Jon Joseph No. 1 Share Posted April 22, 2022 Expectations for USC football in 2022: Can Lincoln Riley lead Trojans to Pac-12 title, CFP in debut season? - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM As spring practice winds down, our experts share their expectations for USC in 2022 under a new regime Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven A Moderator No. 2 Share Posted April 22, 2022 Trojan fans should set their sights on a 10-win season as the goal but be willing to settle for 9-3. -- Tom Fornelli Anything less than a New Year's Six bid should be viewed as a disappointment. -- Barrett Sallee Riley deserves a season to get his sea legs underneath him, but quickly becoming a dark-horse contender for the Pac-12 -- and College Football Playoff -- isn't out of the question. -- Shehan Jeyarajah Riley should have the Trojans immediately back to the top of a watered-down Pac-12. This team should either be in the CFP or snubbed in favor of a team with a similar résumé from a more reputable conference. -- David Cobb I think this is great, kinda hard to overachieve with these reviews. And, all the more reason to stay away from the water in so Cal. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck No. 3 Share Posted April 22, 2022 The first two predictions reasonable, the next two are Great Expectations that would have Dickens calling his lawyer to sue for libel. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quackerbacker No. 4 Share Posted April 22, 2022 David Cobb needs pump the brakes just a wee bit. But thanks for the bulletin board material! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author No. 5 Share Posted April 22, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 6:14 PM, Quackerbacker said: David Cobb needs pump the brakes just a wee bit. But thanks for the bulletin board material! The Missing Tech Challenge Link actually linked! Hats off to Charles for egging an old timer on. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Haulin No. 6 Share Posted April 23, 2022 All the slobbering over USC and Riley is nauseating. I know I am not the smartest guy in the room, never had to be. But I believe I am right on this one though. Riley is fools gold. Come late November, crows worldwide will need to be put on the endangered list. Looks like they will be served up in historic proportions. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author No. 7 Share Posted April 23, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 8:37 PM, Log Haulin said: All the slobbering over USC and Riley is nauseating. I know I am not the smartest guy in the room, never had to be. But I believe I am right on this one though. Riley is fools gold. Come late November, crows worldwide will need to be put on the endangered list. Looks like they will be served up in historic proportions. Could be spot on my friend. Riley was handed a Maserati with the keys. But he improved the OK win total to 85% of the games compared to Big Game Bob's 80% of the games. With Caleb Williams and the other guys he has brought in and in this conference I expect he will go 9-3. He'll likely take an L at Utah and versus Notre Dame but in 2022 he has the Ducks standing by to help him out. SC misses Oregon in the conference cross over and Utah visiting Oregon helps SC's cause. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 8 Share Posted April 23, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 5:44 PM, Jon Joseph said: But he improved the OK win total to 85% of the games compared to Big Game Bob's 80% of the games. But how much of that could be due to a completely absent Texas and the rest of the big-12 powers being up and down over that same time frame? Texas is the key one here though... Oklahoma has been able to put recruit the big-12 because Texas has been mediocre at best. If you're going to staying the conference footprint why go to Texas if you're a top recruit when you can go to a program with life in it at Oklahoma? Again... Not saying that Riley is a bad coach. He is a GOOD coach but every pundit these days wants to ignore context and crown him as the next USC GREAT coach... He may be that but we are going to have a wait to find out. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Haulin No. 9 Share Posted April 23, 2022 Riley had a body of work spanning 6 seasons. Stoops had 17 seasons. Most of those seasons 2 or 3 loss seasons. Stoops went undefeated in at least one. Okie will always recruit top 15 and more often than not top 10. Most of Rileys success was with Stoops guys. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Haulin No. 10 Share Posted April 23, 2022 Stoops coached Okie for 17 seasons, Riley got the keys with Stoops guys. Took OU to playoffs. Bellotti was with Ducks 20 seasons, 6 as OC. Kelly got the keys and UO plays Auburn. Flames out in the NFL, UCLA... Meh! Helf gets the job and we play tOSU. Flames out No guarantees Riley is successful. Kiffin couldn't make it work. Kiffin is a great coach. Crowning Riley is a bit premature. