Why it's important not to worry about USC Football's Offensive Line

USC Football's Offensive Line did a poor job protecting QB Caleb Williams these past two weeks. However, it's important to note why, and noting why leads to the realization that the line will be performing better in the future for this team. First, Lincoln Riley wasn't too fazed by the OL performance in Week 5. He thought they were "ok," but not bad:

And, while many people who watched the game on Saturday may disagree with Riley, the run-blocking was actually solid against Arizona State. SC ran the ball 30 times for 137 yards on the ground, and scored three rushing touchdowns. That's a 4.6 yards per carry average. Williams even found 44 yards on eight carries and a QB sneak for a touchdown.

Travis Dye was excellent as always, and racked up 62 yards on 13 carries with two rushing scores. Raleek Brown toted the rock six times and gathered 27 yards. The issue is that many of those runs from Caleb were after he had to fight off white jersey after white jersey in the pocket. So, while the team produced on the ground, the eye test wasn't as pretty as the stats looked.

The same can be said about USC Football's O-Line only giving up one sack.

USC Football only allowed one sack this past week, but there would have been a few in there if Williams didn't play like Superman, especially when being pressured after drop-backs. Heck, this is the same guy who literally had to throw a jump pass from his own end zone for a 13-yard gain...

The line will get better though. The reason is because USC Captain and starting Right Guard did not play on Saturday. Justin Dedich was not only the third-highest graded guard in the conference last year (PFF), but he entered the game as still the third-highest graded guard in the conference this year (PFF).

Many of the problems that USC's O-Line has had are likely going to be fixed when they finally get more continuity in their starting five. Left Tackle Courtland Ford got injured in Week 2, and while he was back in action this week, this was the first time he had played in the last three weeks.

While SC has a Left Tackle rotation, and they don't just start one guy, chemistry is still affected when a high-impact blindside tackle is missing like that. He was out two weeks, and then the week he comes back the team captain on the line is out. Also, Dedich provided veteran experience on this team. This is his fifth year with the Trojans.

Riley isn't concerned, and they already got Ford back from injury. With Dedich still dressing for the game, that could be an indication that he isn't far from being back. He was still available this week if needed. This offensive line has the potential to have a major bounce-back game next week.