Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / 2024 USC Football Preview: How Will The Trojans Replace Caleb Williams?

Transcript

2024 USC Football Preview: How Will The Trojans Replace Caleb Williams? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Tuesday, August sixth,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom. Or the Akron game in twenty
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: five days, the game against Michigan in one hundred and
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: sixteen days. We just wrapped up one of the most exciting,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: well one of the most days on the Ohio State
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: football calendar, Hotel check and Day. Now in the rearview mirror.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: You want to see the photos of the Buckeyes checking
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: into the hotel or the start of fall camp, you
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: can do that at Buckeye Huddle dot com at a
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: two hour live stream out there as well. If you
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: want to watch players walk into a hotel, see some
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: of the guys up close without all their helmets and
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: all that stuff on, you can do that at YouTube
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: dot com slash Bucke Huddle. Today, though, we're gonna be
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: talking about something completely different from the Ohio State Buckeyes
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: and completely different from Hotel check and Day. You've been
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: talking about the USC Trojans, and we're doing that with
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Connor Morrissett of USC football dot com. USC is one
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: of the more fascinating teams out there. Obviously, the Trojans
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: entering a new and perhaps tougher conference this year, also
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: losing the Heisman Trophy winner off of last year's team,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: but also adding a new defensive coordinator, saying goodbye to
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: longtime friend of the program and front of many different
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: programs over the years, Alex Brine. So what is the
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: USC team going to look like this year? In year
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: one in the Big Ten. Here's my conversation with Connor
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Morissett of USC football dot Com at Big Ten Media Days.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: I'm joined by Connor Morrissett of USC football dot Com.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: First season for the Trojans in the Big Ten one
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: of the many, many things that is new this year.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: I gotta tell you, Connor walking into Big Ten Media
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Days seeing the Oregon in Washington and USC and UCLA
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: logos just on the outside of the building, which is
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: kind of like I have known this is coming for
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: quite a while, and it was still like, oh boy,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: this is real different.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: It's certainly jarring to see, but we're here and I'm
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: excited to see what USC can do in this new conference.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: I think they were a pick to finish sixth in
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: that Cleveland dot Com media poll, which I thought was interesting,
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: and I'd have them around there as well, five or six.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: I think what is the mood around the USC football
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: program right now in terms of this move?
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: I mean, this is.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Probably has felt somewhat inevitable for a while because you know,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: the Pac twelve is very obviously you're not going to
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: stay together forever. Is it excitement? Is it nervousness? Is
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: it you know, oh boy, we're leveling up in terms
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: of competition? Is what is the kind of mood around
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: US program and fan base right now?
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: It's definitely excitement because you're either in one of the
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: two good leagues or you're not.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: I know, the Big twelve is really trying to.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Get hold of that third spot and they're battling with
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: the ACC, but you really want to either be in
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: the Big ten or the SEC, as you know.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: So the fact that USC.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Now makes that move, and even with Oregon and Washington
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: trailing them, it's still significant and people are really excited
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: to be here because it seems like if you aren't
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: one of these two leagues, who knows what the future holds.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Potentially we could see, you know, football go crazy with
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: like one mega conference and kind of do their own thing,
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: and that would potentially include teams from the Big Ten,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: n SEC and maybe some.
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: Others as well.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: But if you're in this conference, you're in a good spot.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of excitement.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: It does feel like everyone's sort of gotten on the
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: life quote now from some of the some of the
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: sinking ships that they have been on earlier. This is
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: not just a new season for USA in terms of conference.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: This is a brave new world in the post Caleb
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Williams era. And you know, there were there were plenty
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: of times last year that it watching them, it felt
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: like it was the run around and do something cool.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Play got called and he executed it very well, very consistently.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: Now he is gone. You saw Miller Moss in the.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Holiday bol had a really impressive performance against Louville in
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: the Hollya Bowl. What's the level of confidence in terms
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: of him just being able to sort of he's a
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: different kind of player than Caleb Williams, but being able
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: to sort of take that baton and run with it.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: I've been asked this a bunch, and I think I'm
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: as confident as I can possibly be in a guy
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: who's made one career college start, if that makes sense, He's.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: Done everything right.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: He had so many options or so many opportunities excuse
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: me to transfer, and he always chose to stay at USC.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Came there out of high school when Lincoln Riley took
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: over at Caleb Williams, who was in that same recruiting
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: class as Miller moss In, and it was clear that
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Miller wasn't going to start anytime soon, so he chooses
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: to stick around.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: The team loves him. They all rallied around him in
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: the Holiday Bowl.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: From an ability standpoint, Is he as good as Caleb Williams,
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Let's be honest, No, because he's probably not gonna be
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: the number one draft pick. Not many quarterbacks are in
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: that conversation, of course, so there will be a difference there.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: But off the field, people love him. On the field,
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: he's really really smart, really cerebral. He can make a
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: lot of the good throws, and I wouldn't expect similar
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: results to Caleb, of course, but I think it could
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: be somewhat close, and people are excited about Miller. I'm
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: excited about him, and like I said to start this spiel,
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: I'm as.
