelyismyname) November 1, 2022
JONAH MONHEIM
#USC HC Lincoln Riley said Jonah Monheim graded out 95 in his start at right guard.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
RILEY ON JAYDEN DE LAURA
#USC HC Lincoln Riley called #Arizona QB Jayden de Laura "probably the most elusive quarterback in the country."
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
RECEIVERS, PART ONE
#USC HC Lincoln Riley said Mario Williams not being available was a surprise. Expected him to play until pregame warmups.
They flipped Terrell Bynum inside to fill in.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
RECEIVERS, PART TWO
Said Bynum is one of the smartest receivers on the team.
And said Tahj Washington was playing his tail off and called him one of the most valuable players on the team. https://t.co/LdTaxG0CAf
— Ryan Abraham (@insidetroy) November 1, 2022
RECEIVERS, PART THREE
#USC HC Lincoln Riley said they needed more out of the "X" position and Kyle Ford/Brenden Rice gave them some tough, contested catches.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
READY TO BE BETTER
#USC HC Lincoln Riley said the team was "jacked" at halftime.
Mentally they were very ready to play, Riley said.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
HIGH MOTIVATION
Riley said that there wasn't much he needed to say to his team at the half against Arizona due to the energy they already had. https://t.co/ZuI9MCLRoy
— Keely Eure (@keelyismyname) November 1, 2022
CALEB WILLIAMS
#USC HC Lincoln Riley said QB Caleb Williams' growth has been pretty steady this season.
Riley said he's proud of the way Williams has played the last two games, especially since the games have been on the road.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
REVISED ROLES
#USC HC Lincoln Riley said they had more guys in unique roles stepping up than in any other game this year.
Said they probably don't win the game without that.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
CALEB WILLIAMS VIDEO
WATCH 🎥
Caleb Williams’ presence to stand in, take this huge hit, and rifle a TD to Tahj Washington stood out to me on the broadcast. It is even more impressive on the field-level highlights shot by @ChrisNTrevino.
Pocket presence doesn’t get much better than this… #USC pic.twitter.com/YREd3t9H4z
— Jack Smith 🎙 (@jacksmithpxp) October 31, 2022
NOW THEY TELL US
SI’s Pat Forde: Lincoln Riley told me league office officiating agreed roughing-the-passer penalties at Utah were bad calls@AhmadMAkkaoui with the story: https://t.co/hUGHqD3PgI pic.twitter.com/jjiyPoWAbK
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) October 31, 2022
TUASIVI NOMURA
#USC LB Tuasivi Nomura earned a starting role against Arizona with his toughness and stepped up with Eric Gentry out.
Nomura talked about his performance and the sequence in which he played three snaps with a bone out of his finger earlier this season. https://t.co/mI4vfFK40M pic.twitter.com/CGK1FZzT3o
— Trevor Booth (@TrevorMBooth) October 30, 2022
KEY STAT
Cats entered the day ranked No. 114 in Red Zone scoring percentage and No. 96 in RZ TD%.
Today, there were 5-for-5 in Red Zone, but 2 scores were FGs.
USC was also 5-for-5, but all TDs.
That's an 8-point swing.
USC won by 8.
— Blair Willis (@BlairWillisUA) October 30, 2022
BIG ACHIEVEMENT
Travis Dye is the first @uscfb player to have a rush TD in 7 straight games since @rojo in 2016! 🔥#FightOn | @LADWP pic.twitter.com/k8eSjfgUEc
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) November 1, 2022
LINCOLN RILEY HALLOWEEN FUN
😂😂😂
— Lincoln Riley (@LincolnRiley) November 1, 2022
MORE PAC-12 REFS FAILURES
Among the other clown show of errors by #Pac12Refs on #USC's final drive of the first half, Brenden Rice caught a pass beyond the first down marker on the first play of the drive.
Refs spotted it as a nine-yard gain allowing 10-15 extra seconds to come off the clock. pic.twitter.com/CDw15m3GWo
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) October 31, 2022
AND THIS
On the screen pass to C.J. Williams, the sideline referee correctly stops the clock for the first down and then winds it for play because Williams' knee hit the ground before he was out of bounds.
But there were 16 seconds remaining on the clock… pic.twitter.com/tFde4jpGtO
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) October 31, 2022
WOW
Similar to the final play of the half, the clock starts running before the ball is ever set and the chains are moved.
Two seconds run off as the referee is placing the ball and #USC calls timeout. pic.twitter.com/qs0rLv3pr0
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) October 31, 2022
SIGH
Hilariously, in the immediate aftermath, the Pac-12 Networks pxp broadcaster says, "Thankfully, we have Michael Mothershed here and he'll be able to untangle all this."
Mothershed was the one winding the clock at the 20-yard line when umpire was carrying the ball to go set it.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) October 31, 2022
COMMENTS FROM KYLE FORD
#USC WR Kyle Ford said Drake London and Jordan Addison are totally different, but they are great in their own ways and Ford said he's learned a lot from both of them.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) November 1, 2022
