Lincoln Riley suggested after practice Tuesday that the coaches will discuss the potential of personnel changes this week along the offensive line, after the unit came undone in USC's 48-20 loss at Notre Dame, allowing a season-high 6 sacks.
"We do have some other pieces there that we feel like can be part of it," he said. "Obviously, I think this is what playing some of those guys early like we did in the season and getting some lineups and experience, gives you some potential options if you feel like you want to make a personnel change. We’re going to evaluate that this week and see if that’s the right thing.
"But I think the bigger thing for us is, we just got to get back to playing more 11-man ball. There’s a lot of good on the tape, but the results have not consistently been there because there has not been a lot of 11-man ball offensively in the first half against Arizona, then obviously for big portions against Notre Dame."
Riley also took a question about building a program's identity -- relative to what Utah has done over nearly two decades under Kyle Whittingham -- as an opportunity to remind anyone listening how far the No. 18-ranked Trojans (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) have come in the less than two years he and has staff have been here.
"Yeah, we’re definitely building. Again, look at November two years ago and look how it feels now. I mean, two years ago, everybody was dying for a win, any kind of win and now everybody’s not happy or pissed when we win by 30 so it means we’re doing some pretty good things," Riley said. "That’s how I want it to be. When you’re a high-level championship program with those type of standards, that’s how it should feel. So I think we’ve made great progress. We’ve made remarkable progress in a short amount of time.
"Now, am I satisfied with it? Is it where we want to be as we look long-term at this thing? Of course not. I want it to be the best program in the country. I believe we can be and I believe we will, but I am not naive enough to think that there [isn't] a climb. There is a part of that where you have to struggle, you have to go through some of this, you have to get calloused a little bit. That’s just the nature of it."
Watch the full interview below and scroll down for a complete transcript.
How do you adjust to the issues with the offensive line?
"It’s a mixed bag. There’s not like one central issue where it's like we’re just not doing this one thing well. There’s not like one player where it’s like, man, the other four guys are playing unbelievable and it's one guy we've got to make a change. We’ve kind of been sharing the mistakes. And listen, these things manifest themselves in a lot of different ways. When you’re trying to play good offensive football, one thing can be off and maybe it turns into an interception or it turns into a sack. There’s times where – like, the other night with sacks – there’s times where we could’ve gotten rid of the ball faster, we busted a couple of routes, we busted a couple protections, and all of a sudden two or three guys make some mistakes against a good defense and that's what shows up. We do have some other pieces there that we feel like can be part of it. Obviously, I think this is what playing some of those guys early, like we did in the season and getting some lineups and experience, gives you some potential options if you feel like you want to make a personnel change. We’re going to evaluate that this week and see if that’s the right thing. But I think the bigger thing for us is, we just got to get back to playing more 11-man ball. There’s a lot of good on the tape, but the results have not consistently been there because there has not been a lot of 11-man ball offensively in the first half against Arizona, then obviously for big portions against Notre Dame."
What concerns does Utah's defensive front present?
"The first game, not so much. Some of it is just the nature of like how they play. They’re extremely aggressive. You have to give them credit. They do it. It works well for them. I said last night on the show, you can tell they’ve been in that system for a long, long, long, long time, and they’ve recruited for that system for a long, long, long, long time. And they do a tremendous job of it. Against a group that’s going to be overly aggressive, you've got to make some of your big plays too. We were able to do that quite a bit in the first game, and we did it at times during the second game last year. But this is going to be a new challenge. We’ve got some new personnel, they've got some new personnel. It’s a fun group to match up with against. I have a lot of respect for them. I enjoy playing against really good defenses, really good coordinators, really good players – they’ve got all three."
