Riley Likes the Defensive Improvements Made by the USC Trojans

Bringing in Gary Patterson as his defensive coordinator was a home run hire for Lincoln Riley.

The USC Trojans (6-1) are on a two-game winning streak as they hit the road to take on the Wisconsin Badgers (4-2) on Saturday.

Patterson is one of the most experienced and respected defensive coaches in college football.

He is a coach who won 70 percent of his games as the head coach at TCU for 22 years, and had his finger on the pulse of a dominant defense for years.

Patterson’s finger is now on the trigger of a USC defense that is showing improvement every week.

They are a unit that is a potent mixture of veteran upper-classmen and true freshmen playing with chemistry and making plays when needed.

Yes, USC may not be No. 1 in most defensive categories. However, they are playing well enough to disrupt opponents’ offensive game plans at crucial moments.

At his weekly press conference, Riley commented on the play of his defense.

“Anytime you can play like we have in the second halves and some of the really critical moments of the last several weeks, we've won those games on the backs of our defense,” said Riley.

Over the past two weeks, the Trojans’ defense has stepped up and stepped on both Washington and Penn State in victory.

Against Washington, USC stacked up negative plays in the form of five sacks of quarterback Demond Williams Jr.

Further, USC held Williams to less than 200 yards passing and 57 percent completion percentage, then took the lead and kept it in a close 25-21 victory.

In the road victory at Penn State, the Trojans held the Nittany Lions to just 68 yards rushing and 2.19 yards per carry.

USC also sacked Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht twice in a 31-23 win.

That is seven sacks in two weeks, after recording none in the loss to Oregon.

In addition, Patterson has built a relationship with his players and his coaches on the defense.

Riley spoke about Patterson and his connection with the team this season.

“I think he's just like he's learning our guys more,” said Riley. “He's learning our staff more. Our guys are learning him more. The connectivity on all levels is going up. We're giving less free yards. We're tighter in coverage. We're making things tougher on offenses. Like we're starting to do more things that really good defenses do.”

That connection is happening at a critical point in this season.

After Wisconsin, the Trojans face a gauntlet of a second-half schedule.

USC faces No. 3 Ohio State (at home), No. 6 Indiana (on the road), and No. 9 UCLA (at the Rose Bowl).

How USC plays in those three games will dictate whether the Trojans punch their ticket to the post-season.