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USC football is enjoying a great start to the 2024 college football season. They pulled an upset on the LSU Tigers to open the season and handled business against Utah State the following week. With an extra week to prepare, they travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan to face another ranked foe in the No. 18 Michigan Wolverines. A heaping portion of the Trojans' early success must be attributed to USC football defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn. An anonymous staffer from an opposing team told Matt Zenitz and John Talty of CBS Sports about Lynn's impact and USC insider spoke of his composure.
“The defense through the first two games plays with a lot of awareness and they seem to have more aggression than what was seen in years past,” an opposing team staffer said. “I'd say the secondary is also playing at a really high level too. A lot of talented athletes back there.”
“D'Anton is incredibly composed. Doesn't get too high or too low,” a USC source said. “Puts personnel in the best possible position to be effective. The guys really believe in him and play hard for him.”
USC football ranks 10th defensively in EPA, which uses criteria like down and distance, field position and time remaining to score a defense's quality. After finishing last season as the 121st defense overall, any improvement will carry the Trojans far in 2024.
Lynn spoke about Michigan's new starting quarterback Alex Orji via Isaiah Hole USA Today.
“So far, when he’s played the games, he’s just had a package, so that’s probably why he hasn’t thrown as much. Now that he’s going to be the starter, you have to prepare for that package, but you also have to prepare for their offense. So it just makes it makes more that they can do.”
Orji is taking over Davis Warren, who's struggled with six interceptions to start the season. The Wolverines host the Trojans on Saturday, September 21, at 3:30 p.m. EST.
