WSU coach Jake Dickert says, ‘He’s like a formational wizard’: Cougars defense preparing to face offensive innovator in Southern Cal coach Lincoln Riley
Spokane Spokesman-Review by Colton Clark 5th of October in year 2022
PULLMAN
– Washington State’s sturdy defense will be up against a potent USC offense, a
Trojans attack led by perhaps “the best play designer in the country,” Cougars
coach Jake Dickert said.
Dickert
is referring to Lincoln Riley, the first-year USC coach who is widely
recognized as one of college football’s top offensive innovators.
“I
think he’s like a formational wizard,” Dickert said Wednesday after practice at
Gesa Field. “Each week, he schemes up unique, different things to challenge
you. And he does a good job of really checking everything from the sideline,
giving a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down.”
The
Cougars (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) will meet Riley and his rebuilt Trojans (5-0, 3-0),
the sixth-ranked team in the nation, at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the L.A. Memorial
Coliseum.
As
Oklahoma’s head coach, Riley directed a high-powered offense, which spurred the
Sooners to 55 wins and three College Football Playoff appearances over the past
five seasons. The Trojans hired Riley and quickly became a premier destination
for star skill players.
USC
used the transfer portal to improve significantly at the quarterback, running
back and wide receiver positions; the Trojans added proven standouts such as
Oklahoma QB Caleb Williams, Oregon RB Travis Dye and Pitt WR Jordan Addison,
who won the Fred Biletnikoff Award (best receiver in the nation) last season.
Those newcomers are shining in Riley’s versatile system.
“I
think coach Riley is the peak offensive mind, probably in the country,” Dickert
said Monday. “He’s still calling the plays, still in the grind. … Calling
plays, he’s phenomenal. He puts his guys in unique situations and he’s so
multiple. I just think the way he sees it and calls it is as good as there is
out there. That’s why he has all the accomplishments, why he’s done it that
well over time.”
“It’s
a challenge, but our guys will be ready to go and excited to play.”
USC
mixes up its play-calling and operates with a level of balance that makes it
unpredictable. The Trojans have attempted 167 passes and 169 rushes this
season. Their passing offense (296.6 yards per game) ranks 22nd in the country.
Williams has thrown 12 TDs against one interception. Their rushing offense
(183.8) ranks 43rd nationally. Dye, Williams and backup RB Austin Jones have
combined for 875 yards – excluding yards lost on sacks – and 13 touchdowns,
with no fumbles lost.
On
Monday, Riley said WSU is “the best football team we’ve played up to this
point” during a Trojans Live radio program. The Cougars are paced by their
defense, a unit that has performed deftly in four of five games.
The
Cougars “do a lot like what our defense does,” Riley told local reporters
Tuesday . “They’re aggressive up front. They move enough to cause you problems.
… The linebackers are very, very active. The safeties are active. They fly
around and cause a lot of havoc and do a really nice job of it. You gotta be on
your game, assignment-wise.
“It’s
a challenge. Your mistakes are going to be (tackles for loss) against these
guys.”
WSU
is tied for second nationally in tackles for loss (45) and ranks seventh in sacks
(18). The Cougars’ defensive line, arguably the team’s strongest position
group, is coming off a disruptive showing against California after its first
down day of the season in a loss to Oregon on Sept. 24. WSU makes use of D-line
stunts and sends linebackers and defensive backs on creative, disguised
blitzes.
“You
gotta pick and choose your spots wisely, because all of a sudden they can take
the best wide receiver in the country down the field and beat you,” Dickert
said.The Cougars’ defense is allowing 18.2 points per game, good for 25th in
the country. USC’s offense is scoring 42.2 points per game, the No. 10 mark in
the FBS.
Containing Williams is key
USC’s
quarterback does some of his finest work outside the pocket.
“He’s
unbelievable off-schedule,” Dickert said of Williams, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound
sophomore. “It’s weird to say – he’s maybe the first pick in the draft, (but)
you want to keep him in the pocket and let him throw, because he’s so dangerous
outside of it and untouchable when he runs.”
The
Trojans’ offense produced impressive stat totals in all but one game . Oregon
State kept Williams bottled up, recording 11 QB pressures and frustrating the
USC passing game for all but the final stages of the Beavers’ 17-14 loss on
Sept. 24. Williams finished the game 16 of 36 for 180 yards, but he led a
go-ahead scoring drive late, tossing a 21-yard touchdown strike to Addison with
about a minute remaining.
“The
biggest thing is explosive plays. I think (the Beavers) limited the scramble
plays,” Dickert said. “Caleb Williams, the more I study him, he might be the
best running back in the country. … He runs through so many tackles it’s
incredible. His off-script (style) is really good and I think that’s the piece
of it you can’t game plan for.
