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Lincoln Riley lost his 12th game as the USC head coach on Saturday.
Riley lost 10 games total in his first 5 years at Oklahoma.
The Trojans were beaten by Maryland on the road, 29-28. USC had a 21-7 lead going into halftime, and it had a 28-14 lead with a little more than 13 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. But Maryland rallied, blocking a field goal that would have iced the game and then driving 47 yards in the final 2 minutes to score the game-winning touchdown.
USC is now 3-4 on the season after consecutive games with blown 14-point leads.
In fact, 5 of Riley’s 12 losses as the USC coach have featured blown 14-point leads. (H/T The Athletic’s Antonio Morales on that one.)
Those games include Utah, Utah again, Tulane in the 2022 Cotton Bowl, Penn State, and now Maryland.
After the game, Riley was asked why his program struggles to close out games.
“I don’t know,” he responded.
The Trojans have a losing record for the first time under Riley, but the issues aren’t confined to this season. USC is 5-9 in its last 14 games. It started the 2023 season 6-0 before going 2-5 down the stretch.
USC opened this season 2-0 but has lost 4 of its last 5. The heat is about to turn up on the quarterback guru. Riley, whose last 5 starting quarterbacks are currently starting for NFL teams, promised that USC would be competing for titles when he landed in Los Angeles. USC seems just as far from that standard now as it was when it hired him. Former USC running back LenDale White even suggested giving Riley the same treatment the program once gave Lane Kiffin.
Tough times in L.A.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
