CHICAGO (AP) — The expectations are not new for Lincoln Riley or Southern Cal. He faced them as a first-time head coach at Oklahoma before arriving at USC, and the Trojans have faced them nearly every year for generations.
Still, in Riley's five years at USC, those expectations have perhaps never been higher than they are this fall. With more than a dozen contributors returning, including star quarterback Jayden Maiava, the country's top-ranked freshman
class and a handful of impact transfers, a lot of the pieces that were missing during the first few years of Riley's tenure have now fallen into place, on paper at least.
“It’s what it’s supposed to feel like here,” Riley said Tuesday at Big Ten football media days. “I’ve said this multiple times: I mean, the only two places that I’ve been a head coach at were blue-blood schools that have the highest of expectations. Honestly, I’ve really not known anything different. We’re a product of our own experiences. That’s been mine.
"Every year, I expect to win. I expect us to win. I expect us to compete for and win championships. That doesn’t change. I certainly will give you what has changed: We’re more equipped than at any point in the previous few years. That’s not a hope or wish, those are facts. There’s a lot of facts to back that up.”
Riley cited institutional alignment including NIL support and a new $200 million practice facility, the addition of new defensive coordinator and longtime TCU head coach Gary Patterson and the overall depth of talent on the roster among his reasons for optimism that he can get USC back to where it is used to being.
So far, that's been tough going. Riley enters his fifth year at USC with a 35-18 overall record and 24-12 record in the Pac-12 and Big Ten. Since going 11-3 in his debut, the Trojans have ended the season in the Top 25 only once, when they finished 20th last season after an Alamo Bowl loss to TCU to finish 9-4, tied for fourth in the Big Ten.
With all three losses on the road to ranked teams, Maiava said the Trojans are ready to build on their success last season.
“Just the work and the preparation,” Maiava said. “That’s where it comes from, what gives us the confidence to be willing to go out there and compete against everybody and anybody. I think we’re just ready. We’re all keeping the main thing the main thing and we’re all driven to push each other and make each other better.”
It starts with the 6-foot-4 Maiava, a native of Hawaii who threw for 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns last season while rushing for six more scores in his second season at USC after transferring from UNLV.
Then there’s what Riley called the best depth of his tenure on both the offensive and defensive lines, along with the 32-player freshman class. That group includes three five-star linemen and a local four-star tight end, Santa Ana’s Mark Bowman, all of whom will be expected to contribute immediately.
“I do think this is a special unit, and if it wasn't, I would say it wasn't,” said defensive lineman Alex VanSumeren, a transfer from Michigan State who played against USC last season. “Now, what does that mean? It doesn't guarantee us any games to win. It just means that we have a very talented group of guys on the team. It's about what we do with it now, and I'm confident we're going to do something good.”
The Trojans will have to try to move forward in the face of a difficult schedule that includes national champion Indiana and Big Ten favorites Ohio State and Oregon, along with trips to Penn State and Wisconsin —- but not, for only the second time since World War II, Notre Dame.
The two longtime rivals were unable to reach an agreement to extend their series beyond last season and are unlikely to meet again any sooner than 2030, based on their current nonconference schedules.
“Nothing’s changed from my vantage point,” Riley said. “We want to play the game. I want to play the game. We would be playing the game had some things come true that were said. Hopefully we get to that point. Obviously we want it to happen. I know our fan base wants it to happen. College football wants it to happen.”
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
