Joel Klatt Names Big Ten Contender He Is ‘Bullish On’ In 2024

On Tuesday's airing of The Herd with Colin Cowherd , college football analyst Joel Klatt expressed an optimistic tone for the USC Trojans this fall based on their projected defensive improvements and history of producing an efficient offense.

When Cowherd asked Klatt about his thoughts on the Trojans, Klatt replied that he is very bullish on their expectations, particularly with their defensive play.

"I'm bullish on USC this year," Klatt said. "I'm very bullish. Their defense, everyone can roll their eyes on their defense being better. Their defense is going to be better. All you have to do is line up properly in their defense."

USC's defense, which has been the Trojans' Achilles heel under head coach Lincoln Riley, is expected to improve significantly this fall after finishing 2023 as the No. 122 -ranked overall defense.

Offensively, the Trojans will have Miller Moss starting at quarterback, which has many throughout college football assuming USC will take a step back after two seasons with Caleb Williams under center.

Klatt rebutted that notion by explaining how Riley's consistent history of developing high-octane yard-per-play offenses should keep the Trojans competitive.

"This notion that their offense will take a step back is false,” Klatt added. “It's false, and the record bears that out. Since 2017, when Lincoln Riley became head coach at Oklahoma, their offense in terms of yards per play, and I think yards per play is the best metric we have for really your efficiency as an offense. How good are you as an offense? Yards per play. When you look at that stat, Lincoln Riley's offenses since 2017 have been 1st, 1st, 1st, 11th, 3rd, [and] 6th. Like, they're not going anywhere."

Klatt continued by stating that Riley's reputation for producing top-tier quarterbacks should allow the Trojans to maintain their offensive prowess.

"It hasn't mattered what quarterback he has had," Klatt said. "And in fact, whatever quarterback he has, as long as that quarterback stays within the system, is generally a Heisman Trophy candidate. So their offense should be just fine."

On a final note, Klatt mentioned that if USC were to defeat the LSU Tigers in their season opener, the season finale against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Nov. 30 could potentially hold a College Football Playoff berth.

"If they beat LSU in Week 1, then they have a legitimate chance to play Notre Dame for the right to go to the College Football Playoff,” Klatt stated.

Whether Klatt is right to be bullish on the Trojans, this season is yet to be seen as the program transitions into the Big Ten conference this fall.

USC's season opener against LSU on Sept. 1 will be held at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium as part of the Modelo Vegas Kickoff Classic. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on ABC.