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Confident in him as I am.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: The guy who's only mide one career start, and he's
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: going to have some very different people around him as well,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: lost a couple of top rushers, lost a couple of
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: top receivers, I mean kind of again, starting from square
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: one almost with the skill positions, USC obviously has four
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: decades been known for bringing in plenty of very talented
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: skill players.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: So who are the next guys up there? At wide receiver?
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: Lincoln Riley in his first full class, he brought in
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: four really really talented guys. So zach Ry Branch, who
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: was one of the best return men in the country
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: last year.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: Lincoln Riley stayd yesterday. He wants to challenge him to
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: be more involved in the offense.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: He's a really really talented slot receiver, five star guy,
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: all the traits. He's someone to watch. And then Deuce Robinson,
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: he was the number one tight end in that class.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: He's switched over to wide receiver, six foot six, a
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: game breaker, a guy can go really deep, and he's had.
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: A really good offseason by all accounts. So those are
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: two names.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Makai Lemon is another slot receiver, really tough kid, one
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: of the best high school players I've ever seen in
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: southern California. And then the name that I'm really fascinated
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: by is Jacoby Lane. He's a six foot four outside
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: wide receiver. He had two touchdowns in the Holiday Bowl
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: against Louisville. People on the team, they won't stop talking
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: about how much potential he has and how they think
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: he's going to have a breakout year. So those four groups,
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: or those four super sophomores, are part of a really
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: I think solid wide receivering corps. And then in the
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: transfer portal us he's added a bunch of depth pieces,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: guys who will fit in here and there. But the
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: plan is for those sophomores to take a big leap.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: And then at the running back spot.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: Jordan Marshawn Lloyd, the South Carolina transfer last year, he's
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: in the NFL. He had an awesome season a year ago.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: He averaged like over seven yards of carry. He's replaced
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: by Woody Marx, who transferred in from Mississippi State, and
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: he's another NFL draft guy. People are really excited about him.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: So they have a solid group of skill position guys.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: I think it's a little bit of a you got
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: to kind of project it out with the receivers, but
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: I do think they can get there. The depth is
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: a concern, especially at the running back spot because behind
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: Woody Marx.
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: They really don't have any experience.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Last year, the offensive line was pretty solid in terms
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: of getting pushed in the run game, the pass pro
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: it felt like there were some issues at times, and
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: you know that issues with Caleb Williams back there is,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: you know, again the run around to do something cool.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Play sometimes covers up for some of those issues. Where
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: is the offensive line stand this year? Are they feeling
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: like they're going to be some progress sore? They worried
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: about maybe not making you know, not being ready. What's
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: the what's the status of the line right now?
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: I think they feel very solid about their one through five,
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: even though their left tackle is going to be a
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: red shirt freshman Elijah pay but people are confident in him.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: There's no depth though, if one person gets hurt. Jonah
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Manheim is going to be the center. He was at
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: left tackle last season. I imagine if one of the
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: tackles goes down, you'd have to swing out Jonah because
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: they have better depth at the center spot than they
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: do anywhere else on the offensive line, so they have
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: very limited tackle depth. Linkinn Riley said in the spring
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: before the transfer window open, that's going to be a
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: position that we want to target, we want to go after,
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: and they didn't get anyone. So that's a big concern
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: at guard. At the right guard spot, they're looking potentially
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: at a red shirt freshman or there's still a competition there.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: One of three guys will emerge, but again there's really
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: not as much competitive depth because there's so much inexperience.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: So I think the one through five is good, but
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: if a guy goes down, that's certainly an area of concern.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: They just don't have a lot of guys who played
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: a lot of snaps.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Not getting a linement in the portal after the spring.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: I know there were not a ton of guys in there,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: but that sort of makes my mind go, Okay, well,
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: what is their NIL program? Like?
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: How is the NIL program like someplaces?
