Utah ran the ball on USC, which is why Lincoln Riley must fire strength coach Bennie Wylie

USC’s defense had its good moments on Saturday against Utah, but they were only moments. A little here, a little there, but nothing sustained. The Trojans had some really good defensive possessions. They came up with a pick-six to keep the team in the game. They made a late defensive stop to set up Zachariah Branch’s electric punt return which led to a touchdown and a 32-31 USC lead. The defense had its moments, but when it really counted, the Trojans weren’t tough enough.

The game was tied at halftime. In the third quarter, Utah took a 28-14 lead and overpowered USC’s defense. The game was up for grabs in the final minute, and USC allowed a 25-yard run to Utah quarterback Bryson Barnes in the final 20 seconds when the Trojans had a chance to nail down the win. If Barnes runs for five or six yards, Utah would have faced a very, very long field goal — over 55 yards — to win. Barnes’ long run enabled Utah to set up for a 38-yarder and win, 34-32.

The Trojans were tough at times, but the full body of work — the full performance — wasn’t tough enough.

Given the centrality of the need for toughness in major college football, Lincoln Riley has to look at this insufficiently tough display against Utah and fire strength and conditioning coach Bennie Wylie.

Reactions during the Utah game help to paint the larger picture, but we also have a few points to make as well.

Let’s dive into the reactions and then our closing analysis:

UGLY START

#USC had a freshman edge trying to keep up on that wheel route. This is not the team to be getting guys early reps.

— R.J. Abeytia (@RJ_Abeytia) October 22, 2023

SPECIAL TEAMS BREAKDOWN

Third Phase. Carson Tabaracci misses a big tackle and Utah gets a 53-yard kick return as the result.

— R.J. Abeytia (@RJ_Abeytia) October 22, 2023

BALANCE!

#USC has already allowed a 53-yard pass, a 51-yard kick return and a 19-yard rush.

— R.J. Abeytia (@RJ_Abeytia) October 22, 2023

NOT THE BEST PLAN

Our defensive tackles, Kyon Barrs and Stanley T, were completely erased on that TD run as part of a very light box USC was showing. Alex Grinch doesn’t seem to think that Utah likes to run the ball. I beg to differ.

— RichSC (@OriginalRichSC) October 22, 2023

PROGRESS

USC’s D-line finally breaks through. Romello Height fights through for a big sack — he hasn’t been talked about much this year, but now up to four sacks on the year. Huge stop on the following run by De’jon Benton, who continues to earn time

— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) October 22, 2023

THAT’S A NEW ONE

Domani Jackson called for an illegal blindside block which adds 15 yards to a 36-yard gain.

— Antonio Morales (@AntonioCMorales) October 22, 2023

RIGHT?

How does one blindside block on defense?

— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) October 22, 2023

USC GETS A BREAK

Thought Utah would roll out Barnes or go outside the tackle box.

Instead, a straight-ahead run into a stacked box.

Not a good call from Andy Ludwig.

— USC Trojans Wire (@TrojansWire) October 22, 2023

UTAH OFFENSE BAILING OUT USC’S D

Bad football by both teams right now.

USC missing open throws, Utah squandering promising drives.

— USC Trojans Wire (@TrojansWire) October 22, 2023

THIS TELLS A LOT OF THE STORY

With 7:30 to go in the third quarter, Utah is just about at it’s yards and points per game season average. Just decimal points off. Not good enough.

— Connor Morrissette (@C_Morrissette) October 22, 2023

HARSH TRUTH

USC didn’t quit. The effort was sincere. Guys tried hard.

Ultimately, though, they weren’t good enough, and they weren’t coached well enough.

This season is a failure, and there’s no escaping that.

— USC Trojans Wire (@TrojansWire) October 22, 2023

MOMENT OF TRUTH

If you allow a 25-yard run to Bryson Barnes in the final 20 seconds of a game, you deserve to lose … and you aren’t good enough to compete for championships.

Period.

— USC Trojans Wire (@TrojansWire) October 22, 2023

OUR ANALYSISPODCASTWE CALLED USC SOFT, AND SADLY, WE WERE RIGHTWE’RE NOT REVERSING OUR POSITION, EITHERTOUGH TRUTHS INCLUDING BENNIE WYLIEBOTTOM LINE

Dec 29, 2018; John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

In 2017, his first season as a collegiate head coach, Lincoln Riley had Jerry Schmidt as his strength coach. He inherited Schmidt from Bob Stoops. Oklahoma came within an eyelash of playing in the national championship game with an elite offense (an offense far better than USC’s 2022 offense, for the sake of comparison). Riley then fired Schmidt and replaced him with Bennie Wylie.

Riley has never been as good since that 2017 season. Schmidt, meanwhile, is the strength coach for Brent Venables at Oklahoma. The Sooners are unbeaten.

Schmidt is a far better strength coach than Bennie Wylie. It shows how mediocre Wylie is. Therefore, USC cannot continue to accept mediocrity.

Bennie Wylie has to go. Period.

Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire