LOS ANGELES — It’s possible that many of you reading this have done your best to repress memories of the 2021 USC football season. And who could blame you? There are people who went through it on a personal level who would prefer to leave it in the past, too.
But allow yourself to remember the situation USC was in 11 months ago. The team had gone 4-8 in a season that saw head coach Clay Helton fired after two weeks. Each week was more soul-crushing than the rest for players and coaches who had to explain another loss that made history for the opposing program.
Last year when USC faced UCLA, a win simply would have kept bowl hopes alive.
This year, if USC defeats UCLA on Saturday at the Rose Bowl, the seventh-ranked Trojans will clinch their spot in the Pac-12 championship game Dec. 2 in Las Vegas.
“Who would have thought, right? Going from 4-8 last year to this position we are in now,” Trojans guard Andrew Vorhees said. “That’s always tough to say, right, you just never know. But with a coach like Coach Riley, you never know.”
That was the first catalyst for USC (9-1, 7-1 in Pac-12), the hiring of new head coach Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma. It was a move that sent shockwaves across the college football landscape.
But nowhere was the impact felt more than in the Trojans’ locker room. Players who had fought back tears in press conferences were suddenly brimming with optimism about the state of the program.
Given what Riley inherited, most expected this to be a multiyear rebuild. A simple inverse of last year’s record, an 8-4 mark, would be enough sign of progress to satiate USC fans after the end of the Helton era.
But for the returning players, there was hope USC would be in the situation it finds itself now, where not just a conference title but a spot in the College Football Playoff is attainable.
“That’s a big reason why I came back. Just talking to Lincoln, you can just tell, the type of guy he is. He’s just confident,” center Brett Neilon said. “The first meeting, it was like, ‘Here’s my plan and this is what I’m going to do.’ He’s done it at another school, so obviously you trust him.”
Belief is one thing, but Riley had to go about the work of getting USC to this point. It started with hiring a coaching staff, sorting through the state of the roster and adding transfers who could contribute right away.
From Caleb Williams to Travis Dye to Mekhi Blackmon to Shane Lee to Eric Gentry to Jordan Addison, the group came together during the offseason.
Still, questions remained about how a group that had never played together before could jell. USC quickly put those to bed, winning games through blowouts and grind outs and everything in between.
Now, one more victory, and USC will be back in the Pac-12 championship game, something that wasn’t even a dream last season.
“Crazy,” guard Justin Dedich said. “You talk about it all offseason like it’s what we want to do. And now it’s here and it’s in our grasp and it’s just a crazy concept to grasp. The turnaround from last year to this year is just unbelievable. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and this staff, the things they’ve done to this program.”
When USC has the ball
For the second week in a row, USC is getting a weapon back in wide receiver Mario Williams. He and Jordan Addison are still working their way back to 100% after injuries, but there is more confidence in the rest of the USC receiving corps for how it played in the absence of the team’s top-two targets.
“These things evolve, things aren’t what they were a month ago and a lot’s changed. A lot of great sports stories and history, from Wally Pipp on,” Riley said, with a nod to Yankees great Lou Gehrig. “Obviously, Mario and Jordan are really good players and I think they’ll certainly factor in for us, but as the last couple weeks have shown, we’ve got other really good players that are going to have an opportunity to make plays in this game.”
One thing to watch for from USC is whether it leans more heavily on its passing game without Dye, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury a week ago. Austin Jones will step into his opening, but against a UCLA offense that is 102nd nationally in passing yards allowed, USC may be more aggressive through the air.
When UCLA has the ball
The 16th-ranked Bruins (8-2, 5-2) are hands down the best offense USC has faced this season. Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is as dangerous as any in the country and his ability to extend plays will test a USC secondary that struggles to stay disciplined in its assignments.
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USC does regain a reinforcement in Gentry, the lanky linebacker who missed the past three games with an ankle injury. How much he is able to play could go a long toward determining how much USC is able to contain Thompson-Robinson and running back Zach Charbonnet.
No. 7 USC (9-1, 7-1 Pac-12) at No. 16 UCLA (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12)
When: 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: Rose Bowl
TV/Radio: FOX/AM 790, AM 570
Line: USC by 2½