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Lincoln Riley in Trouble at USC: Trojans football coach Lincoln Riley and his team were not ready for the Big Ten. Sure, they were a high-flying, high scoring team in the Pac 12 where having a defense was a suggestion more than a requirement.
Now he is coaching in the Big Ten where even the second tier teams come with bonafide defenses. Over all USC's scoring is down compared to Riley's previous two years in the Pac 12. But it is the Trojan defense that is letting him down. After an impressive season-opening win against LSU, USC has lost 4 of its last five games - all conference games. And in all 4 they held a late lead only to lose by one score by the opponent late in the game. In all 4 cases their defense let them down. And in their only win in that stretch, a 38-21 win over Wisconsin, they had to overcome a double digit deficit.
LINCOLN RILEY IN TROUBLE
Lincoln Riley in Trouble at USC. As for the 4 losses, they had Michigan on the ropes and let the Wolverines put together their only really good drive of the day in he waning minutes for the loss. Tied at Minnesota, the Trojans let a former FCS quarterback drive on them for the winning score with one minute left. USC coughed up a double digit lead to Penn State and lost in overtime.
This past weekend USC had a field goal blocked that would have given them a two score edge, and then saw Maryland punch in the winning score with under a minute to go. In fact the USC defense gave up 15 fourth quarter points in that game.
So, what is next for USC? They have some winnable games coming up. Lose any of them and USC fans will take their anger out on Riley. Rutgers is next on the schedule and they are struggling right now. Washington is inconsistent. Nebraska might be tough to play but it is a home game. Then there is the cross town rivalry against UCLA, which is a bad team. All of that takes place before the season finale against Notre Dame. So Lincoln Riley in trouble at USC? It looks like it.
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