Lincoln Riley isn’t sounding like a coach staring down a season-defining Saturday. He’s sounding like a man who still believes USC can go toe-to-toe with anybody, even after a 24-7 loss to Wisconsin pushed the Trojans to 6-2 and turned the pressure dial all the way up ahead of Ohio State’s visit to Los Angeles on Halloween night.
Riley framed the Wisconsin loss as part of the week-to-week grind of college football, even while acknowledging USC has plenty to fix before facing the Buckeyes.
"Every game makes or breaks you. I mean, that's college football.
This isn't the NFL. Every game is big and really important.
All the games we've won to get to this point have makes or breaks. So every game is important," Riley said postgame.
He added:
"This game was important. We didn't take care of business.
But there's a lot of parity right now, and the toughest teams can battle back from tough losses. So I have a lot of confidence in this team, and I have a lot of confidence that, when we're at our best, we can beat anybody.
But we've got to play our best, and we've got a lot of work to do to get ready for the next week (against Ohio State)."
That next week arrives with Riley under the microscope, and with Ohio State set to walk into a game that suddenly looks a lot more complicated because of an injury to quarterback Julian Sayin. Mission Viejo product Luke Fahey is now in line to take over, giving him a chance to do it back in Southern California and show Riley he was wrong for not giving him a look coming out of high school after Fahey put up legendary numbers in CIF play.
For Ohio State, the stakes are clear. A homecoming of sorts for Fahey at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum could calm Buckeye Nation, but there are real questions about whether the offense can hold up without Sayin, especially with the run game going up and down.
The Trojans may offer a softer landing spot than expected. USC’s pass rush has been described as weak, and the defense has had trouble creating pressure, with the front often doing less than the secondary. USC is giving up 239 passing yards per game, ranking No. 109 in the country in that category, and Gary Patterson’s return to running a defense has not gone well.
If Fahey gets off to a rough start, the noise around Ohio State will get loud fast. Ryan Day and Arthur Smith would face serious criticism for not having the quarterback succession plan ready, and Tavien St. Clair would be seen as being behind schedule for not being prepared for this exact moment.
The larger picture around Ohio State has shifted, too. What looked like a brutal stretch in October and November now seems less daunting after Indiana proved as strong as expected, while USC and Oregon have not looked nearly as dangerous as many thought they would.
Both former Pac-12 teams have struggled to generate the offensive punch people anticipated, and both have had problems stopping opposing offenses. Over the next two weekends, Ohio State has a chance to be the team that puts a stop to both seasons’ momentum.
For Riley, though, the spotlight is on the immediate future. His confidence is still there. The question is whether USC can match it when Ohio State comes to town.
In Other News...
Ohio State Could Revisit A Familiar Ole Miss Transfer Path
The transfer pipeline from Oxford to Columbus has already worked once for Ohio State, and it could be a path worth watching again if Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy decides his future is elsewhere. Quinshon Judkins made the jump from Ole Miss to Ohio State in 2023 and quickly became part of the Buckeyes productive backfield rotation, giving the program a clear example of how a proven SEC runner can fit into its system.
Lacys shoulder injury has only added more uncertainty around his next move, with speculation swirling about whether he could eventually enter the transfer portal or even look toward the NFL Draft. For Ohio State, the interest is obvious if he becomes available, but for now it remains just that, a possibility rather than a pursuit, with the Buckeyes and everyone else waiting to see how his situation unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Just Got A New Warning About USC Trip
USCs offense hit an unusual wall against Wisconsin, and that should at least sharpen Ohio States attention ahead of its trip west. In a loss that doubled as the lowest-scoring outing of the Lincoln Riley era, the Trojans were held to seven points and 241 total yards, with Wisconsin making a clear point of attacking the run game first and then getting after quarterback Jayden Maiava.
For Ohio State, the lesson is less about copying Wisconsin and more about seeing a workable blueprint. USC still has the pieces to stress a defense in a hurry, but when the running game gets bogged down and Maiava feels pressure, the whole operation can stall. That gives the Buckeyes a useful warning before they walk into the matchup, because stopping the early rhythm may matter just as much as dealing with the explosive plays everyone expects. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Heads To USC With Two Defensive Questions Lingering
Ohio States trip to USC is arriving with a familiar kind of October tension: a big road test, a short turnaround and a growing injury list after the Buckeyes win over Indiana. The latest concern on offense is Julian Sayin, whose injury appears likely to end his season, but the defensive side is carrying its own uncertainty as Ryan Day tries to sort out who will be available in Los Angeles.
Jay Timmons and Kenyatta Jackson are the names that now hang over the matchup, with Day offering only an update that leaves their status up in the air. For a Buckeyes team that is still trying to keep its focus on the next opponent, the timing matters because USC is the kind of game where every available body on defense matters, and Ohio State may not know its full plan until later in the week. [Read more 🡒]