By Dan Zealley
USC head coach Lincoln Riley was interviewed by @jdpickell host of The Hard Count on the On3 Sports
YouTube channel.
Lincoln Riley speaks on USC's improved defense during the 2024 season:
"Of course we keep receipts." ✌️
(via @jdpickell) pic.twitter.com/sc9JM7uG2D
— On3 (@On3sports) February 20, 2025
2023 was a tough year for the USC Trojan defense. They gave up 34.4 points/game, 186.5 rushing
yards/game, and 416.4 total yards/game. No doubt changes were coming in the off-season. In came
D’Anton Lynn as defensive coordinator.
“We were able to look at part of our program and say alright this part is not functioning quite the way
we want it to. What do we need to change to get it right? The addition of the staff members, the
scheme change, and certainly changing a lot from a personnel standpoint. You saw the results, great
start in year one,” Riley said.
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Under Lynn, the Trojan defense improved in all three of those areas. They improved their scoring
defense by ten points per game (24.1 points/game), gave up 141.5 rushing yards/game, and 369.2 total
yards/game.
“Excited to see the progress in year one. Undoubtedly one of the improved defenses in the country.
Now the goal is to step up and become one of the best if not the best defense in the country and that’s
what we feel like we can build here.“ he said “It’s either at a championship level now, rapidly turning
that way, or we have to fix it.”
It has been a nice defensive turnaround in LA. They will need to continue on this upward track if they
want to compete with the likes of Ohio State and Penn State in the Big 10 in 2025.
