Joel Klatt identifies when we will know if USC is a real contender
USC gave up 28 or more points in 11 of its 13 games during the 2023 season, a year in which the Trojans ranked 121st ins scoring defense and 119th in total defense.
That’s why even a 48-0 shutout win over a Utah State squad that was picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West preseason poll is still signifcant.
D’Anton Lynn made the move from UCLA to USC this offseason and then made the necessary changes to the Trojans on the defensive side of the ball. That was evident in Week 1 when they allowed only 113 rushing yards and 20 points in a win over then-No. 13 LSU.
The USC defense looks much better under its new defensive coordinator, but when will we know if Lincoln Riley’s 2024 Trojans are the real deal?
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FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt answered that question on his show Wednesday.
“This is not an easy schedule for USC, but we’re going to know if [USC is] real, when they go to Michigan on September 21,” Klatt said.
He noted just before that, too: “USC has got to be thinking to themselves, ‘This is when you would want to face Michigan.’ You didn’t want to face them anytime in the last three years, in particular last year, and you don’t want to face them late in the season once they can develop their offensive line and really get it rolling with some of that physical play.”
Michigan is coming off a disappointing 31-12 loss to now-No. 2 Texas. As a result, the Wolverines plummeted from No. 10 to No. 17 in this week’s AP Poll. Their quarterback situation remains troubling, with starter Davis Warren posting a 2:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio through two games and Alex Orji coming in as mostly a change-of-pace runner. Most of all, though, the Michigan offensive line, completely new this season, is still a work-in-progress.
The Wolverines look like a team that sent 18 players to the NFL Combine and had a program-record 13 players drafted. They lost a lot of talent and didn’t replace all of it in the transfer portal this offseason.
Michigan gets Arkansas State in Week 3 before hosting USC for another marquee matchup in The Big House. Eyes will be on the Wolverines to see if they’ve made progress since last week’s setback.
But the pressure will be on USC as well.
“Because if they get beat by that Michigan team that didn’t look great offensively and Texas kind of handled, then we’re going to be thinking to ourselves, ‘Alright, that’s kind of the same USC,’” Klatt said. “They’ve played down to their level of competition at times, and they weren’t consistent at times during the course of the last couple of years.
“But we’ll know September 21. I have a hunch it could be really good for USC.”
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