Plaschke: Lincoln Riley should be on hot seat after USC flops again in big game

Another big game, another big stink. Another loaded season, another lost season. Four years after Lincoln Riley arrived at USC amid gaudy promises to return the football program to national prominence, well, two words. Still waiting. Needing a win at Oregon’s Autzen Stadium Saturday to have a chance at its first college football playoff berth, the Trojans once again fell short, fell deep and basically fell on their faces. Still waiting. In front of jubilant fans roaring like USC fans once roared, Oregon used an 85-yard punt return, a terrible Trojan penalty and awful Trojan play calls to roll to a 42-27 victory. Still waiting. With the win, the seventh-ranked Ducks almost certainly have earned a playoff spot. With the loss, the 15th-ranked Trojans have definitely been eliminated for the fourth time in Riley’s four seasons while hanging an equally damning number on the embattled coach. Under Riley’s leadership, the Trojans are 0-5 against top-10 teams. Nearly as bad, in four years the Trojans have won just three road games against teams that finished the season with records better than . 500. Before beating Nebraska earlier this year, Riley’s Trojans had not recorded a quality road win since his first season. If USC beats UCLA next weekend as expected, the Trojans will finish with a 9-3 record and a nice vacation in some anonymous bowl game. And that will not be enough. That cannot be enough. One wonders how long the USC deep-pocketed people will endure such failed expectations, such fruitless autumns, such . mediocrity. Heck, if UCLA can buy its way out of the Rose Bowl, one imagines that USC could buy its way out of a head football coach. Just saying. Just saying, because at this point, there really isn’t anything more to say. USC began Saturday’s game with strength and style, forging a 14-all tie on the first play of the second quarter on a trick play that didn’t work against Notre Dame, receiver Makai Lemon throwing 24 yards to Tanook Hines to tie the game at 14-all. If only the swaggering Trojans weren’t also so sloppy. One possession later, a line-drive punt was returned 85 yards for a touchdown by Malik Benson to give Oregon a 21-14 lead. Then at the end of the first half, everything fell apart for USC, just like everything always seems to fall apart in big games. The breakdown began when USC seemed to regain momentum on a missed 44-yard field-goal attempt by the Ducks’ Atticus Sappington. But on the play, the Trojans’ Desman Stephens II leaped over the line for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Given new life, the Ducks quickly took advantage with a one-yard touchdown run by linebacker Bryce Boettcher to give the Ducks a 28-14 lead with 1: 52 remaining in the half. Then USC looked even worse on its ensuing drive when, on first and goal from the Oregon 8-yard line, Riley inexplicably called two running plays by Lemon that were both stuffed. The Trojans were eventually forced to attempt a field goal, but Ryon Sayeri bounced it off the right upright and the Trojans ended up with zilch. At halftime, the 14-point Ducks lead seemed a lot larger and, it turns out, was insurmountable. At the start of the second half, the Trojans held Oregon on fourth and one from around midfield, stole the Ducks’ next possession on an interception by Kennedy Urlacher, converted their own fourth down, and eventually scored on a four-yard pass from Jayden Maiava to Lemon to make it 28-21. But then Oregon used several bruising runs to set up a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kenyon Sadiq to make it 35-21 late in the third quarter and that was that. The Trojans made it a one-possession game again on a nine-yard touchdown pass to Lake McRee early in the fourth quarter, but Oregon drove down the field and scored on another bruising run by Noah Whittington to clinch it. End of game. End of season. Still waiting.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/usc/story/2025-11-22/lincoln-riley-fails-again-usc-football-national-prominence