Latest news with #Riley
USA Today
9 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Lincoln Riley expresses confidence in Jayden Maiava
College football analysts view Jayden Maiava as a mediocre quarterback in the Big Ten, and even lower in college football as a whole. Lincoln Riley, however, has a lot of faith in his starter. Adrian Medina highlights Lincoln Riley's stance on his starting quarterback this season in the latest Sporting Tribune feature. "For the Trojans, their journey to the 2025 season begins in the city where they finished last year as Las Vegas Bowl champions, winning a tough game against Texas A&M with a final score of 35-31. Jayden Maiava, now entering his sophomore year as a Trojan, started at quarterback in the bowl game and showed out, throwing for 256 yards on a 56.4% completion rate (22/ 39) and four touchdowns. "His arm talent and his decisiveness in which he plays and how he sees things is really unique and has a chance to be really special," Riley stated on Maiava's talent at quarterback. "We have really focused in on two big areas this offseason, him continuing to find his voice as a leader, in which he's really grown and matured and has become comfortable with and I think the second for him, like a lot of young quarterbacks that we've had that become pretty solid players, is making sure that you're mistakes don't kill us." Maiava has experience as a starter, something a few starting quarterbacks ranked over him in the Big Ten don't have. In games Maiava started last year, he went 3-1 and had a 11-6 touchdown to interception ratio. Maiava needs to limit the interceptions, but that comes with more experience and playing with better timing. Another season under Riley should help him improve. Maiava has the same traits of the great quarterbacks Riley has coached. With the weapons Maiava has to throw to, Riley's great playcalling, and another year of cohesion for this offense, we could get yet another highly coveted Lincoln Riley quarterback. USC fans hope Maiava can put together a great season and change the narrative in LA.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Lincoln Riley believes this year's Trojans have what it takes
The USC Trojans had a disappointing start to their tenure in the Big Ten last season. They finished 7-6 overall and had an abysmal 4-5 record in the conference. This was not the usual success we were accustomed to seeing from USC, even though the Trojans are in the Big Ten, the best conference in college football. The expectations were still higher. Lincoln Riley is confident with what he has in the building. He believes that this year will be different. Adrian Medina with the Sporting Tribune broke down Riley's recent comments on USC's depth this season. "Trojans Head Coach Lincoln Riley, entering his fourth year at USC, was confident about the team's sufficiency of depth and support during this year's Big 10 Media Day. It's very apparent that USC is extremely serious about making this football program and returning it back to being one of the greats of college football," Riley said in his opening statement at the podium. "With our current team, seeing how our roster has evolved on all sides, especially defensively, after the huge improvements that we've made a year ago. The championship-caliber depth that is starting to be established all across the board is something that we have all worked hard for." The Trojans have a better coaching staff now with the addition of former NFL defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. They also have a more experienced roster this season. Out of their 68 players, 44 of them saw some action last season, and 17 Trojans got a chance to start. That is the experience needed to help the Trojans be a more competitive team this season in the Big Ten. They can mix in the talented freshmen and transfers they have acquired. It is notable to see Lincoln Riley have confidence in the team he is fielding this year, but now the talk needs to turn into action and results.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Alabama football 2025 season preview, predictions: Kevin Riley
Entering year two playing for his hometown team, could the 2025 season mark a breakout campaign for Alabama Crimson Tide running back Kevin Riley? A native of the Tuscaloosa area, Riley is coming off a true freshman season a year ago in which he did not see much action for the Crimson Tide. However, Riley came to Tuscaloosa as one of the highest-rated running backs in his recruiting class, and is a player who is certainly capable of emerging this season to potentially become a key contributor of Alabama's running back room. Here is a look at everything you need to know about Alabama running back Kevin Riley entering the 2025 season. Kevin Riley player information Kevin Riley career stats Entering year two of college football, Riley is coming off a true freshman season in which he did not play much for the Crimson Tide. Last season, Riley played in only two games where he rushed for 30 yards on 10 attempts, while also hauling in two receptions for nine yards. Kevin Riley 2024 stats As mentioned previously, Riley appeared in only two games during the 2024 season, which came against Western Kentucky and Mercer. Over that span, Riley rushed for 30 yards on 10 attempts, and caught two passes for nine yards. Kevin Riley recruiting ranking According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Riley came to Alabama considered as the nation's No. 75 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, as well as the No. 3 running back nationally. Riley, a four-star prospect who committed to Alabama in Dec. 2023 when he flipped from Miami, was also ranked the No. 7 player in the state of Alabama where he attended Tuscaloosa County High School. Kevin Riley 2025 season outlook When taking a look at Riley's potential impact this season, it is currently an unknown surrounding what the former four-star prospect's role might be. As to why, that is because Alabama's running back room returns two big names in starter Jam Miller and Richard Young, while also having added an experienced transfer in Dre Washington. However, Riley could also potentially emerge in that group as well, as the redshirt freshman could make an impact in multiple different ways from the running back position. Overall, expect Riley to improve on his season totals from a year ago, and to be a backup option at running back who could potentially emerge later in the season. Kevin Riley 2025 season prediction Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