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: You know, everyone immediately says Oregon when you say this,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: and Ohio State has plenty has had a successful NIL
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: program recently as well. But you know, where, how is
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: the alignment there? How is the support there among the
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: US collectives to you know, be able to find guys
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: in the portal, find guys in recruiting.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: The support is definitely there, The alignment is not really there.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of people based on discussions I've had
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: where Lincoln Riley kind of wants to do one thing,
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: and then people on the collective side they're negotiating with
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: some of these recruits and they're trying to do something else.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: And I think it would be really helpful if Lincoln Riley,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Jen Coo, and the AD just got everyone in a
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: room and said.
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: Let's figure this out.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Because I've heard from people across the recruiting processes, from
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: kids to parents to high school coaches. There's just a
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: lot of confusion going on. So that hasn't really been helpful.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: But the money's there. They're not in Oregon, they're not
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: in Ohio state, but I don't see the reason why
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: they wouldn't be number three or somewhere close to the
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: number three team in the Big Ten in terms of
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: budget for some of this and USC they've done a
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: better job of recruiting out of the transfer portal because
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: they're more willing to give money from or two transferred
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: players who are more proven.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: Lincoln rally has really been.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: Not as excited to give out some money to a
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: high school kid who's unproven, and that makes sense, but
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: you see the recruiting rankings that first full cycle when
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: nil wasn't really a thing yet USC gets the number
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: eight class and then last year they get the number
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: seventeen class. Right now they have the number twenty fourth
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: rank class in twenty twenty five. It's not all ANIL related,
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: of course, but we have to talk about that and
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: that's certainly.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Effect And before we move on to the defense, I
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: do want to kind of touch on just the general
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: alignment of the USC athletic department because that has always
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: felt like they've kind of cycled through athletic directors and
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: it has just always felt like it's, you know, it's
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: not a huge school, it's not you know, a massive,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: massive athletic department, but it just has always felt like
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: you can't quite get everyone, you know, marching marching at
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: the same time. What causes that is that that there's
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: just not that real strong figurehead at the top, you
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: know that Like I think of Nick Saban going to
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Alabama and he gave the you know, tip of the
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Spirit speech where basically said, yeah, everything runs through me,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: and when you're Nick Saban, you can do that. Have
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: they just not had that guy? What's the cause of
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: that lack of alignment.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Well, for a long time they had athletic directors who
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: were former football players who just weren't good athletic directors.
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: So that was a big problem.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Now Jen Cohen's and Mike Boone really orchestrated the move
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: to the Big ten for USC before he resigns, so
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: he was a real athletic director, but he wasn't really.
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: Up to speed with NIL stuff, so that was a problem.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: But now you have Gen Cohen, who, by all accounts,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: based on everyone I've talked to from Washington, people adore her.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: People really like her. She's competent, she's a good athletic director.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: But to your point about Nick Saban really being in charge,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: who's really in charge of the football programs.
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: It's not Gen Cohen, It's Lincoln Riley.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: So I think I don't want to say they're butting heads,
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: but especially with nils and recruiting, I think they have
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: different strategies and so that's kind of why they're pulling
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: in a different direction. And I don't know what it
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: will take to totally get that figured out, because I
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: know they all the time. So those two getting on
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: the same page and rowing in the right direction, I
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: think is important because the metal trickle down of the
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: collectives and the support staff and the assistant coaches.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: Lincoln Riley runs the show, and I think if he
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: can be a little.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: Hardheaded sometimes and if he was more agreeable and was
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: more willing to get help from some people who are
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: there to help him and could do a solid job,
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: I really think gen Cone could.