“You
can try to contain him in the pocket, but there’s so many things he does
off-script that’s just next-level stuff. They did a good job of containing him.
Sometimes, you catch people on a little bit of an off night, but that was a
credit to what Oregon State did.”
Sealing
off the edges is a priority for WSU’s defense, which boasts two of the Pac-12’s
best edge rushers in Brennan Jackson and Ron Stone Jr. – plus several capable
substitutes behind them. Relative to the rest of the team, USC’s offensive line
isn’t a strong point. The Trojans have surrendered 10 sacks.
Williams
has been one of the more efficient quarterbacks in the nation. He threw his
first pick last weekend – USC’s lone turnover this year. WSU failed to record a
takeaway against California – the Cougar defense’s first game without a
turnover since Oct. 23, versus BYU. WSU, a top-five team nationally in
takeaways last season, has logged seven turnovers this year after finishing
with 29 in 2021. The Cougars’ offense has committed 12 turnovers.
“Just
one turnover all year … shows the type of level (the Trojans) have been
operating at offensively,” Dickert said. “That’ll be a big part of this game.
We need to be great in the turnover margin.
“We’ve
got good players, too. That’s the exciting part. They get to go show that. It
isn’t just (USC). I understand the challenge, but I love our guys. We gotta
pick and choose our spots where we go and be aggressive and we’re dictating.
We’ll do that as coaches. We’ll have our guys amped up and ready to play.”
Riley talks Cougar coaches, former Red
Raider associates
A
student of the Air Raid offense, Riley played quarterback at Texas Tech in the
early 2000s and began his coaching career at his alma mater in 2003. He served
on Mike Leach’s Red Raider staff for seven seasons.
Riley
worked with Texas Tech’s receivers in 2007-09. For two of those seasons, he
coached Eric Morris, who now coordinates the offense at WSU.
An
inside receiver, Morris appeared in 48 games for Texas Tech across four years
(2005-08) and had 1,965 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns on 184 catches. He
coached inside receivers on Leach’s WSU staff in 2012, then spent the next five
years coordinating Texas Tech’s offense before landing a head-coaching gig at
FCS Incarnate Word in 2018.
“Good
player, fun player,” Riley said of Morris. “An underrecruited guy who came in,
but was a smart player. It’s no shock to see that he’s coaching. He comes from
a coaching family. … Just a very tough, dependable player. We had a great run
there (Texas Tech won 37 games in four years) and it’s no surprise to see he’s
in coaching and doing it at a high level.”
Riley
was asked to assess WSU’s Air Raid offense, installed by Morris this offseason,
and sophomore quarterback Cameron Ward – who starred at UIW for two seasons
then followed Morris to Pullman. The Cougars’ new offense has experienced mixed
results, but it has shown plenty of encouraging flashes.
“I
think (Morris) has done a good job of mirroring it to what the quarterback does
well,” Riley said. “He’s got a good player there and obviously has been able to
have some continuity with (Ward). Eric’s a smart enough coach. He’s got an
understanding of what his guy can do well and how he can maximize those
strengths.
“It
looks like he gives this guy some freedom to use some of his natural-born
athleticism and make plays. It’s a good system and a tough system to stop, with
the combination of what they run and the quarterback making it go.”
Riley
and WSU offensive line coach Clay McGuire were Texas Tech teammates and
co-workers. McGuire, the Raiders’ primary H-Back in 2000-04, was often put to
work as an extra blocker out of the backfield and recorded 320 yards and two
TDs on 32 catches. McGuire started his coaching career in 2006 at Texas Tech,
where he remained until 2010.
McGuire
oversaw running backs and special teams at East Carolina between 2010-11. Riley
was ECU’s offensive coordinator from 2010-2014.
He
returned to Lubbock in 2018 and coordinated the Red Raiders’ offense after
coaching the Cougars’ O-line in 2012-17 under Leach.
McGuire
tutored USC’s offensive linemen in 2021. He and Riley reconnected after the
Trojans hired their new head coach last November.
“Just
being somebody I know and trust, I respect his opinion,” Riley said of McGuire.
“I talked to him (about the team) when I first got here. … It was cool to see
his assessment of the place.
“When
you get in (as a new coach), everybody wants to tell you what’s been good and
what’s been bad. The reality is, you appreciate that everybody wants to help,
but you don’t trust any of them because you haven’t been in the foxhole with
them. I’ve been in the foxhole with Clay. I know what kind of coach he is, what
kind of person he is. He gave his assessment of not only the roster, but living
here. He was very, very helpful and he’s a great friend.”
