AP’s Top 25 Takeaways: Who’s Better Off? Lincoln Riley’s New Team (USC), Former Team (OU) Hope for More
Lincoln Riley has yet to deliver the level of success Southern California fans hoped for when he made a shocking transfer to Western Oklahoma after the 2021 regular season.
USC is better than it was when Riley arrived, but as Trojans lose to 18th-ranked Michigan That suggests they’re not entering the Big Ten as serious contenders to win their new conference. It’s fair to say that more was expected of Riley than 21-9 after 30 games.
The school Riley left behind also played its first game in a new league Saturday night, and No. 15 Oklahoma made it clear it wouldn’t be competing for the Southeastern Conference championship. The Sooners were stifled by No. 6 Tennessee in Volunteers coach Josh Huepel back in Norman.
Riley has become a pariah at Oklahoma. Sooners fans have reveled in his struggles at USC and are convinced OU is better off without him. But Brent Venables, Riley’s replacement, is 19-11 at Oklahoma.
Venables’ Oklahoma is most certainly different from Riley’s.
Although Riley went 55-10 with two Heisman Trophy winners in five years at OU, his teams played little defense and never felt like a threat to win a national title as they racked up Big 12 titles.
Riley’s program at Oklahoma appeared to be in decline, and the way he had built his roster certainly didn’t seem like a recipe for success in the SEC. In fact, some of his critics suggested that Riley left OU because he was afraid of leading the transition to the country’s toughest conference.
Venables, Clemson’s former defensive coordinator, took a different approach. He emphasized line building and a solid defense. The problem is, the offense is now a disaster.
Oklahoma entered the game against Tennessee averaging less than 5.0 yards per play under new coordinator Seth Littrell, then was held to 3.3 by coach Josh Heupel’s Volunteers, who – to be fair – are nasty up front.
So who’s better off, USC or Oklahoma?
Riley tried to address the defensive issues this offseason by overhauling his staff, starting with luring D’Anton Lynn from UCLA to be defensive coordinator.
The Trojans were better defensively. Sure, the bar set by former defensive coordinator Alex Grinch was pretty low. Still, there’s work to be done after giving up 290 rushing yards to a Michigan team without a functioning passing game.
“It would be interesting to go back and look at that, but I mean we probably played — probably won — 80 to 85 percent of the defensive snaps,” Riley said. “But we lost some of them significantly.”
Three long runs netted Michigan 154 yards.
USC also isn’t where it needs to be on the offensive line, which will hold back the side of the ball where Riley thrives, especially in the Big Ten.
Meanwhile, at Oklahoma, Venables benched highly regarded sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold in the game against Tennessee for freshman Michael Hawkins Jr.
“He’s a tough young man and he knows he’s got to improve,” Venables said of Arnold.
Excluding sacks, Oklahoma averaged 2.0 yards per carry.
Oklahoma fans have gone from regretting what their team could be with a competent defense to wanting a solid offense to support an ascending defense.
After more than a decade of dysfunction at USC following the Pete Carroll era, there are more positive signs under Riley than under any of his predecessors. But, again, that’s not saying much.
For now, both sides of the Riley movement are still hoping for more.
Games like USC-Michigan will help college football fans adjust to the demise of the Pac-12.
The 11th-ranked Trojans and 18th-ranked Wolverines played a regular-season game for the first time in 66 years and it was a Instant Big Ten Classic.
When conference officials and television executives came up with the idea of a Big Ten West Wing, that’s exactly what they had in mind.
“I can’t believe we’re stuck with this game when we could be watching SC play Cal in front of 40,000 empty seats,” Fox Sports executive Michael Mulvihill said. posted on X.
Fox shares Big Ten rights with CBS and NBC.
USC-Michigan was on CBS and undoubtedly drew a monstrous audience that would please network executives with their $350 million a year investment.
But that’s how they get you: With USC at Michigan on the wire on a sunny Saturday in front of 110,000 fans; with No. 6 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma in the Sooners’ Southeastern Conference opener, played later Saturday night.
It’s cold but true. Games always seem to deliver on their promises.
More than a year after the Pac-12 collapsed, with its traditional members scattered to other powerful conferences, all this realignment is producing strange things.
On Friday night, Stanford made a cross-country trip to Syracuse to play its first game as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It is fair to ask: What is the purpose of all this?
Then the Cardinal and Orange play a thriller, won by Stanford with a late field goal, and the absurdity of it all fades and fans forget about the greedy and destructive off-field decisions that the people who run college football so often make.
Shedeur Sanders evoked memories of Kordell Stewart with game-tying touchdown pass on the final play of regulation against Baylor in CU’s first Big 12 game since 2010. Then Travis Hunter sealed the victory in overtime by forcing a fumble inches from the goal line. He also had seven receptions for 130 yards. … The best team in the Big 12? Utah, at 12th, is the obvious choice after the Utes won at No. 14 Oklahoma State without injured QB Cam Rising (hand) and No. 13 Kansas State suffered an epic loss at BYU.… No. 7 Missouri was pushed to the brink by Vanderbilt and escaped with a double overtime victory which ended with the Commodores missing a short field goal that would have tied the game and kept it alive. … Florida got a victory at Mississippi State who could buy coach Billy Napier for at least a few more weeksThe school is without a president, and there’s not much upside to firing a coach in September and opening a transfer window for players. The Gators have a week off before their next game against UCF in the Swamp on Oct. 5. As for the Bulldogs (1-3), they appear to be starting from scratch in their first year under coach Jeff Lebby. … Since leaving Georgia behind in Week 1, 21st-ranked Clemson has been unstoppable. The Tigers rebounded from that humiliating loss by outscoring Appalachian State and NC State by a combined score of 101-20 — in the first half. Even considering the degree of difficulty, Clemson’s offense and QB Cade Klubnik are unrecognizable from last season. Before kicking a field goal on the final play of the first half vs NC StateThe Tigers have scored touchdowns on 14 of 15 first-half possessions in the last two games. … No. 23 Northern Illinois then beat Notre Dame in lose at home in overtime to Buffalo. MACtion! … Former James Madison coach and JMU with new coach remain undefeated. Former Dukes coach Curt Cignetti lifts Indiana to 4-0 for first time since 2020 after another loss, this time against CharlotteThe Hoosiers have outscored their opponents 150-23 so far. Meanwhile, JMU under former Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney improved to 3-0 in losses 53 points on North Carolina in the first half, the most passes the Tar Heels have ever allowed in a half. “Embarrassing day, shocking day,” UNC coach Mack Brown said.
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