Kirk Herbstreit calls USC's issues on defense concerning

Defense is once again the main talking point surrounding USC and their national title hopes. With several people being critical of the unit this week, Kirk Herbstreit has since joined in with his own concerns.

Herbstreit shared his thoughts about the Trojan defense during an appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Thursday. He recognized their issues as the same ones that Lincoln Riley and DC Alex Grinch had back at Oklahoma where they had a highly explosive offense and, for whatever reason in a specific instance, a lackluster defense.

“It was that way last year. And, really, if you go back to Lincoln’s days when he took over for Bob (Stoops) in Norman? It was kind of that way even when they were getting to the playoff,” explained Herbstreit. “They had Kyler Murray and some teams that were really electric offensively and they just didn’t have the personnel. So, it’s easy to look at Alex Grinch, the defensive coordinator at ‘SC, and say, ‘What’s his problem? What’s he doing?’”

“I haven’t studied ‘SC’s roster this year the way I will when I get ready to do one of their games. But I can just tell you that if you look at the five-stars? You look at the difference makers? You look at the offense vs. the defense, at least when he was at Oklahoma? There was a pretty big difference between what they had to work with offensively and what they had to work with on the defensive side,” Herbstreit said. “That was how it was at Oklahoma.”

Herbstreit does understand, though, that more talent could be on the way for that side of the ball as Riley continues to establish his program in Los Angeles.

“Now, he’s only in his second year and he’s trying to recruit D-linemen, they’re trying to get better,” noted Herbstreit. “They’ve got to fast forward that, obviously, when they get ready for Big Ten games week-in and week-out.”

Still, the 63rd-ranked defense in the country just isn’t going to cut it with the position that USC is in. Giving up over 24 points and more than 400 yards of offense per game, even with their No. 1 offense currently outpacing teams, isn’t good enough to achieve their larger aspirations.

That’s why, at this point, Herbstreit is starting to shift his attention elsewhere. He closed by naming two other teams out of the Pac-12 that he currently could see as contenders over USC.

“It’s concerning and it really makes you think Washington and Oregon, in that deep conference, the Pac-12, are the two best teams, even though Caleb Williams and ‘SC can score,” Herbstreit said.

“I don’t know yet if they’re a complete team,” said Herbstreit.