By Cole SullivanShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberThe No. 15 USC Trojans are facing one of their biggest games under head coach Lincoln Riley on Saturday afternoon against the No. 7 Oregon Ducks.
With the regular season nearing its end, USC’s College Football Playoff hopes rest squarely on this matchup — and the same can be said for Oregon.
USC struck first with a beautiful opening drive led by quarterback Jayden Maiava to take a 7-0 lead. However, costly mistakes on defense and special teams began to pile up, a recurring issue that has plagued Riley-led teams throughout his collegiate coaching career.
After stopping Oregon on third-and-long to force a field goal, which was missed off the upright, USC was penalized for leaping over the center while not lined up on the line of scrimmage. This gave Oregon an automatic first down, which ultimately led to a touchdown, putting the Ducks up 28-14 instead of USC potentially regaining possession down just 21-14 before halftime.
USC recorded four 15-yard penalties in the first half, many of them undisciplined: leaping over the center, running into the punt returner on a fair catch, unsportsmanlike conduct after a first down, and a player stepping onto the Oregon sideline.
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Fans didn’t hold back on Riley's decision-making after USC’s string of self-inflicted mistakes in the first half.
"Lincoln Riley has always been massively overrated as a coach. Yep he can find and coach good QB’s but literally offers nothing else to the table as a HC," a fan said.
Someone else added: "Once again, USC's deficiencies being exposed....and no surprise, it's in the trenches. They can't stop Oregon's run game and they certainly haven't established any kind of run game. Lincoln Riley has one more half to figure this out, or it's another season of failed expectations."
Another person wrote: "That penalty is on Lincoln Riley. Great play caller, horrible head coach and leader. A great leader would never tolerate those actions from his players. Never on a Nick Saban or Urban Meyer team. I doubt Pete Carroll would have allowed it either."
"Lincoln Riley is unserious as a play caller and head coach…USC is not going anywhere with him at HC," one more fan commented.
...After all the first-half penalties, USC went into the halftime break trailing 28-14. The half ended with a missed chip-shot field goal off the upright after the Trojans drove deep into Oregon territory but were stalled inside the 10-yard line.
In his fourth season, Riley entered Saturday’s game with a 34-16 record. A loss would mark yet another season in which USC fell short of its expectations of competing for a national championship.
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