Even with top offensive talent, Riley can't take advantage
At his postgame press conference, Lincoln Riley said he would not be talking about the big picture. Maybe he should.
Riley has an all-world quarterback in Williams, plenty of wide receivers that would be WR1 on other rosters in college football, and the leading rusher in the conference (MarShawn Lloyd). Yet Riley still hasn't found a way win at the levels expected of him despite the plethora of offensive talent on the roster. Riley had never lost three games in the regular season ... until this year.
The defense has been absymal, and that can be traced back to Riley because he brought defensive coordinator Alex Grinch over from Oklahoma. USC came into the season with national championship aspirations, but now it will likely be unranked come Tuesday when the new College Football Playoff Rankings are released. With Williams and other top contributors likely departing for the NFL after this season, Riley will have to do some soul searching if he's to raise the ceiling of this program.