For Lincoln Riley, USC’s defeat to Penn State marks yet another disappointment in a series of setbacks: “It always falls on me.”
LOS ANGELES — The jubilant cheers from the neighboring Penn State locker room echoed through the thin walls of the LA Coliseum on Saturday evening as a group of reporters waited for USC head coach Lincoln Riley to discuss another painful defeat.
“We own L.A.!” one of the victorious Nittany Lions exclaimed.
“L.A. is our city!” another Penn State player shouted back.
When Riley finally took the podium a few minutes later, he didn’t hide his frustration over what he called a “really difficult loss.” USC fell to the nation’s fourth-ranked team, 33-30 in overtime, despite having built a two-touchdown lead at halftime, leading by seven points in the fourth quarter, and driving into Penn State territory with a chance to win in the closing minutes of regulation.
This latest second-half collapse was particularly painful for USC, marking their third one-score loss of the season.
They had already suffered two agonizing defeats in Big Ten road games, giving up a go-ahead touchdown in the final moments at Michigan on September 21 and blowing a late seven-point lead against Minnesota two weeks later.
“The reality is we’ve played the toughest schedule in the country over the first six games, and we’ve had a chance to win every single one,” Riley said. “That’s not easy to do. Putting yourself in a position to win these games is incredibly hard.
“I understand that the outside world won’t see the positives right now because they’ll focus on our record and the fact that we’ve lost three games in the final moments. I get it—that’s part of it. We all knew what we signed up for with big-boy football. We have to improve our performance at the end of games. I have to do better, our coaches need to do better, and our players must do better because we’re doing too many good things to keep putting ourselves in positions where we have the lead and can win.”
There’s no doubt that USC is just a few clutch plays or timely stops away from where it wants to be, but that doesn’t change the harsh reality the Trojans face. With a 3-3 record, they are no longer a realistic contender for the College Football Playoff. Even if they were to win out, they might not even come close to making the 12-team field.
Even more concerning is the lack of confidence that USC can achieve that kind of second-half surge. This program has lost all the momentum it had when Riley took over. In the past year, USC has lost eight of its last 13 games, matching the worst 13-game stretch that Clay Helton ever had.
These struggles have drained much of the excitement that accompanied Riley’s arrival three years ago.
The crowd of 75,250 on Saturday responded lukewarmly whenever the Coliseum’s in-house DJ prompted them to “get loud!” There were so many fans in Penn State colors that the Nittany Lions’ bench had to urge the crowd for more noise several times.
When asked how much responsibility he bears for the current state of the program, Riley reacted defensively.
“It always falls to me,” Riley said. “When have I ever shied away from responsibility? I always take it. I’m the head coach. It’s all part of my job. Believe me, no one is taking more responsibility than I am, so I don’t know where that line of questioning is coming from.”
