USC’s 41-27 loss to Oregon keeps getting worse as the days pass by.
In a game where head coach Lincoln Riley once again failed to knock off a ranked opponent and now has the entire College Football world calling for his job, he thinks his team’s performance isn’t as bad as it seems.
“We didn’t get run out of the stadium,” Riley said. “There’s a lot of good things on that tape. You don’t have a chance to win a game like that if you don’t do some things pretty well.”
Saturday night’s loss made Riley 5-15 against ranked opponents, and the number in the loss column could continue to increase as they still have No.5 Ohio State, No.6 Indiana and No.23 UCLA left on the schedule, as well as a tough road game against Penn State.
USC started the game off strong, but everything completely changed after Oregon quarterback Dante Moore exited the game due to a dirty hit by Desman Stephens II in the second quarter. The Ducks took the lead immediately after the play and made two things apparent.
The momentum of the game had shifted.
The USC defense was once again outmatched against a ranked opponent.
The Ducks put up 504 yards of offense and scored five touchdowns, while backup junior quarterback Dylan Raiola lit up the Trojans’ defense, completing 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards, with two touchdown passes.
Like most of the Riley era, USC has yet to build a quality defense despite being on their third defensive coordinator in three seasons, with Gary Patterson leading the defense this year.
USC ranks in the bottom five in defense in the Big Ten this season, giving up an average of 354.8 yards and 26.4 points per game, despite having only played San Jose State, Fresno State, University of Louisiana, Rutgers and Oregon.
While Riley doesn’t think things have been as bad as they seem, USC fans beg to differ.
@deviousduck_ commented on Riley’s quote, which was published by @On3 on X, and said, “Year 5 of the Lincoln Riley era and he’s giving fans a moral victory 😭🙏🏻.”
@TooTurntTiger wrote on the post “If USC actually had a fanbase, they’d be pissed.”
The woes continued to pile as @Mrboltsfan commented, “Get this guy a participation trophy 😂😂😂 USC is ass lmaaooo”
