Without Caleb Williams at QB anymore, USC will have to earn respect in 2024

It feels odd to say that a football program as storied as USC is going to have to earn respect. However, that appears to be the case in 2024.

Monday, the preseason Coaches Poll was released and the Trojans nearly didn't make the top 25. Checking in at No. 23, USC is grouped with such programs as Arizona, NC State, Kansas, and Iowa (No. 21, 22, 24, and 25 respectively).

That's quite the statement about where the national perception of this program stands. Of course, some of the reasons are valid.

First of all, Caleb Williams is no longer in the building to lead the offense as QB1. Thus, the side of the ball that has been the calling card of USC football for ages is going to have to show that it can be elite again with Miller Moss running the show.

The problem is that Moss has made only one career start at the collegiate level. Of course, it was a sterling start as he threw for 372 yards and six touchdowns in the 42-28 Holiday Bowl victory over Louisville.

Still, it remains to be seen whether or not Moss can be that type of player over the course of an entire season, especially a season in the rugged Big Ten where the defenses will be much tougher as a group than USC saw in the PAC-12.

It is understandable for USC to be ranked lower than in previous years with Williams now quarterbacking the NFL's Chicago Bears. Last year, the Trojans entered the year at No. 6 and in 2022, they checked in at No. 15 in Lincoln Riley's first season on the job.

But No. 23 this year? That feels like an overreaction to all of the talk that has been circulating about Riley and whether or not he is an elite coach as well as a knee-jerk reaction to what was an admittedly poor season by USC standards in 2023.

That's because other teams in the poll have similar questions as USC yet they aren't ranked as close to the bottom of the rankings as the Trojans. For instance, No. 12 LSU has to replace the reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.

Like Moss, their presumed starter in 2024, Garrett Nussmeier, has only one career start to his name. What's more, what has their head coach, Brian Kelly done to earn more of the doubt as an elite coach than Riley?

No. 13 Utah seems to be everyone's darling these days. However, their quarterback, Cam Rising, didn't even play last season due to a knee injury. Still, everyone just assumes the Utes will be back to being elite after a mediocre 8-5 season last fall.

Other teams ranked higher than USC in the Coaches Poll with QB questions include No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 20 Texas A&M. Yet no team in the nation is being punished more for struggling in 2023 and for losing an elite QB than USC.

It is as if voters and college football experts alike have decided to take an unusually harsh stance with the Trojans while giving programs with far less of a pedigree and coaches who have proven less than Riley the benefit of the doubt.

Does Texas A&M's Mike Elko deserve more respect than Riley? He's only 16-9 as a head coach and while his work in two seasons at Duke was solid, he's never sniffed a conference title game.

Brent Venables at Oklahoma, Riley's successor in Norman, also seems to be getting more of a pass the the USC head coach. He's just 16-10 as a head coach and he's about to embark on a season that will see his team face Tennessee, Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri, Alabama, and LSU, all of which are ranked in the top 15 in the preseason Coaches Poll. Yet no one is talking about Venables needing to show something this season.

We could continue to dissect the poll and find flaws in most team's rankings but the point is clear. USC is going to have to prove voters, fans, and pundits wrong this season.

It's an unusual position for the Trojans to be in but it is the reality of 2024. Here's hoping that Riley and his team are up for the challenge because nothing is going to be handed to them this year.