D’Anton Lynn’s defection to USC didn’t doom UCLA’s defense, it just gave it a rival
His arrival last December, in the midst of the darkest defensive stretch in school history, was hailed as a potential program-saving moment at USC. “He’s done a tremendous job at this point,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said of Lynn. It was a fitting finish to a tremendous debut season in which Lynn transformed a mediocre UCLA defense into one of the nation’s best in a matter of months, a unit that gave up 11 fewer points and 102 fewer yards per game than the year before. On third downs, USC’s defense ranks 22nd in opponent conversion rate, down from 109th last year, while UCLA fell from 35th with Lynn all way to dead last in college football without him, the only team this season to have opposing offenses convert better than 50% of the time. But over their past six games, the Bruins actually have given up fewer yards and points per game than Lynn’s USC defense over the same span.
Under D’Anton Lynn, UCLA’s defense is ‘trying to promote a different standard’
With Bill McGovern possibly out again, how will UCLA’s defense rise against USC?
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