Exactly one year ago today USC athletic director Mike Bohn shocked the college football world and hired head coach Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma. What a difference a year makes, going from 4-8 to 11-1 with a shot at the Pac-12 Championship, the College Football Playoffs and a Heisman Trophy winner.
Coach Harvey Hyde gives his thoughts on the quick and decisive turnaround Riley has made for this Trojan football program, capped by the controlling 38-27 victory over rival Notre Dame Saturday night in the Coliseum. Coach Hyde talks about the huge national exposure this USC football team is receiving with fans excited and alumni fired up about the program, right where he thinks the Trojans should be. 
For the second week in a row Hyde loved the way this USC defense was able to take away the soul of both the UCLA and Notre Dame programs, running the football. The defense played hard and fast and forced both the Bruins and the Irish to play outside of their comfort zone instead of relying on their bread and butter, run-first mentality. Once again the Trojans were able to take care of the ball and force turnovers, doing just enough to allow the offense to keep ND in the distance.
Speaking of the offense, quarterback Caleb Williams continues to mystify and frustrate opposing defenses by showing off his moves and abilities and having fun while he’s doing it. Coach Hyde loves that this offense believes it can run the football now and thinks Austin Jones is a great back who runs hard and it really hard to stop. Williams has proven himself to be the most important player in the country when it comes to his team winning and Hyde thinks he is a lock to become USC’s eighth Heisman Trophy winner.
Looking ahead to Friday night in Las Vegas Coach Hyde thinks USC is a different team now and that the Trojans have come together as a program. The game with Utah in Salt Lake City should be very different than the Pac-12 Championship Game in Las Vegas and Coach Hyde wants to see USC try and take away the Utes ground game and of course limit tight end Dalton Kincaid’s contributions this time around.
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Make sure you check out USCFootball.com for complete coverage of this USC Trojan football team. 

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