Past season failings leave feelings of uneasiness among USC fans

It has been difficult for USC fans. Particularly last season, the Trojans seemed to find a way in close games to avoid winning, often finding frustrating ways to flip a victory into a loss.

Now entering his fourth year as the USC head coach, coach Lincoln Riley is ensuring that some of the aspects that have recently held the Trojans back are being taken care of.

Particularly on defense, the aspect of giving up cheap first downs and easier touchdowns is something that will be drastically reduced in 2025.

With the continuity on offense, there are a lot of reasons to believe that the Trojans are going to be able to find success this season. There are, however, some who continue to express their doubt as to the potential of the program truly being able to fully turn things around at all, much less this year. For skeptics, seeing will be believing.

It has to be acknowledged, though, that the program has improved since the end of 2024. While there have not been any games to show or provide any metrics, the qualitative aspect is sometimes something that can be overlooked. It is because of how coach Riley is going about the business of Troy that the wins will soon come for USC soon enough.

Realistic expectations for USC

That is not to say that silly penalties or bad turnovers will still not occur. This is the Big Ten, after all. The best overall conference and most competitive landscape in the nation is now the home of the Trojans. There will never be anything resembling an easy schedule, and as is the case this season, there will always be especially tough slates on the Trojan schedule.

Now, however, USC is better prepared to face the difficult challenges that will come.