USC Trojans HC Lincoln Riley delivers a heavy dose of the truth regarding a potential unhappy camper on the team

It's no secret that the only reason the USC Trojans lost their first-ever Big Ten conference game was because they lost the physical battle in the trenches. Michigan's offensive and defensive lines were better, and there's no way around it. Outside of that, you could say that every other position group may be better on paper for the Trojans, but, that doesn't matter in Big Ten football.

Now, the Trojans do have a great defensive line. It's not bad, although it could be better. However, Michigan just has two maybe three or four guys on their defensive line who will make it to the NFL, and maybe even be drafted in the NFL Draft one day.

On USC's defensive line, they have some pretty underrated players that the national media may not be too aware of. Guys like Braylen Shelby, Jamil Muhammed, Anthony Lucas, Gavin Meyer, and of course, Bear Alexander. Some of you, if you're not a Trojans fan, may remember Alexander from before the LSU matchup , where he and some Tigers offensive linemen were chirping before the game on Twitter.

Well, he didn't play as much on Saturday against Michigan. In Week 1 he played 28 snaps; in Week 2 he played 20 snaps, and in Week 3 he played 21 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus . So, his usage has decreased a bit, but, that's normal because every game and situation is different.

Well, some are thinking that he's had enough of not playing much, as he basically, cryptically, tweeted out some pictures of himself basically saying to "free him," which means let him loose, let him go, free him, etc, you get the point.

Well, there is now a portion of the fan base that thinks Alexander is unhappy. There is a portion that thinks he has been done wrong, and there is a portion that thinks he needs to go all out more often on the field. Well, head coach Lincoln Riley is here to tell you everything is fine.

“He played over a third of the game," Lincoln Riley said on Tuesday. "So people want to act like the guy’s not playing snaps. He’s doing a good job for us out here. He’s getting better. There’s no story there. I know you guys are looking for one — there’s no story there.”

Alexander has played the least amount of snaps between USC's three primary interior defenders. Nate Clifton has played 96 total defensive snaps as an interior defender, while Gavin Meyer has played 86 to Alexander's 69.

His snaps are definitely lower than expected. Through his first three games last season, Alexander was already up to 114 snaps on the year. So, the dropoff from last year to this year is significant. But, the defense this year is way better than it was last year.

So, maybe the coaches know what they're doing -- you certainly hope so.

If Riley says it's nothing, it's nothing.

Related: USC's same old problem cost them against Michigan as they fail Big Ten toughness test spectacularly