Colin Cowherd Podcast - USC & Lincoln Riley are "not dynamic" enough to win Big Ten

Colin Cowherd predicts how the USC Trojans will fare in the Big Ten. How will Lincoln Riley's offense look without Caleb Williams at QB? Does Colin believe USC can make the college football playoff?

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.)

Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! 

#Volume #Herd

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. Let's talk about something really really important. If
you're ever injured, check out Morgan and Morgan's America's largest
injury law firm, and they're there for you. Over one
hundred offices nationwide. Think about that, more than a thousand
lawyers with over twenty billion. That's a b twenty billion

(00:22):
dollars recovered for over five hundred thousand clients. Things happen
in life unexpectedly. Submitting an injury claim with Morgan and
Morgan is really really easy. Like winning in the NFL
is hard, we know that quarterbacking in the NFL is hard,
Submitting a claim is easy. You're ever injured, check out
Morgan and Morgan. Their fee is free unless they win.

(00:42):
For more information, go to for thepeople dot com, slash
Colin or dial pound law from your cell phone. Pretty easy.
That's for the people dot com, slash Colin or pound
law pound five to nine from your cell Morgan and
Morgan has a proven track record of fighting for you
to get a full and fair compensation if there's an

(01:05):
unexpected accident in your life. This is a paid advertisement. Well,
you know there are many that claim simply because of
my proximity to the University of Southern California that I

(01:26):
am a Trojan Homer. Well, these claims, egregious as they are,
also took place when I worked at another sports company
thirty five hundred miles away. I will admit that I
was a Pac twelve fan growing up, and I've always
rooted for the top dog in the Pac twelve to
represent my region of the country where I was born

(01:48):
and now live in. USC. Oregon and Washington have been
the teams in my lifetime. When they're really, really good,
they can at least buy for a national championship. And
so I'm just going to lean into it and give
you a little fifteen minute season preview. I know this
is primarily for LA peeps, but for you Big ten

(02:08):
fans now as the Trojans join the conference, I think
I have pretty good access to that program. I've been
talking with people today on the phone. So I think
schedules are really important for good teams, not nearly as
important for great teams. I think Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia,
Alabama are just going to win a lot of games, period,

(02:28):
regardless of where they're played. USC will not be a
great team. They're too young offensively, they're too thin offensively
and on the d line to be a great team.
But let's start with their schedule. They got several huge breaks.
Ohio State and Oregon best two teams in the Big
Ten in my opinion. Not on the schedule Penn State

(02:52):
Notre Dame. To me, arguably two of the top three
teams on their schedule are at home an LSU neutral field,
but in Vegas, closer to the west. That's a break
that is a scheduling break. In fact, the only part
of USC schedule that's a bad break is the Nebraska game,

(03:14):
which is scheduled in between two rivals, Washington and UCLA.
I think USC is better than all three of those teams,
but sandwich games are killers. USC, if you go to
the last decade, is often played very poorly before the
UCLA game or the Notre Dame game. So Washington in Seattle,

(03:34):
UCLA in southern California right smack dab in the middle.
Is a very clever head coach Matt Ruhle, and a
Nebraska team I think is underrated, undervalued, that's got upset
loss written all over it. Outside of that, though, a
lot of the go either way games, Penn State Notre Dame.

(03:58):
You know LSU. They don't have to go on the road,
so that's a scheduling break and no Buckeyes or Ducks,
and they are not as good as those teams. I
think USC is too young and thin on offense to
be great, and not talented enough on the defensive line
to be great. Let's talk about the offense. So they've
got four sophomores who will get a majority of the

(04:20):
reps at wide receiver. All of them talented, branch, Deuce Robinson,
Lemon Lane, unique body types, some more possession than others.
Deuce Robinson's a great baseball prospect, tight end, hybrid wide receiver.
They put him out wide. They're tough matchups, a lot

(04:41):
of different body types. All sophomores are really really good
four and five star prospects. Not a lot of depth
behind them, but I think they'll get a majority of
the snaps. All are capable of beating coverage. I think
Miller Moss is very coachable. They'll be less ad lit,
will look more like a Lincoln Riley offense. Now what

(05:03):
do we know about him? He was dominant against a
pretty uninspired Louisville team in a bowl game, where those
young receivers flourished. The offensive line again really talented, a
lot of four star recruits. Elijah Page left tackle. They
flipped him from Notre Dame at the very last second.
He's a red shirt freshman. I think he's their second

(05:24):
most talented offensive lineman to Manheim, who will be one
of the top five centers in the country. He's moved
around the offensive line. I think he anchors it at center.
I couldn't say the last time USC had a really
high end NFL caliber first or second round center been
a while, and Mannheim will anchor it. Page at left
tackle is exceptional, but young. Everywhere across that line, it's

