USC coach Lincoln Riley talked with reporters Thursday morning for the final time before taking the No. 7-ranked Trojans up to Oregon State for a showdown of 3-0 Pac-12 teams on Saturday.
He talked more about the matchup with the Beavers and playing in Corvallis, Ore., his assessments of the offensive line and kick return coverage, rush end Romello Height's season-ending injury, quarterback Caleb Williams, third-string QB Jake Jensen's progress and more.
Read the full transcript of his comments here:
On Caleb Williams bouncing back from throwing 10 incompletions in the first half last week vs. Fresno State:
"Some of it was just the way it went. I didn’t think he was necessarily seeing things poorly. Some of it was we had a couple throwaways. We missed a throw here or there. We had a couple routes that were slightly off. I don’t judge it just by stats. Watched these guys long enough. I have a feel for if the ball is going where it needs to be, or are they making the right decisions? Felt in large part he was still making the right decisions. It was sort of the feeling of, if you keep doing what you’re doing, the dam is going to break. I think I had that feeling really. First three or four or whatever it was, we were still scoring quite a bit too. Yeah, I mean, I don’t know that there was anything magic. I really didn’t talk to him any different than I did first half of Rice, or first half of Stanford. Didn’t feel much different. You just challenge different ways, move it different ways, and I thought he was still playing very much in control and balls were in the right place."
On the road environment at Oregon State:
"It’s going to be a challenge. It’s road football. Most teams, if they’re any good at all, are typically pretty good at home. This was obviously a good football team last year, and a good football team this year. Clearly. So road games are always a big challenge. Especially when the opponent is a strong opponent. We’re up against an opponent that historically – well, a lot of people use the words, it’s a tough place to play, but I think these are fun. You want ‘em like this. You don’t want it too nice. You don’t want it too quiet. That’s what real ball is all about. We have to embrace it because they’re a good team, and they’ve done a nice job at playing at home."
On both teams being highly productive in the red zone:
"It’ll be definitely be a strength versus strength. They’ve ran the ball well down there. They’ve done a good job running it, and then their play-actions marry up. They’ve done a nice job of designing and keeping people imbalanced down there. Then, they do a nice job in short yardage. Some nice short-yardage packages. They’ve got the linebacker that comes over that scored the game-winner against Fresno, who’s really a good player. They do some creative things with him. They’ve been efficient there, but we have too. We’ve been stingy against the run down there. We’ve defended well. We’ve gotten turnovers. We’ve gotten fourth-down stops. Both teams have done the things you need to do well, and it’s going to be strength versus strength. There will be some moments like that in this football game, and they’ll be pivotal moments.
