When revising the season of USC from last year, the defense certainly had areas that needed improvement. What needs to be acknowledged, though, from then to this point is that the unit under coach D'Anton Lynn is significantly better.
A lot of the focus is appropriately on the defensive line. This is something that coach Lincoln Riley has made a point of emphasis. From that standpoint alone, the Trojans will be able to match up better against teams in the Big Ten. This team will not be pushed around and will be able to force the opposing offense to execute a couple more times over the course of the game in short-yardage situations, versus giving up what looked like a somewhat easy conversion for a first down during 2024.