(05:49):
sophomoror's red shirt freshman. Some actual decent depth on the interior,
but most of it unproven. But again, these were highly
acclaimed prospects that USC beat out bigger schools or big schools,
big brands, and so I've been told the coaches like
what they see up front, but this offense is not

(06:11):
deep at running back, talented, not deep at tight end,
not that talented, and not that deep. So it's not
going to be a dynamic offense like we've seen the
last couple of years. But I think it can be
at times of ball control offense. I think there were
times last year with Caleb Williams that the staff didn't
want to get him hurt. Once the national championship was

(06:34):
out of reach, there were some calls they wouldn't make.
You know, Caleb was running for his life breakdowns on
the offensive line. I can tell you the staff really
likes the talent level of this offensive line. They were
greatly disappointed in last year's unit. But again, it's a
really really there's a lot of stuff here. Body type, speed,

(06:55):
dynamic running backs. Just then, and I've said this before,
Jim Harbaugh could double Brady Hoaks wins the first year
at Michigan. Brian Kelly could do the same at Notre Dame.
But those teams really didn't look like a Georgia or
a Bama or an Ohio State until about year six
for Harbaugh, year six for Brian Kelly. USC fooled a

(07:16):
lot of people. With Caleb Williams, they were a play
from twelve wins the first year. They were not an
eleven win team. Oh that may have been their record,
but it was a lot of Caleb Williams, Jordan Addison
and You know, people in the Pac twelve didn't know
what to make a Lincoln Riley. I had never faced
him before. He had a competitive advantage. Last year came
back down to earth Miller Moss more than capable, four

(07:39):
star kid, good body, size, decent arm, willing to throw
the ball down the field. I think he'll be really strong,
but it will be a different offense, maybe less ad libbing,
a little less risk, taking more of it in the pocket.
But I think they're going to score high twenties, low
thirties on most saturdays. Defensively, the secondary, due to transfers

(08:01):
and good recruiting, is about as deep and about as
talented as I remember it. Even during Pete Carroll's great years,
corner was kind of a soft spot. You know, Pete
did so well at linebacker, defensive line, skilled players, offensively built,
great staffs, Norm Chow, Sark Lane Kiffen, But Pete's teams

(08:22):
weren't great at corner. This team's actually got size and
depth and speed and experience at both safety and corner.
I think it's the strongest part of the team. I
really do the back end. I also think they have
some depth. Finally, for the first time in years at
linebacker and a couple of their If you go to
this past year's recruiting class, they'll be special teamers. But

(08:44):
they've got some young true freshman at linebacker won't get
a ton of snaps in games. They also have some
commitments going ahead. It was a unit that has been
down at USC for years. I think it will be
a stronger linebacking corps. They do not have the size
where Alexander has an NFL body. He's hit and miss
when it comes to effort. I think they'll have a

(09:06):
decent edge rush more talent there. I don't think they
have the depth of the size of the talent on
the interior. I think they'll get pushed around a little
bit by LSU and the opener, by Penn State and
by Notre Dame at various times in the season. But
I think the biggest upgrade to this entire staff is
the defensive coaches. Whenever you leave a program Nick Saban

(09:29):
leaves Michigan State to LSU, Hey, guys, who's getting on
the plane. Who's getting on that Boosters jet or that
school jet and flying to the new job. Whoever gets
on that jet on your staff, You're not going to
move their family for one year. There may be guys
getting on that jet that you wouldn't have chosen, but
Alex Grinch got on that jet. As a defensive coordinator

(09:51):
for USC, and Lincoln Riley was disappointed after year one
suffered greatly. In year two, they have significantly paid for
and upgraded the defensive staff. I talked to two people
that have been at practice this week and they said
they think the defense, especially early in the season, will
lead the team. It will not be the offense. The

(10:12):
offense is young. The feeling with USC is the offense
will get better as the season progresses, but it will
be the defense initially that carries the team. And that's
hopeful because Michigan is very early in the season. In
the first month, they are really rebuilding that offense. LSU
lost two world class college receivers and an excellent number

(10:33):
two pick in the draft, jad and Daniels at quarterback,
and this LSU program, like USC, can't get their defense right.
So facing LSU first game a bit of a break,
they could be really good. I don't think they'll be
great early, and I don't think USC offensively will be
a great team early. That'll grow, but I think what
I'm hearing and what I'm seeing in a camp from

(10:55):
people I really trust is the defense has really come together.
It's been simplified, has been an elevation of coaching. And
when I looked over the schedule today, I said, LSU's
a coin flip. They're favored LSU by six, so let's
say it's a loss. I think they beat Ustah State, Michigan,
and Wisconsin, and at Minnesota. I think they lose to

(11:17):
Penn State. I think they beat Maryland, Rutgers and a
close one over Washington Washington in a complete offensive rebuild,
though I do think Jed Fish is a really talented
offensive coach. Nebraska, I'll put that as a loss. It's
a sandwich game. They beat UCLA, lose the Notre Dame.
So I have four losses, eight wins, and that's kind
of That's kind of where the DraftKings in Vegas has them.