SEC Network commentator takes another shot at Lincoln Riley
Many analysts have been critical of what Lincoln Riley has done most recently at USC. The analyst who has been the most vocal about Riley without a doubt has been ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum. It's a pattern: Paul Finebaum did not hold back again on Riley's tenure at USC. In the latest USC Trojans Sports Illustrated article, Nathan Fusco relayed Finebaum's exact thoughts on Riley. "ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum didn't hold back in a recent unprompted tirade against USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley. Speaking on the Dari Nowkhah Show on Tuesday, Finebaum slammed Riley's performance over the last two seasons at USC and questioned the Trojans coach's impact despite his success at Oklahoma. 'But I want to say one thing before I go,' Finebaum said. 'The thing I'm most excited about is the Big Ten media days because I want to hear Lincoln Riley try to explain his last two years. Because I can't think of anybody whose coaching has been more fraudulent since his first year with Caleb Williams. And I say that as somebody who admired what Lincoln Riley did at OU.' 'There is something wrong with this guy, Dari,' Finebaum added. 'I know we're at the end of the segment, but I did want to close on that note. I am underwhelmed and can't think of a coach in modern times who's making the kind of money he's making who has done less.' 'It's hard to imagine a coach doing worse with this level of talent and opportunity,' Finebaum said on his show. 'They just happen to have a fraud as their coach.' Finebaum continues to highlight that Riley, in his opinion, is one of the most overrated coaches in college football. If bulletin board material was one of Riley's strategies, he would have a ton of it just off Finebaum's quotes about him. The Trojans are going into this season with high hopes and high expectations, looking to prove people like Paul Finebaum dead wrong. With the schedule this upcoming season, plus top offensive talent and a dream recruiting class for 2026, Lincoln Riley has everything at his disposal to prove Finebaum wrong and have a great next two seasons.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN's Bill Connelly gives detailed outlook for USC football in 2025
Believe it or not, the start of the 2025 college football season is just around the corner. This past week, Big Ten media days unfolded in Las Vegas, kicking off the year for the sport's biggest conference. In a recent story, ESPN's Bill Connelly gave a detailed 2025 outlook for every Big Ten team. Here is what he had to say about USC. "When you've gone just 15-13 in your last 28 games at USC, as Riley has since an 11-1 start, your name is going to automatically show up on "hot seat" lists. That's just the way it works. But damned if Riley isn't building his team like a guy with the best job security in the world. His Trojans' win total has fallen for two straight years, but he signed only 16 transfers, an average number in 2025, and less than half of them are seniors. He elected to stick with junior Jayden Maiava at quarterback after four solid but unspectacular starts. And despite losing quite a bit of depth from his first semi-competent defense in four years -- only 10 of 13 players with 300-plus snaps return -- he definitely didn't overdo it with portal guys. "Riley reportedly has a pretty prohibitive buyout at the moment, and he's acting like it. Though this team does have a handful of pretty good seniors -- linebacker Eric Gentry and incoming transfers in running back Eli Sanders (New Mexico), cornerback DJ Harvey (San José State) and safety Bishop Fitzgerald (NC State) -- most of this team's best players are guys who will still have eligibility left in 2026, when members of what is currently a spectacular recruiting class come to town. Steel yourself for some serious USC hype this time next year, I guess. "D'Anton Lynn did a nice job in his first season as defensive coordinator; the Trojans improved from 105th to 48th in defensive SP+, thanks mostly to big-play prevention and outstanding third-down defense. Safety Kamari Ramsey is the only returning starter in the secondary, but he's great, and Harvey and Fitzgerald should help. Gentry is a good playmaker at linebacker, and the addition of 330-pounder Keeshawn Silver (Kentucky) and 350-pounder Jamaal Jarrett (Georgia) up front should certainly provide some, uh, immovability. I don't expect an elite defense, but further improvement is likely. "On offense, Maiava is a decent scrambler, Sanders and juco transfer Waymond Jordan are exciting and explosive additions, and slot receiver Makai Lemon averaged a whopping 3.0 yards per route, second in the conference. "The line is more experienced, especially with the additions of senior transfers J'Onre Reed (Syracuse) and DJ Wingfield (Purdue), but I'm not sure about the upside there. Regardless, Riley should have enough to field another top-20 offense, develop further, win another seven or eight games and buy time for the cavalry to arrive in 2026." While USC fans are certainly not expecting a national championship this season, another year of winning seven or eight games is certainly not what anyone is looking for. Riley and the Trojans will look to prove Connelly's projections wrong on the field this fall.
