Caleb Williams’ first season at Southern California was a massive individual success, as evidenced by his Heisman Trophy and his status as the consensus top prospect in the next NFL draft.
The Trojans have taken on another wave of talent as they begin their second season under Riley, whose remarkable rebuilding project still needs plenty of work despite that impressive 11-3 record last year. Riley’s first team stumbled only against Utah, which beat the Trojans twice to win the Pac-12 title, and in the Cotton Bowl, when Tulane rallied from a 15-point deficit in the final five minutes for a stunner.
“We knew that it was going to be a little bit of a journey, right?” Riley said. “This day and age, it’s been talked about a lot, you can build rosters faster than you could before, but you still can’t do everything in one year. It can’t happen. You can make dramatic changes, but not everything. We were proud of what we did in Year One, but certainly very focused on what we felt like Year Two could be.
The Trojans didn’t have to play Oregon or Washington last season, but both powerhouses are on this year’s schedule. The challenges are bigger, but so are the rewards for a program confident it’s ready to join the College Football Playoff for the first time.As the world knows, this season is the Trojans’ last in the Pac-12.
The Trojans added a wealth of talent in the transfer window, including defensive tackles Bear Alexander , Kyon Barrs and Jack Sullivan , defensive end Anthony Lucas and linebacker Mason Cobb . The secondary also was bolstered by Tre’Quon Fegans and Christian Roland-Wallace . The pressure is now squarely on Grinch to turn this talent into stops.Riley’s offense was uniformly outstanding last season while finishing third in the FBS with 506.
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