USC football: 3 bold predictions vs. San Jose State in Week 0

3. USC football’s defense will hold SJSU under 20 points

The 2022 season for USC’s defense was, simply put, grotesque. However, nobody should have been surprised by this result as Lincoln Riley run teams usually stink up the joint on the defensive side of the football. Just look at his time in Norman.

During his five-year tenure as Sooners head coach, Riley’s defenses ranked, on average, 65th overall for points allowed per game, the worst year being 2018 when their defense ranked 95th nationally by TeamRankings. Fast forward to his first year at the helm in Los Angeles; the Trojans’ defense finished 81st overall in points allowed per game, giving up 29.2 per outing.

So, why do I think that the USC “D” will not only improve this year but stifle the Spartans in Week 0? Well, this is supposed to be a bold prediction, and I think I’ve done just that.

In all seriousness though, there’s pretty much only one way to go from last year and that’s up.  With the additions of six, according to 247Sports, four-star freshmen (Maliki Crawford, Tre’Quon Fegans, Braylon Shelby, Tackett Curtis, Zion Branch, and Jacobi Lane) coupled with former five-star standouts Korey Foreman and Domani Jackson, this defense will be heading in the right direction.