What Lincoln Riley said about USC playing Utah State

Southern California head coach Lincoln Riley watches a play during the first half of an NCAA college football game against LSU, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Las Vegas. | Steve Marcus

USC isn’t going to take Utah State lightly. At least that is the hope of Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley.

In a wide-ranging interview with Trojans Live, Riley spoke about the upcoming matchup between his No. 13-ranked USC team and Utah State.

“They’ve obviously had some coaching changes and turnover,” Riley said of the Aggies, “but looked like they handled that well and really settled in and played a good first game, especially in the second half.”

Riley didn’t go into a great deal of specifics about Utah State — mostly he spoke about USC’s impressive season-opening win over LSU in Las Vegas — but he did talk directly about USU backup quarterback Bryson Barnes, who filled in for Aggie starter Spencer Petras after Petras left Utah State’s season opener against Robert Morris with an ankle sprain.

Barnes has a history with USC going back to his time at the University of Utah. Just last season, Barnes led the Utes to a 34-32 win over then-No. 18 USC in Los Angeles and was fairly effective in the game too, completing 14 of 23 pass attempts for 235 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 57 yards and a score.

“Really good player,” Riley said. “Obviously we know. Got to see him last year. They (Utah State) have some really good skill position kids around him. Were very productive offensively in their first game.”

As noted by Riley, the Aggies — despite three interceptions — racked up 646 total yards of offense last weekend, 343 through the air and an additional 303 on the ground. That was tied for the ninth-most yards in school history.

Barnes specifically was responsible for 198 of the passing yards and 88…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lincoln-riley-said-usc-playing-224716572.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-09-03 22:47:16

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