FOX's Joe Klatt has encouraging perspective on the state of USC football

With the USC football team sitting at just 3-4 overall and 1-4 in Big Ten play, many Trojan fans are in a state of shock while others are ready to move on from head coach Lincoln Riley. However, one of the leading voices in the sport, FOX's lead analyst Joel Klatt, said Wednesday that USC is in a better position than most believe.

On his podcast "The Joel Klatt Show", Klatt broke down where USC is as a program. What he said should encourage USC fans to believe that the Trojans are close to turning the corner.

After pointing out that USC is tied with Kansas for the most 4th-quarter blown leads in the country with four, he said that learning to win close games is part of rebuilding a program.

"When you're rebuilding a college football program," he said, "you will lose big before you lose small. And you will lose small before you win small. And you will win small before you win big...There is a progression. It doesn't happen overnight."

Klatt admitted that USC fans might be frustrated because this is year three of the Lincoln Riley era. However, he said that this is year one without Caleb Williams at QB and the first year with D'Anton Lynn coordinating the defense. Thus, this is more similar to a fresh start than many people want to admit. That's especially true given the youth of the USC roster, which Klatt also noted.

Klatt said he believes USC could have reached the bottom of the Lincoln Riley era and could be at a "tipping point" where one close win could help the program get over a mental hurdle and learn how to start winning again.

Klatt went on to make an interesting comparison between USC's current state and the progression of a current college football title contender, Texas.

"This team reminds me a little bit of the 2022 Texas team under Steve Sarkisian," he said. "They were 2-5 in one-score games and then it popped the next year."

In 2022, Texas went just 8-5 overall and 6-3 in the Big 12 with a young roster and a head coach still putting his fingerprints on his program. Then, last season, Texas made it to the four-team College Football Playoff where they lost a close game to Washington in the National Semifinals. Now, the Longhorns are ranked fifth in the nation and are a strong contender to not only win the SEC, but also the National Championship.

Could USC follow a similar path? Klatt believes that it is possible.

"What if this is the bottom point for USC," he asked. "It very well might be. Now, it might not but it very well might be."

Klatt then went on to note that most of USC's offensive skill players, including QB Miller Moss and virtually his entire receiving corps, could return next year. He also said that the Trojans can fortify their defense via the transfer portal to make up for losses the program will suffer on that side of the ball.

Klatt also pointed out that next year's schedule will be more manageable with no marquee non-conference opponent like LSU to open the year. Thus, Klatt thinks that USC fans need to hang in there with the Trojans because a turnaround could be on the horizon.

Only time will tell and Klatt did admit that it will be key for Riley to retain the key members of his roster this offseason. However, this perspective from one of the top experts in the college football media landscape should help ease some of the frustrations that Trojan fans have suffered through this season. That's because, according to Klatt, better days could be on the horizon.