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Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham (55) moves past the USC offensive line and closes in on Trojans quarterback Miller Moss last Saturday at Michigan Stadium. USC coach Lincoln Riley is confident the Trojans’ line will improve. (Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The left tackle was cramping. The right guard was benched. The new right tackle was playing his first meaningful snaps, while the new right guard had played only a handful. All the while, 110,000 hostile fans roared with every missed block or botched assignment against the nation’s most fearsome defensive front featuring two top-15 NFL draft prospects on the interior.
“That’s as tough as it gets,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said Tuesday.
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It was truly a nightmare scenario for USC’s offensive line, which came completely unraveled during a 27-24 loss to Michigan, raising serious questions about the depth and development of a group Riley and his staff assured would be fine without offseason additions from the transfer portal.
That confidence certainly looked misplaced Saturday, as Michigan’s pass rush steamrolled through the Trojan front with ease, pressuring quarterback Miller Moss 22 times. Still, Riley didn’t seem concerned on Tuesday about the line’s long-term trajectory, instead once again reiterating his belief that USC’s offensive line can be “really damn good” this season.
Some of that responsibility in getting there, Riley did acknowledge, does fall on him and his staff. The coach admitted he could have done a better job preparing the offense for Michigan’s defensive front.
“We all gotta take steps — the coaching, the players around them — to get it going, to play at the level we want to,” Riley said. “And frankly, within the first couple of games this year,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lincoln-riley-confident-usc-offensive-041323075.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-09-25 04:13:23
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