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck No. 11 Share Posted April 23, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 5:54 PM, David Marsh said: next USC GREAT 2 of the greatest USC Coaches played and coached at Oregon, Riley doesn't have that important box checked. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Axel No. 12 Share Posted April 23, 2022 Those genius sportswriters have convinced me that Lincoln Riley is just the best, and I don't mean just best coach. Riley has got to be the best all-around human being dating back to the days when Adam chased Eve through the Garden of Eden. Lincoln Riley is just everything to everybody and you may just agree when you read... The Top 10 Guaranteed Accomplishments of Lincoln Riley in 2022 10. Trojans win national championship, Super Bowl, and World Cricket Cup 9. Ends hunger in America 8. Climbs K2 and Mount Everest in same afternoon 7. Buys another mansion, this one with 13 bathrooms 6. Talks Putin into joining Peace Corps 5. Walks to Catalina Island just to brag he can walk on water 4. Rescues Traveler from the glue factory 3. Solves that nasty Covid business 2. Wins worldwide acclaim for his flying car 1. Goes golfing with O.J., loses by 30 strokes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred flintstone No. 13 Share Posted April 23, 2022 Riley will get USC going again......but it will be a year or two...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author No. 14 Share Posted April 23, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 8:54 PM, David Marsh said: But how much of that could be due to a completely absent Texas and the rest of the big-12 powers being up and down over that same time frame? Texas is the key one here though... Oklahoma has been able to put recruit the big-12 because Texas has been mediocre at best. If you're going to staying the conference footprint why go to Texas if you're a top recruit when you can go to a program with life in it at Oklahoma? Again... Not saying that Riley is a bad coach. He is a GOOD coach but every pundit these days wants to ignore context and crown him as the next USC GREAT coach... He may be that but we are going to have a wait to find out. In the seasons Riley was the HC at OK, Texas had an equally rated or better ranked roster than did Oklahoma. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester No. 15 Share Posted April 23, 2022 On 4/23/2022 at 10:01 AM, fred flintstone said: Riley will get USC going again......but it will be a year or two...... I agree with Fred - it will be a year or two. To heap that level of expectation on Riley this year is borderline felonious commentary (if there is such a thing). Articles don’t garner attention unless they’re laden with sensationalized word vomit. Unfortunately, this style of writing isn’t proprietary to just CBS. If a coach having a Broyles Award to his credit, a 55-10 OU head-coaching record, four consecutive conference championships, and had a heavy hand in guiding two Heisman winning QB’s landed his plain in Eugene after the departure of the Havana Huckster, I would have been giddy with expectation. So I get it, LR is practically a "brand”. But common sense would soon rear its ugly head and my enthusiasm would be tempered by the fact that my team (if I was Tommy Trojan) is coming off a 4-8 season, neglected the recruitment of interior line personnel, and will face a legitimate hurdle in the south – Utah. Also, you just wonder how tarnished is the once vaunted perennial SoCal powerhouse. Can the shine be fully restored? It’s clear that Riley has already made inroads in obtaining quality personnel via the portal and through incoming player commitment, so he’s off and running on his quest to restore USC to the glory days. I'm not wagering against him. What’s interesting is that there may be something brewing in Oregon as well. What this staff did in terms of short-term recruiting this year was nothing short of amazing. I don’t see that train slowing down, particularly if the Ducks exceed expectations. The only thing Cobb got right was “watered-down Pac-12”. But the arms race has just started and both USC and UO are looking to squash the left coast pessimism. Let the games begin. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author No. 16 Share Posted April 23, 2022 Great take. Riley does have until May 1st to find transfer help for the trenches and indicates that he is going to do so. I expect the busiest transfer portal activity to come between this Saturday's spring games and May 1. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
