Joel Klatt points out USC as a team flying under the radar

Despite being 2-0 with nearly a 50-point average margin of victory, USC remains unranked so far this season. But, it’s the details in the numbers the Trojans posted so far, albeit against smaller schools, that Joel Klatt thinks suggest good things for the Trojans.

During his show on Wednesday, Klatt named USC as one of the things in college football that no one is currently talking about. That’s despite the start at 2-0 as Southern Cal is almost not in the Top-30 of the AP Poll.

“Another team that no one’s talking about, that maybe we should be talking about? I’m going to go with USC,” Klatt said. “Nobody talking about USC. They’re sitting at 30th in the AP Poll, so not even really close to the Top-25. They would have to pass four other teams who are getting votes.

“First and foremost, no drama at USC and I think that that’s a big deal for Lincoln Riley over the first two games. Granted, lesser opponents. I understand that. But, again, let’s go back to the fact that some people are taking care of business against lesser opponents and some people aren’t. So, if we’re going to give credit where it’s due, they’ve taken care of lesser opponents.”

USC winning 73-13 over Missouri State and 59-20 over Georgia Southern isn’t going to put a spotlight on what it is doing to this point in Los Angeles. Still, Klatt dove deeper into the Trojans’ numbers, as they’re reminding him of some of Riley’s most successful teams over his near decade as a college coach.

In having the No. 1 scoring offense at 66 points per game and No. 1 offense in yardage at 676 yards overall in the country, USC is balanced in posting 405 yards through the air, which is third-most nationally, and 271 yards on the ground, which is 10th-most. The Trojans are then averaging the second-most yards per attempt (14.21) and completion (18.41) as well as the nation’s leading number at yards per rush (8.6). Those statistics are what Klatt is looking at, as those are reminiscent of what his offenses posted back when he was at Oklahoma.

“It’s really how they’re doing it,” Klatt stated. “If you’ve listened to this show for any amount of time, and listened to my opinion of Lincoln Riley as a head coach and his tenure at USC, you will know that my biggest knock against USC under Riley is that they have not run the football well enough to be what he was at Oklahoma. It has not looked the same, and it’s been more of the passing side of the Riley offense rather than the running side.

“Now, small differences, but they pop up in the numbers. They’ve run it really well this year. 8.6 yards per carry – that’s number one in the country. So, per rush, USC is, right now, number one in the country. Did you know that Oklahoma, during Lincoln Riley’s tenure when he was the head coach, over that span was number one in the country in average yards per rush? That’s a big, big bullet point. I think that we need to be paying attention to that.”

USC doing this to two teams from the Group of Five is not going to make headlines. That said, the Trojans can start to earn that attention, and certainly so if this kind of offensive output continues, as they open conference play this weekend in the Big Ten.

“I know it hasn’t been great competition. I understand that. But, the blueprint for how Lincoln Riley succeeds in this sport is there – a quarterback that can play at the top end throwing the football and a running game that is dominant,” Klatt said. “Again, they are aligning, from a statistical perspective, to what they did during the quality run.

“They get Purdue on the road this week. They host Michigan State before they go on the road to No. 9 Illinois. Good chance of being 4-0 going into that one (in Champaign).”