USC’s lack of bodies on defense, especially along the defensive line, is the biggest single concern for the program according to most analysts and observers. Yet, some commentators have a slightly different view. They don’t discount, dismiss, or ignore the defensive depth question or the lack of considerable depth on both the offensive and defensive lines. However, they point to something else as a central reason USC might fall short this year.
Stewart Mandel of The Athletic is very much aware of the lack of defensive depth, but he pivots in his argument and makes his case based on something more specific:
Granted, Riley took teams to the Playoff at Oklahoma that had next-to-no defense — the Kyler Murray 2018 team in particular ranked 114th but made up for it by scoring a national-best 48.4 points per game. But that was with a program that had a firmly established culture, including a staff that had largely remained together for the duration of those players’ careers.
Star power or not, it’s expecting an awful lot of Riley that he would come in and, in a matter of months, flip half the roster, install an entirely new staff (save for one assistant, Donte Williams) and lead USC to an 11- or 12-win season. The Trojans have still got to face teams I have ranked No. 4 (Utah), No. 5 (Notre Dame) and, possibly in a conference title game, No. 12 (Oregon), plus an explosive UCLA offense.
I’ve got them No. 13. I could see them cracking the Top 10. I could also see them going 7-5.
Impermanence — the idea that the roster and the culture aren’t firmly established, with little carryover from 2021 — seems to be the more precise reason Mandel is doubting USC. He knows this offense is special and can compensate for the defense’s deficiencies, but the lack of an established culture prevents him from trusting this team.
It’s not a wrong opinion. It’s not flawed analysis. It’s merely notable that this notion of impermanence is so prominent in Mandel’s…
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