LOS ANGELES — USC head coach Lincoln Riley turned and threw his hands up at the team in celebration after the No. 16 Trojans defeated Iowa on Saturday. He leaped into the arms of defensive ends coach Shaun Nua, beaming the entire time.
It was a rare moment of excessive emotion from a coach who has been even-keeled this season.
“Coach is calm, cool and collected,” running back King Miller told reporters after practice on Tuesday. “Seeing him embracing the team, and really just showing how passionate he is about this team and how far he thinks we can go – it was exhilarating just seeing that and being able to know that we can keep going and doing this thing.”
The Trojans (8-2 overall, 6-1 Big Ten) have risen to No. 15 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings and are knocking on the door of the program’s first-ever CFP appearance. They could break that door down if they beat Oregon (9-1, 6-1), which is ranked No. 6 in the AP rankings and No. 7 in the CFP rankings, on Saturday.
Players are feeding off their coach’s passion, all while becoming a player-led team.
The Trojans are holding each other accountable, working to maintain a pace at practice that assures they can make a fast start on Saturday in Eugene and not have another game as a second-half team.
“It can be seen in so many different ways out here on the practice field,” center Kilian O’Connor said of being a player-led team. “If something isn’t up to our standard, it gets addressed by the players before the coaches get to it. I also think it’s the way that we pick each other up and really have that bond that if the standard’s not where it’s at, it gets picked up.”
The Trojans appear to be the most confident they have been all season behind an offense that’s ranked sixth-best in the country and averaging 488.9 yards per game.
Riley called the Iowa game a “culture win,” and linebacker Eric Gentry said afterward that it solidified USC’s place as a tough, dominant team in the Big Ten.
The team’s energy is self-generated, although moments like hearing the Fast Life Yungstaz song “Swag Surfin’” in the second half give them an extra boost at home games.
“Anything and everything we try to get fired up for,” Miller said. “So definitely when that song is playing, it always gets us flowing, getting us ready to go out there and play as a team again.”
They’ll have to bring that energy to Autzen Stadium as they go up against an Oregon defense that ranks third in the country at 235.4 yards allowed per game.
“The ride and the journey with this team’s been really fun,” Riley told reporters. “And we’ve got a long ways to go. It’s the time of year I enjoy the most. It’s good to be in the hunt. It’s good to have a team like this that you believe in.”
Awards watch
USC receiver Makai Lemon was selected as one of 13 Biletnikoff Award semifinalists on Monday. The award recognizes the season’s most outstanding FBS receiver.
Lemon is averaging 109 receiving yards per game, which ranks second nationally and also leads the Big Ten in receptions per game (7.1) and has eight touchdown receptions this season.
He is Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded receiver at 91.2 and made four contested catches against Iowa.
Kicker Ryon Sayeri was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week as well as a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, which recognizes the nation’s top place kicker.
Sayeri made two field goals and three PATs to score nine points against Iowa. His six kickoffs amounted to 388 yards and three touchbacks.
Altogether this season, Sayeri owns the fifth-best field goal percentage in the nation with 94.4% accuracy (17 for 18) and is averaging 1.7 field goals per game.