Dylan Luden

“ Lincoln Riley is a soft coach and he has a soft program.” Those words were uttered by Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy on Big Noon Kickoff Saturday before his alma mater No. 15 Michigan were brutally defeated 31-13 by USC. Portnoy’s comments made sense at the time – in fact, many fans of other Big Ten schools likely thought the same. However, USC’s win over Michigan was a step in the right direction in proving those skeptics wrong.

The clock on Caleb Williams’ Chicago Bears future seems like it’s starting to tick away. As it does, the pocket of opportunity for Williams to be an excellent NFL quarterback appears to be closing up. Ever since his debut last season after being drafted No. 1 overall, it seems like Williams has been in a constant scramble on the field and off, facing constant scrutiny by traditional media for his play and social media for how different he is emotionally compared to everyone else in the league.

USC soccer’s offense was flying high during its first three games, scoring 11 goals while cruising to three easy wins. Now, it’s completely sputtered. The No. 16 Trojans were upset by Washington 1-0 Thursday at Rawlinson Stadium in its first game of Big Ten Conference play, falling to 3-2-1. “We need to continue to understand the expectation in terms of Trojan spirit and how much we need to fight, battle and compete,” USC head coach Jane Alukonis said.