PALMER: Mirroring Coaches, Programs Battle Sunday

By Hunt Palmer

Sunday night when the dust settles on the Vegas Strip, the LSU-USC winner will feel like a playoff threat. The loser will have some soul searching to do.

Those two emotions contrast starkly.

Only then will a true separation be discernable between the Tigers and Trojans.

Three years ago, Brian Kelly and Lincoln Riley each left the bluest of blue bloods for their current jobs

Year one produced double digit wins and a glimpse of the College Football Playoff that ultimately fell short. Year two was highlighted by prolific offenses and torn apart by dismal defense.

The Heisman winners are gone, taken with the first two picks in the NFL Draft. Much of the receiving production went with them, but young talent appears ready to emerge.

The quarterbacks are old in age and green on experience. Both Garrett Nussmeier and Miller Moss have watched from the sidelines for a long three years. Both got their chance in the bowl game. Moss set a Holiday Bowl record with six touchdowns. Nussmeier piloted a 98-yard, game winning drive in the Reliaquest Bowl. The former four-star recruits have large thrones to assume.

New defensive coordinators have been hired from programs perceived as “lesser thans”. Blake Baker returned to LSU from Missouri. D’anton Lynn crossed town from UCLA. Their staffs carry quality resumes and assume a tall task of retooling.

Corey Raymond shepherded DBU for a decade. Bo Davis has churned out first rounders for longer than that. Matt Entz won two national titles as a head coach at North Dakota State. He’s coaching linebackers at SC. Eric Henderson left the Los Angeles Rams where he coached Aaron Donald.

Every move both coaches make is an attempt at finally climbing college football’s mountain. Both have knocked on the door but been turned away.

Riley lost a heartbreaker in the Rose Bowl to Georgia. Then was annihilated by LSU’s 2019 juggernaut a year later. Kelly’s Irish were streamrolled by Alabama in the 2013 national final. He got back to the playoff in 2018 only to be routed by Clemson.

The path to the playoff may not be easier now with Riley’s USC in the Big 10 and the SEC adding Texas and Oklahoma to Kelly’s plate, but the thought is that building a national title roster may be more doable at USC and LSU than Oklahoma or Notre Dame.

On Sunday night, either Kelly or Riley will feel like the 12-team playoff is attainable. Another crack at it may be coming. One will feel like another year may have to pass. A loss before Labor Day makes that margin for error almost zero.

Both head coaches have a reputation for falling short on the biggest stage. Sunday’s stage isn’t the biggest in the sport, but it’s the only show in town, so to speak. The eyes of the country will be watching as one coach and program take a step forward.

The other will be left in that desert dust.