What are ESPN’s expectations for USC football in 2025

Believe it or not, the start of the 2025 college football season is just around the corner. This past week, Big Ten media days unfolded in Las Vegas, kicking off the year for the sport’s biggest conference.

In a recent story, ESPN’s Bill Connelly gave a detailed 2025 outlook for every Big Ten team. Here is what he had to say about USC.

“When you’ve gone just 15-13 in your last 28 games at USC, as Riley has since an 11-1 start, your name is going to automatically show up on “hot seat” lists. That’s just the way it works. But damned if Riley isn’t building his team like a guy with the best job security in the world. His Trojans’ win total has fallen for two straight years, but he signed only 16 transfers, an average number in 2025, and less than half of them are seniors. He elected to stick with junior Jayden Maiava at quarterback after four solid but unspectacular starts. And despite losing quite a bit of depth from his first semi-competent defense in four years — only 10 of 13 players with 300-plus snaps return — he definitely didn’t overdo it with portal guys.

“Riley reportedly has a pretty prohibitive buyout at the moment, and he’s acting like it. Though this team does have a handful of pretty good seniors — linebacker Eric Gentry and incoming transfers in running back Eli Sanders (New Mexico), cornerback DJ Harvey (San José State) and safety Bishop Fitzgerald (NC State) — most of this team’s best players are guys who will still have eligibility left in 2026, when members of what is currently a spectacular recruiting class come to town. Steel yourself for some serious USC hype this time next year, I guess.

“D’Anton Lynn did a nice job in his first season as defensive coordinator; the Trojans improved from 105th to 48th in defensive SP+, thanks mostly to big-play prevention and outstanding third-down…

Source link : https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/trojans/football/2025/07/26/espn-expectations-usc-football-trojans-2025/85304339007/

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Publish date : 2025-07-26 18:42:00

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