On Saturday, the USC football team defeated Michigan 31-13 at the Coliseum. It was an incredibly impressive performance from the Trojans, who scored first and never trailed, controlling the game for all four quarters.
In a way, it felt like everything about Saturday was exactly what the USC program needed. How, exactly? Let’s take a look:
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The crowd
The Coliseum was packed on Saturday. While there were several instances last year of USC announcing a sellout despite there being plenty of empty seats, against Michigan, the stadium was legitimately filled. And while Los Angeles sports fans are known for arriving late and leaving early, the vast majority of fans arrived on time and stayed until the game was out of hand late. Plain and simple, that is not something that we have seen very often at USC over the past 10-15 years.
The atmosphere
It was not just the number of fans in the Coliseum. It was a legitimately great college football atmosphere, with the stadium loud throughout the game. As someone who has only missed one USC home game since 2019, it was honestly the loudest that I have ever heard the stadium.
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The physicality
Then, there was the actual game on the field. The Trojans went up against Michigan—a program known for being tough along the lines of scrimmage—and were the more physical football team. After countless games of watching USC get pushed around for years now, it was a sight for sore eyes.
A statement
USC made a statement in this game. During the week leading up, there was a lot of talk from the Michigan side (including a certain CEO of Barstool Sports) about how the Trojans were a soft program and would not be able to handle the Wolverines’ physicality. On Saturday evening, Lincoln Riley’s team emphatically shut all of those people up.
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Moving forward
Saturday’s game was a blueprint of what the USC program should look like under Lincoln Riley. For one evening, at least, Los Angeles was indeed, “the Mecca of college football,” as Riley boldly proclaimed that it would be when he was hired in 2021.
The Michigan victory was great, but the Trojans are clearly not there yet. The next step is for both the team and the fanbase to continue to deliver on a consistent basis. Riley and company will have a massive opportunity to do their part on the road next week at Notre Dame.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Michigan game was much-needed for Lincoln Riley and USC football
