Staples: It’s the same story for Lincoln Riley. Offense is elite but the defense stinks

LAS VEGAS — If it hadn’t happened Friday, it would have happened in the College Football Playoff. At some point, USC’s defense would let down USC’s offense. We know this not because of an advanced analysis of the Trojans’ roster or because of any potential matchup issues with Georgia or Michigan.

We know this because this is a Lincoln Riley team, and it performed all season exactly like a Lincoln Riley team performs. The offense was elite. The defense — sorry for the lack of a more diplomatic word — stunk.

This isn’t news to anyone who watched Riley’s Oklahoma teams. Two Heisman Trophy winners and another Heisman finalist had their best college seasons wasted by defenses that couldn’t tackle, couldn’t fit gaps and couldn’t get off the field when it mattered.

The 2017 Oklahoma defense actually produced a touchdown in the Rose Bowl, but it also allowed Georgia to gain 9.3 yards a carry. There wasn’t a person watching who didn’t assume Sony Michel would reach the end zone on the game’s final play.

The 2018 Oklahoma defense spotted Alabama a 28-0 lead before Oklahoma’s offense could adjust to playing against truly elite talent for the first time that season.

The 2019 Oklahoma defense? Well, let’s just not get into what LSU did to that group.

Among teams that have made the CFP since it started in 2014, Riley-coached Oklahoma teams had the three worst defenses in terms of yards per play allowed. (The Bob Stoops-coached 2015 Oklahoma team, meanwhile, ended that season ranked No. 15 in the nation in fewest yards per play allowed.) Of those Riley teams, the 2018 team was the worst. Kyler Murray’s Heisman season was over in the first quarter of the Orange Bowl because Alabama’s offense destroyed an Oklahoma defense that finished that season ranked No. 102 in yards per play allowed (6.13). How did we know this USC season — which should include a Heisman Trophy win for Trojans QB Caleb Williams — would end in similar fashion? Because this year’s USC defense was even worse. The Trojans entered Friday ranked No. 114 in the nation in yards per play allowed (6.17). They then proceeded to allow 7.7 yards per play to the Utes in a 47-24 loss.

What was the worst of it? Maybe it was letting Money Parks turn USC’s defense into a Benny Hill sketch on a third-and-19 play for the 57-yard touchdown that gave Utah its first lead with 10:33 remaining in the third quarter. Feel free to play Yakety Sax while watching Parks pinball through the secondary.

Or maybe it was this abomination.

That’s a 60-yard touchdown for Utah’s Thomas Yassmin that should have been a 22-yard gain. That put Utah up 34-24 with 10:08 remaining, and it slammed the door on any chance USC might have had.

The Trojans can’t excuse this loss because Williams injured his hamstring. Williams gutted out the game for his team, but half of that team was incapable of carrying its portion of the weight for an entire season. Truly great teams have units that can make up the difference when the usual stars falter. This also allows teams to win when conditions or opponents force them to play a style they don’t necessarily want to play. This is especially important as USC transitions to the Big Ten. Imagine Riley bringing a defense of this quality to Madison on some snowy future November Saturday to face Luke Fickell’s Wisconsin. It would be a disaster for USC.

It would be easy to blame the players, but since it keeps happening, it’s more appropriate to blame the eight-figure employee who dictates the entire program’s philosophy. This keeps happening in programs Riley coaches. If Riley would like to deliver the national titles USC expects, he’ll have to fix it.

It’s not as simple as just firing defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and hiring another coordinator, either. It’s also not as simple as recruiting more five-star defensive players. Riley needs to examine his entire program philosophy. He needs to look at how USC practices. He needs to confer with his DC about what that coach needs from the strength program and from practice to create the toughest possible unit. This is a top-down issue — not something that can be fixed by hiring a new guy and shifting to a 3-3-5.

The only difference between Riley’s Oklahoma teams and 2022 USC was that USC’s defense was exposed before it could reach the CFP and get truly battered. If the Trojans had played Georgia, the Bulldogs might have been able to beat them without even attempting a pass.

But perhaps Riley should call Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart this offseason. Because former wunderkind offensive coordinator Riley is in the inverse of the position that former wunderkind defensive coordinator Smart was after losing to LSU in the 2019 SEC Championship Game.

At that point in Smart’s head coaching tenure, the Bulldogs had a program designed to break the will of opponents. Georgia could suck the life out of most teams with its defense. The offense could be conservative and the Bulldogs would still win — except when they faced teams with elite offensive talent. Georgia only beat Riley’s Oklahoma team in the Rose Bowl because the Sooners’ defense was so bad. The Bulldogs lost the national title game the following week because Tua Tagovailoa replaced Jalen Hurts for Alabama and turned the game into a shootout that the Bulldogs weren’t prepared to play. The following season in the SEC title game, it was Hurts replacing the injured Tagovailoa and turning the fourth quarter into a shootout the Bulldogs weren’t capable of winning.

In the 2019 SEC title game, LSU’s offense was light years ahead of Georgia’s despite the two units not being particularly different the previous season. Then-LSU coach Ed Orgeron had admitted something needed to change, and he had plucked Joe Brady from the New Orleans Saints staff and created an offensive renaissance in Baton Rouge. After that game, Smart got peppered with questions about why he couldn’t do the same thing Orgeron had done. Georgia had excellent individual players on offense. So why couldn’t Georgia field an offense anywhere near as good as its defense?

Smart hemmed and hawed, citing how many times Georgia threw the ball in that particular game as if that was a measure of offensive creativity. But what could he say in that moment? He knew it wasn’t good enough.

Meanwhile, in the other locker room, LSU players openly admitted the offensive philosophy change unlocked something amazing. “We’ve known it since last year,” receiver Justin Jefferson — whatever happened to that guy — said. “We just needed the right offense.”

What did Smart do? He cut loose coordinator James Coley and hired Todd Monken. He empowered Monken to be aggressive as a play caller when necessary. What emerged was a Georgia program just as capable of winning shootouts as rock fights. And last season, the Bulldogs won the national title that had eluded them for 41 years. They’re currently No. 1 in the CFP rankings. Smart didn’t completely sell out on style, either. He and Monken recruited and designed an offense that fit Georgia’s desired personality while still being capable of being dynamic when the Bulldogs faced an opponent that could stress their defense.

Riley has to decide if he’s willing to alter his philosophy. Alabama’s Nick Saban had to do it, embracing a spread offense and a faster tempo. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney had to team with coordinator Brent Venables to figure out how to run a dominant defense opposite an up-tempo offense. Smart had to do it, too. They all ended up winning national titles.

If Riley ever wants one of those, he’ll have to decide defense truly matters. Until then, this is how every season will end.

(Photo: Brandon Sloter / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)