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: That would help.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: But Lincoln Raley wants to do it his way, and
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: I think right now, that's kind of the stems of
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: the problem.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Well, let's move on to the defense now. And last
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: year there weren't plenty of problems on the defense. And
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: this is an audience largely Ohio State fans, So I
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: will say the name Alex Scrinch and everyone will sort
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: of cringe together. Everyone had everyone sort of had a
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: similar experience there. I think it is, you know, how
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: much of last year's defense was personnel? How much of
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: last year's defense was scheme? Because it was you know,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: it was kind of bad all around. And Grinch is
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: an easy punching bag. And if you go through by
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: Twitter's line, you will find that I have punched in
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: that direction at times. But you know, but if you
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: go back and you know is just pushing Alex Sprinch
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: to decide is that tada, everything's fixed on the defense
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: or you know, Danton Lynn the new defensive coordinator from UCLA,
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: or is he going to have some personnel stuff to
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: work through too.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: Pushing him to the side obviously helps.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: He orchestrated that speed defense where he wants smaller players
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: to get into rush Lian's and you.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: Know, create turnovers, and it just wasn't sustainable.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: That first year with Lincoln Riley, they led the country
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: I think in turnovers, which some of it was luck,
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: some of it was green, so I want to give
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: him credit, excuse me, but last year the turnovers just
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: totally dried up and the whole scheme sort of fell apart,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: and it started with the defensive line. They just could
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: not get the push that that really was required, and
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: then the linebackers weren't good. So pushing him out is
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: certainly going to help Danton Lynn, though I don't think
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: it's gonna you know, he's not going to be that
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: piece of tape that stops the water coming out of
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: the pipe completely. The defensive line is a big question
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: mark because Isaiah Rakes. They brought him in from Texas
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: A and M, and he was supposed to be this
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: big nose tackle who was going to start alongside Bear
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: Alexander and solve a lot of the problems for USC
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: in the middle. And then after spring practice he transferred
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: to Auburn and that was a massive loss for USC
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: that they just recently addressed adding a Wyoming transfer in
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: the middle. But this player from Wyoming, Gavin Meyer, he
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: wasn't a starter. He was a depth piece for Wyoming.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: So I don't really know how much a depth piece
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: from Wyoming can come in and help USC.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: But we'll see.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: So they don't really have a classic nose tackle next
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: to Bear Alexander.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: He might have to play the nose.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: The depth there is a bit concern, And I don't know,
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: even with Danton Lynn what he did last year at UCLA,
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: how much he can help with that. He had leaut
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: too a lot too last year. He had a much
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: better defensive line. I think the secondary for USC can
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: be good. I think the linebacking court can be good
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: for USC. But I have real concerns about the defensive line,
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: and I don't know what a coach can do to
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: solve some of those problems.
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: Eventually, you just need to have the guys and I
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: don't know if they do well.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: And they've really loaded up through the transfer portal on
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: defense because they had a lot of holes to fill.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: How many of the guys that they brought in through
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: the portal are?
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: You know? This is definitely going to be a Day
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: one starter versus well.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: We'll see Easton Mascarinus Arnold, the All Pac twelve first
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: team linebacker from Oregon State.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: He's going to be the Mike linebacker.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: He's going to wear the helmet, the green dot, the
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: communication helmet this year. He's I think going to be
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: a captain too, So pencil him in for starter. Kamari
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Ramsey was a representative for USC here yesterday. He's a safety.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: He followed Danton Lynn from UCLA. I think he's an
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: NFL caliber player. He was really good at USLE last year.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: He's another guy on pencil in is a sure thing.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: And then at the cornerback spots, there's going to be
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: one transfer for there's three guys who I think are
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: really good for two spots, and a few transfers have
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: a chot to play there with one returner, so you
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: could see some corners come in and who have transferred.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: And then in the defensive line, Nate Clifton was brought
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: in to be like a hybrid edge and maybe if
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: you need him in the middle, you'll play him in
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: the middle. Guy, and they've beefed him up because they
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: don't have any other options. And he's playing in the
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: middle alongside Bear Alexander right now. So he's a transfer
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: from Vanderbilt. I look at him as a guy who
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: will probably start, But that spot next to Alexander, I
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: won't shut up about it because it's really really a
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: question mark. It might be Clifton who's a transfer, but
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: it could be someone else.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: Those are the guys who come to mind.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: But I do think the defensive depth is better than
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: the offensive depth, at least in the lineback and corps
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: and in the secondary, and a lot of those have
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: been supplemented by transfers.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Having concerns in the middle. Eier defensive line is not great.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: And then you have the following teams in your schedule
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: at Michigan, Penn State, at Washington, Nebraska, Notre Dame. You
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: know they're picked a fix finished sixth in the Big Ten.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: You know those are five five losable games. We'll see,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: you know, we'll see what Washington if Washington is starting
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: from square one, even more than you know anyone in
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: the league, is what does success look like for year
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: one in the Big Ten?
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: I think nine to three would be huge.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: So that would be a successful season to me, and
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: anything beyond that would be amazing.
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: So I look at that.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: To me, I really think it's going to be a
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: seven to five, eight and four situation because last season,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: for as bad as it was, they had some easy
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: games at the beginning of the schedule that really helped them.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: They played Stanford, and Stanford was terrible. They played a
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: bad and the bad a team. They played San Jose State,
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: who actually gave him kind of a game in the
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: first half. This year, it's Utah State who they'll beat.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: They just have to fire their coach or he resigned whatever.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: Even if they had their coach, it wouldn't have mattered.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: And then every other game I look at it, it's like, Okay,
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: should USC win a lot of these?
