USC Trojans College Football Preview 2023: Keys To The Season, Top Players, What Will Happen
USC Preview 2023: Keys To The Season, Top Players, What Will Happen
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
USC Trojans Key To The Season
2023 USC Preview | Offense | Defense
- USC Schedule, Picks For Every Game
Stop the run, stop the run, stop the run. You don’t think defensive coordinator Alex Grinch is making sure everyone in the room feels haunted daily by the Cotton Bowl? The Trojans gave up over 300 rushing yards on nine yards per carry in the loss to Tulane, and that was after the D couldn’t help out the O and its injured quarterback by getting steamrolled by Utah for 223 yards in the Pac-12 Championship.
The Stanford game was a bit tougher than it should’ve been, and the UCLA game was a 48-45 fight. Those were the two other times the run defense allowed over 200 yards.
Overall, the Trojans allowed 4.9 yards or more per pop eight times. This year the stats will be there early - there’s no one on the slate who’ll be able to run at a high level over the first seven games - and then comes Notre Dame and Utah. Everything has to be working by mid-October.
USC Trojans Top Transfer, Biggest Loss
LB Mason Cobb in from Oklahoma State, OT Courtland Ford gone to Kentucky. USC is winning the transfer portal game so hard that it can all but pick and choose two good prospects for every one that leaves, but it’s still not a plus to lose a left tackle with high-end NFL upside who’s about to start for an SEC team. The 6-6, 305-pound Ford can play inside or out, and now he’s trying to come back after a star-crossed 2022 after a slew of health issues kept him on the sidelines.
Cobb might not be the most talented new Trojan, but he's a terror. After two years of being a small part of the Oklahoma State rotation, 96 tackles, two sacks, 13 tackles for loss - he’s a big-time all-around producer in the middle who’ll hit everything and get behind the line when needed. He’s big for the improvement of the run D, but not quite as vital as …
USC Trojans Key Player
Kyon Barrs, DT Sr. Several transfers are about to make a big impact - seriously, get ready for a whole lot of Cobb - but the most important might be Barrs. For a run defense that has to be night-and-day better, a fifth-year guy who came up with over 100 tackles with five sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss at a high level at Arizona is exactly what the Trojan D needs.
USC Trojans Key Game
at Oregon, Nov. 11. Dog the first half of the USC schedule all you want - and trust me, SEC fans who are paying attention already are - but the slate is coming to breakfast in the middle of October.
More on that at in the end in the What Will Happen section, but after going through the ringer - even for USC - going to Oregon might be the make-or-break moment for everything big this year.
It'll be hard enough getting to November 11th unbeaten - two losses realistically ruins the CFP chances - and it’s going to be a battle against Oregon before finishing up against UCLA.
USC hasn’t beaten the Ducks since 2016 and hasn’t won in Eugene since 2011.
USC Trojans 10 Best Players
1. Caleb Williams, QB Jr.
2. Calen Bullock, S Jr.
3. Dorian Singer, WR Jr.
4. Mason Cobb, LB Sr.
5. Eric Gentry, LB Jr.
6. Mario Williams. WR Jr.
7. Austin Monheim, OT Jr.
8. Lyon Barrs, DT Sr
9. Christian Roland-Wallace, CB Sr.
10. Emmanuel Pregnon, OG Soph.
USC Trojans 2022 Fun Stats
- Fumbles: USC 16 (lost 2), Opponents 14 (lost 9)
- Onside Kicks: Opponents 0-for-7, USC 0-for-1
- Points Allowed: 1st Quarter 65, 4th Quarter 146
USC Trojans Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
Set The Win Total At: 9.5
Here’s the problem with trying to project the 2023 USC football season.
The defense will be far better, the coaching will be better, and the offensive line should be better. The schedule is far tougher - even with no Oregon State or Washington State on the slate - but it’s nothing an elite team can’t navigate through on the way to 11-1 and in range of the College Football Playoff. However …
Caleb Williams has to stay healthy.
It’s USC, and it’s a Lincoln Riley-coached team so the quarterback talent is in place, but you don’t go through a slate like this without a Heisman-caliber superstar under center.
Get ready for USC to be ranked in the top three in early October, and maybe even No. 1 if Georgia and Ohio State biff.
Arizona State might be slightly dangerous on the road, and that begins a run of three road games in four weeks, but it’s coming off a two-week break. It’s going to take a monumental upset/total gag/Williams injury to not be 6-0. And then, the word you’re looking for is yeeeeeeeeeesh.
The trip to Notre Dame comes at the end of that run of road dates, there aren’t two home games in a row after September 9th, and while Utah, Washington, and UCLA are all in LA, they’re not exactly layups.
Going to Cal will be triple-scary considering the Bears are better this season, it’s a late October dog days game, and it’s a sandwich between Utah and Washington, and going to Oregon is a big, big problem.
Assume one loss, and it’s going to take something special to not drop two, but there’s too much talent to lose three. Again, as long as 13 is okay, and there aren’t a slew of injuries across the board, USC is good enough to keep on rolling.
It’s a Lincoln Riley-coached team. It’s going to win at least ten games, even if it takes a Pac-12 Championship and/or a bowl to do it.
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2023 USC Preview: Offense | Defense
- USC Schedule, Picks For Every Game
