USC, led by head coach Lincoln Riley, heads to West Lafayette this weekend for its first Big Ten road matchup of 2025. The Trojans have been electric on offense, piling up 132 points in just two contests, while also showing progress defensively. Yet, Saturday’s clash with Purdue presents a stiffer trial than numbers alone reveal.
The Boilermakers, now led by Barry Odom, have rebuilt their defense with a surge of transfer talent. That transformation has turned Purdue into a legitimate obstacle, forcing USC to prove its growth under Riley against an opponent unwilling to back down.
What Crucial Big Ten Checkpoint Does Lincoln Riley Face at Purdue?
USC enters Week 3 with its first Big Ten road trip of the 2025 season, a 2,100-mile flight to Purdue that doubles as a test of endurance and focus. The Trojans, coached by Lincoln Riley, will be traveling three time zones for Saturday’s matchup.
Last year, that proved problematic, as USC dropped all three of its contests in the Eastern Time Zone against Michigan, Maryland and Minnesota.
Josh Pate addressed those struggles on his show, pointing out the challenge USC faces when leaving the West Coast.
“What’s the upset alert concern meter here? Five. And I’ll tell you why. Because I don’t think anyone’s really nailed how to travel west to east except for Oregon. USC struggled with this last year,” Pate said.
He added that this week “is a competitive character game for USC because there’s no matchup I’m going to waste your time pointing out that gives Purdue a huge advantage over USC. That’s not there. What would have to happen here is USC goes in there and looks lethargic and they sleepwalk and everyone’s talking about the Illinois game coming up.”
Lincoln Riley acknowledged the grind of constant travel and revealed that USC has altered its approach in 2025.
“We’ve changed the type of airplane that we’re in,” Riley explained after Tuesday’s practice. “It’s a little different when you have an hour and a half or an hour and 45 minutes flight, especially with the size of some of these guys. Then all of a sudden you’re on these planes for four, four and a half hours and then you get ready to go play a game with the time change and things like that.”
The coaching staff also adjusted daily routines.
“Again, we’ve made a couple of changes in the schedule with timing of eating … while we haven’t had to change anything drastically from a sleep standpoint. There’s a couple of things throughout the week in there — it all fits. It’s kind of like a puzzle, one piece affects another,” Riley said.
In 2024, the Trojans logged more than 12,000 miles during their inaugural Big Ten campaign, traveling coast to coast with road trips to Michigan, Minnesota and Maryland. This fall’s travel demands are lighter, totaling 7,298 miles across the regular season.
The slate includes Purdue, Illinois, Notre Dame and Nebraska. After the Nov. 1 trip to Lincoln, USC will remain on the West Coast unless postseason play takes them elsewhere.
