Lincoln Riley didn’t have much interest in spinning USC’s 41-27 loss to Oregon into anything other than what it was: a painful defeat, a missed opportunity and another night that ended with the Trojans short against the Ducks.
After the game in Los Angeles, Riley opened by addressing the scary second-quarter injury to Oregon quarterback Dante Moore. Moore was taken away in an ambulance after a hit that stopped the game’s momentum cold.
“First, want to say hope Dante’s okay. You never want to see that with any opponent no matter how competitive the game is.
These are all people at the end of the day on both sides. So, wish him a speedy recovery.”
From there, Riley moved straight into the football. He called it a “Heavyweight battle out there,” said it unfolded the way he expected, and pointed to the errors USC made late, especially after the Trojans had seized momentum in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a disappointed locker room. Guys fought their hearts out, but obviously we’ve got to take this the right way and that’s going to be important for our locker room.
We have a damn good football team in there. I know we do.
Our locker room believes that. And we’ve got to take advantage of some of these opportunities, this opportunity to learn and grow.”
USC’s defense was beaten for more than 500 yards, and Riley said the Trojans simply didn’t handle enough of the explosive plays or key downs. He pointed to the screen pass early in the second half, the penalty that helped Oregon keep a drive alive when USC had the crowd behind it, and a stretch where the Trojans had real control of the atmosphere.
“That was probably as rowdy as I’ve heard our crowd maybe since I’ve been here. It was a hell of an atmosphere in there.
We had all the momentum in the world. But you can’t do that against good teams and good offenses with talented skilled players like they had.”
He also said USC missed too many tackles and needed to be tighter in critical moments, even while noting the goal-line stop at the end of the first half gave the Trojans a real boost.
The quarterback change on Oregon’s side also came up, and Riley said it naturally altered the flow of the game.
“I think any time a different quarterback goes in, it’s going to change the flow of the game a little bit. You know, guys’ skill sets are different. They’re obviously both proven, good quarterbacks at this level that have experience ... but we still had our opportunities.”
One of the biggest calls of the night came midway through the fourth quarter, when USC went for it on fourth down. Riley said the choice was driven by both analytics and his own conviction.
“You’re playing to win at that point, and you know we obviously look at analytics. Even the one a little bit before that when we kicked the field goal to make it a seven-point game was pretty close.
We went with the points there. This one honestly wasn’t that close in terms of analytics.
It was a pretty strong recommendation to go for it, and I felt very strongly about it as well.”
He added that USC was trying to extend the game and needed to make a play, but didn’t.
Riley was also asked about the sequence that followed the goal-line stand and what he saw from Desman Stephens II after the hit on Moore. On the celebration question, he said, “I did not see it, no.”
When the conversation turned broader - whether USC’s defense can become elite year after year - Riley shut it down quickly.
“I don’t make big picture statements after a game. We just finished the game an hour ago.
We need to capitalize. We need to stay focused on us in this moment right now, in this game.
This is not about any of the games before. It’s not about any of the games coming up.”
He said the Trojans have corrections to make, especially on key downs, and that’s where his attention is staying. As for how a team finishes a game like this, Riley said it comes down to the decisive snaps.
“You play in a heavyweight battle like this, and you trade punches the whole night, right, to put yourself in position to win. And we put ourselves in position to win.”
Still, the finish went Oregon’s way, and Riley’s final message was as blunt as it gets.
“How do you do it? You go back to work, like that’s what I’m going to do.
We’re going to get past this one, get my ass up in the morning and go back and get ready to go suffer more with these guys. And, again, you guys will say whatever you want to say outside.
That’s your job. I get it.
I respect it. I know we and I have a damn good football team in here and we’re going to keep going.”
In Other News...
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Oregon Just Teased A New Look Bruins Fans Need To See
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The timing makes the tease even more interesting, with the full reveal expected on September 29 and a possible debut lined up for the October 10 matchup with UCLA. A version of the jersey had already surfaced through Dicks Sporting Goods, both online and in some stores, so the only real mystery now is how Oregon plans to package the finished product when it officially goes public. [Read more 🡒]