Lincoln Riley smokescreen adds to USC-LSU storylines
Remember when Lincoln Riley was hired as USC football head coach in late November of 2021? Part of what made the story such a bombshell was not just the event itself, though it was obviously seismic. What added to the “out of nowhere” dimension of the story was that 48 hours earlier, there were rumblings that Riley and LSU were potentially linked to each other. It turned out that Riley’s agent used LSU as a smokescreen for the actual negotiations which were taking place with USC. That makes the LSU-USC game in Week 1 of the 2024 season even more intriguing.
Patrick Conn of College Sports Wire noted this in sizing up the best Week 1 matchups in college football this year:
“It wasn’t that long ago that many thought Lincoln Riley would be the next head coach of the LSU Tigers, but he ended up out west with the USC Trojans. This matchup will feature a pair of teams trying to figure out their offenses after their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks were drafted 1-2 in the 2024 NFL draft. A win will set each team up for success in the upcoming season. What makes this game so intriguing is the fact that both teams have plenty of questions especially on the defensive side of the ball.”
We can’t wait for this game … but we will have to.
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