Travis Dye just transferred to USC

[Utesbyfive]

Anyone want to re-evaluate how good they’re going to be this season? Add Williams and their offense is going to be amazing.

[chinngiskhaan]

They will be like Oregon last season with a better QB. So what? Their defense will still likely be garbage.

[Hellhound152]

Nope

[EagleMountainUte]

They are dangerous always and this p**ses me off slightly. 

USC lines are not that good. Just eyeballing it from my non coaching perspective. They lost in the trenches repeatedly all year. 

By the same token Utah’s Oline is in a bit of a rebuild.  My hope is with Rising’s mobility it keeps defenses honest. Utah’s dline also not even close to elite. Granted Utah’s defense was playing unbalanced but Ohio st Oline looked elite in the Rose Bowl.

 

[Utesbyfive]

Their O-Line is actually quite good. They have a couple of guys who graded out in PFF’s top ten, and an incoming guy from UVA who is very good. I think their offense is going to instantly be muuuch better. Their defense should take a step up as well. I’m not saying they’re world beaters, or even better than the Utes, but the margin for error keeps shrinking and shrinking.

[EagleMountainUte]

I wasn’t impressed with them against Utah. Their best play was throwing a quick screen to London. Couldn’t hold a pocket. 
92 rushing yards which they did abandon almost immediately. Only one turnover outcoached as usual but not impressed at all. 

[2008 National Champ]

The issue is that you are trying to evaluate the 2022 version of USC based on 2021. Common sense dictates that when you replace a coach whose team consistently underperformed its talent advantage with a coach who regularly had his team in the conversation for the top 4 every year.,,

If the expectation for 2022 is that 2021 will happen again, we need to all be prepared for lackluster showings in the first 4 games of the schedule before a new QB rights the ship and the team wins a lot of games while the ST craps the bed.

[MDUte]

I’m with ya Utesbyfive. Seeing what LR has already done in such a short time with the portal is eye opening. They’ve shot up the recruiting rankings to #16 and that doesn’t even include Caleb Williams who is still expected to commit.

It sounds like their biggest areas of concern are building up both their OL and DL. They’re loaded at all of the skill positions. IMO it would be foolish to underestimate SC next year. Given it’s at RES and all that we have coming back, I expect we will be favored. But I don’t see how that game is anything but a close battle.

USC is soaring in recruiting rankings

[Utah5410]

Guys Guys…… Lets all calm down. We don’t have to react to every single big time transfer the get. LR is throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.. They have no lines, no culture and all believe they are amazing. Where are the “glue guys” How will they blend how will they gell. They can’t all catch 10 TD’s and run the ball 20 times a game this is about fit. Dye makes them better. I see him as more of a glue guy. It’s going to take him time. Ill repeat again. LR is not a defense coach. He never has. His goal is to out score the other team. It worked in the Big -12 cause nobody cares about defense. Everyone just wants to outscore. The pac is different. Stanford will play them tough, UCLA will play them tough Utah on and on. This year is about roster turnover. Fine. Whole new system, whole new scheme, whole new roles, it will take time on the field in real games to figure all of that out. Plus we get them at RES..

The future is scary. Maybe. If he hits. Next year. Not so much. BTW I hope the get Williams. I’m glad that Dart transferred. He would have been far scarier under LR than Williams. IMO.

[2008 National Champ]

A team led by an offense-minded coach, plays poor defense, is willing to get in shootouts because he believes his talent advantage will be the difference.,, seems like i’ve seen that before. Maybe in a bowl game, on a major holiday, perhaps a flower is part of the name?

Riley lost exactly 2 games per season in his 5 seasons at Oklahoma – 3 times making the playoff. He will have similar or better talent at USC. The expectation from the national pundits will be that he is able to take the talent at USC and finish the regular season with no more than 2 losses. Underestimating USC based on Helton’s results is folly in my opinion.

[D T]

Nope…..Till USC builds toughness/physicality up front, they’re no threat to us, particularly at RES where we just went undefeated & rarely lose.

What you’re not talking about is how loaded WE are & all the returning/incoming talent WE possess.

Travis Dye didn’t frighten me either time we faced him this year & nothing will change next year.

[prestitute]

They beat us badly 2 years ago and the year before that. USC is always a threat.

We need to be better. I love what we have. We will see if it is enought.