(11:39):
I think the offense by the end of the year
will be very hopeful. I think the defense initially will
stand out as a major upgrade. But I've tried to
pump the brakes for all the people that are critical
of Lincoln Riley. First of all, there's a lot of
good news at USC The collective may not be Texas
or Oregon, but it's around thirteen thirteen and a half million.

(12:00):
And if they if they beat LSU if it feels
very good. Up to that Penn State game, which is
a toughie. Penn State is to me the third most
talented team of the conference, behind Oregon and Ohio State.
It's at home, it's the coliseum, but it's a tough one.
You know, that collective may improve fans boosters. Donors can
be fickle based on moment of the program. Momentum of

(12:21):
the program, so you know, I think there's the collectives good.
I think Jen Cohn and Lincoln Riley have some symmetry.
Now may have been bumpy early, they have some symmetry.
I think the defensive staff has been upgraded. I think
the freshman class that just came arrived here in fall
camp has some real size in the defensive front. It's
going to be a lot of special teams guys and

(12:42):
red shirting, but there's some promising size on the interior
of the defensive line. And I think I think Miller
Moss is going to surprise people. Miller's a guy that
I had been in a conversation with him and a
friend about a year ago, and you know, it was
tough for him that he was considering transferring. But it

(13:02):
had gone through his mind that he knew he wasn't
going to play much at all last year, and it
was tough for him. He was a very ballyhooed local recruit.
But I think he was smart to stick it out.
I think he's talented, and I think he saw it
against Louisville. And again, he's a risk taker. He's not
going to play it safe. He'll let it rip. But
I think the offense will look different. It will look
more conventional, it will look a bit maybe more predictable,

(13:26):
less out of the pocket, and that's okay. I felt,
you know, I said this with Matt Lafleur and the
Green Bay Packers, with Aaron Rodgers, it felt like a
fifty to fifty split half Matt's offense half errand last
year with Jordan Love, I felt like it was Matt
Lafluur's offense at the end of last year, mid to
the end of the year, I thought it was Caleb's offense,
right right. I thought the first year was a combination
of Caleb and Lincoln. I thought there were times last

(13:47):
year it kind of felt like Caleb was doing what
Caleb wanted to do. And as we've seen in the preseason,
that's okay, that's not Miller Moss. But I think it'll
take a step back in terms of being dynamic, but
it'll work. Still contend that Lincoln Riley's one of the
smartest offensive coaches in football. Is he a great culture
builder staff builder? That's yet to be seen. But the

(14:09):
expectations off that first eleven win season, which could have
easily been twelve if they hold the lead in the
last forty five seconds against Tulane, raised the bar beyond
reasonable expectations. Third year at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh wanted only
eight games and they were losing a Michigan State and
getting clubbed by Ohio State. This stuff takes time. The

(14:30):
idea that the transfer portal is this magic elixer. Go
ask Deon Sanders, Brian Kelly or Lincoln Riley you can improve.
First of all, people that leave programs, there's usually a reason,
mostly except quarterbacks. Quarterbacks generally they're going to go find
the best coach available, the best receivers available. A lot
of receive a lot of quarterback moves in college football.

(14:52):
I get they're upgrading to better coaches and better programs,
but a lot of transfers in the transfer portal, nobody's
lose nunny sleep when they leave. I mean, if you're
a USC fan, look at all the players that have
transferred out of USC. How many stars did you lose?
Super valuable players? You know, players transfer when they're not
playing or when they're unhappy with their situation. So I

(15:13):
think there's limitations on cultural development chemistry. You know, Jordan,
Addison and Caleb were obviously home runs. Who's the third
best transfer they've had? Seriously, So I think I think Brian,
Dion and Lincoln are all sensing that high school recruiting

(15:33):
has to be the backbone of your program. So there
you go, say it again. Lose close to LSU, close
to Penn State, Notre Dame in that sandwich game against Nebraska,
but I see eight wins, don't get into the playoff,
But you'll feel good when the season ends. The offense
is young, getting better, you got your quarterback, and the
defense finally has the legitimate coaching staff.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
The volume, Hey, what's up everybody? John middlecoff here for
the Three and Out podcasts. The NFL season is right
around the corner, and if you want some of the
best football content out there, I got you covered training camp,
through the preseason, throughout the entire season. Subscribe and follow
the Three and Out Podcast with me John Middlecock on Apple, Spotify,

(16:18):
wherever you listen to your podcasts.