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but there are no guarantees. Yeah.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, It's definitely gonna be a challenging, challenging schedule in
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: year one. I feel like I'm saying that about a
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: lot of teams. It is. It turns out there's a
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: lot of good teams in the Big Ten now, all
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: of a sudden. Last thing I wanted to ask you about.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Lincoln Riwley talked about this a little bit yesterday, the
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: possibility of the Notre Dame rivalry going away, and you
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: know the way he was talking about it, it was
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: like you kind of get the sense from him that
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: it's like, well, we'll be very sad to see it go.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: I can't say this out loud, but we're going to
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: be very sad to see when it leaves.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, he said what he means, and he
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: brought up Nick Saban when at Alabama would never schedule
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: a game like that. The tradition is totally different with Alabama.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: They don't have that classic Notre Dame rivalry. It's different.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: But I think that's in an ideal world, he would
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: come to the USC, he'ld get rid of that game,
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: and he would try to have the easiest path possible
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: to get to the playoff. Fans don't want to hear that.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Then you should see my Twitter. It's blowing up. People
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: are so annoyed at that and upset, and I get it.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: I don't really know what the right move for him is.
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: I mean, in my opinion, just keep the game and
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: because if you're not going enough to beat Notre Dame
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: in the given season, you're probably not good enough to
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: make the college football playoff.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: That's the college football fan of me talking.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: I get what he's saying, but I mean that's a
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: quick way to piss a lot of people off. And
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: I think deep down he does want to get rid
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: of the game. That's why he is bringing it up.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: And we've heard some shatter even before that about the
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: game potentially going away at some point. So I don't
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: think he did himself any favors yesterday. I do think
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: deep down he wouldn't hate if it went away. So
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: we'll see what happens in the future, but I know
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: i'd be disappointed.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels like we've lost a lot of those
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: rivalries over the years, just for you know, backyard brawl
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: or the border war or Texas Texas A and M
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: which now we have back. But I mean a lot
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: of those have kind of come and gone over the years,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: which is the price of progress.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: I guess. You know, if this is progress, say it
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: is the price of progress.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Well, the ratings are high, right, yeah, right, exactly, The
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: TV folks are happy.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: What else? What else really matters?
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Connor, Let folks know where they can find you, where
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: they can follow you this season, to keep on keep
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: up to speed on the Trojans.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm at USC football dot com. You can follow
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: me on x CE Underscore morisseet. My last name is
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: double Everything m O R R I S S E
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: T T E.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: All Right, Well, looking forward to following you and seeing
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: what year one in the Big Ten brings for the Trojans.
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: Appreciate it.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: Well, Thanks again to Connor for taking the time to
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: talk to me. I thought that was a really interesting conversation.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: USC definitely one of those teams that could be in
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: the top four or so in the Big Ten if
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: everything breaks right, or could be eighth or tenth in
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: the conference if everything goes wrong. It's going to be
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: a very interesting year for Lincoln Riley as he and
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: the Trojan Trojans transition to the Big Ten this fall.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: A little later on today, we are going to be
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: back at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for the next
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: day of our fall camp coverage. Going to be talking
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: to Ohio State offense of coordinator Chip Kelly as well
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: as the Ohio State quarterback should be some really interesting
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: stuff to learn during those interviews. We'll have all that
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: coverage for you at YouTube dot com slash Buckeye Huddle
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: coming up a little later on in the morning. Maybe
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: pencil in like eleven eleven thirty this morning, something like that.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: As soon as practice.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: Is over, we will have those interviews for you at
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: YouTube dot com slash bucke Huddle.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: We will try and do a live show as well.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: If time permits and the schedule at the Woody Hayes
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Athletics Center permits, try and have a live show for
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: you there as well. So this would be a great
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: time to make sure you are subscribed at YouTube dot
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: com slash Buckey Huddle, that you've also hit that bell
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: there to make sure you get notified every time we
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: do a live show or you're going to be doing
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: a lot of live content over the next few weeks
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: as we count down the days to the start of
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: the twenty twenty four Ohio State football schedule, You're gonna want.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: To be there at YouTube dot com slash Bucket Huddle.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: For all of it. You're also going to want to
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: be at Buckeye huddle dot com. That's where Kevin, Tony
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: and I cover the team, Mark covers recruiting, got our
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: whole team of ex's and thsegurus, making you a smart
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: football fan, and filling those long days between now and
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: when the Ohio State Akron game kicks off on August thirty. First,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: we're getting their friends. You can get there with us
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: at Buckeye huddle dot com.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: That'll do it for today.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Thank you guys all for joining us.
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: Have a great day.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: We'll talk to you tomorrow.