Paul Finebaum isn’t backing off his criticism of USC, and after the Trojans’ 24-7 loss at Wisconsin, he sounded even more convinced the Lincoln Riley era is hanging by a thread.
On ESPN, Finebaum said the upcoming Oct. 31 matchup with Ohio State at the Coliseum is “the biggest game of Lincoln Riley’s career” and warned, “A loss to Ohio State and a backup quarterback will finish him.”
That was the bluntest line in a segment built on the idea that USC is wobbling hard. Finebaum said Riley’s program is on “life support,” pointing to the Trojans’ latest dud in Madison - a game in which USC scored just seven points, the fewest ever by a Riley-coached team. The offense also finished with minus-17 rushing yards on 25 carries against Luke Fickell’s Wisconsin defense.
The final score made it look even worse than the underlying numbers in one respect: USC actually posted a 51% success rate to Wisconsin’s 43%. But the Trojans sabotaged themselves with a 29% success rate in the red zone, two interceptions and no takeaways from the Badgers.
“We flat out didn’t play good enough on any of the three sides of the ball,” Riley said.
Finebaum has already gone after Riley once this season, calling him “a complete fraud as a coach” after Oregon’s 41-27 win at the Coliseum on Sept. 26. He opened his latest comments by bringing that moment back up and explaining why he held off on going all-in at the time.
“Matt, we had a conversation about Lincoln Riley a few weeks ago when they lost to Oregon, but I will table it till next week because anything we say today could either be exaggerated or undone by next Saturday night,” Finebaum said. “They’re playing Ohio State.”
The buyout hanging over Riley’s contract, estimated at around $70 million, also came up. Finebaum said he knows the number and said the money doesn’t change his view.
“I know what the buyout is. I’ve been reminded by every obnoxious Trojan fan every time we have a conversation about Lincoln Riley, but there’s no getting around it,” Finebaum said. “They’re on life support.”
Ohio State’s quarterback situation only adds another layer to the noise around this game. Julian Sayin injured his right throwing shoulder when Indiana’s Mario Landino sacked him in the fourth quarter of the Buckeyes’ 19-15 win at Indiana on Oct. 17, and Ryan Day has ruled him out indefinitely.
“We are putting together a plan for him not being available for the regular season and then also him not being available for the postseason,” Day said.
Sayin’s injury also knocked him from the top spot in the latest Big Ten quarterback rankings, with Indiana’s Josh Hoover moving into No. 1.
Luke Fahey, a true freshman from Mission Viejo, California, stepped in against Indiana and is the leading candidate to start in Los Angeles. Even so, former five-star recruit Tavien St. Clair got first-team reps with Fahey during the bye week, and Day said he’ll make the decision this week with input from offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
“We don’t know what the Buckeyes are going to look like without Julian Sayin,” Finebaum said.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, and it lands in the middle of a stretch that could define the rest of USC’s season.
After Ohio State, the Trojans get a bye before traveling to defending national champion Indiana on Nov. 14, then hosting Maryland, which fired Mike Locksley last week, and finishing at UCLA on Nov. 28.
Finebaum didn’t stop at the matchup itself. He also questioned what kind of crowd will show up at the Coliseum for a primetime game.
“Not only how USC plays, but who is going to show up on a Saturday night to watch this USC team that has been woefully disappointing,” Finebaum said.
USC is 41-20 under Riley over five seasons, but the Trojans have not won more than nine games since his 11-3 debut in 2022.
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Former Trojan Helped Expose A USC Problem Fans Will Hate
USCs trip to Wisconsin turned into the kind of night that can linger with a fan base, especially when a familiar face was part of the damage. Former Trojan Bryan Jackson, now with the Badgers, scored a first-half touchdown against his old team as Wisconsin rolled past No. 16 Southern California 24-7, while Colton Joseph added a touchdown pass and the defense kept piling on with takeaways and a blocked field goal attempt.
The performance exposed an issue USC supporters have seen before and probably did not want to revisit on the road: a running game that never got going and a passing attack that helped dig the Trojans into a hole with two first-half interceptions. Against a Wisconsin team that controlled the game on both sides, USC never found enough answers to keep pace, and the loss left more questions than comfort for a program trying to steady itself in a tough conference race. [Read more 🡒]
USC's Wisconsin Loss Brought Back Familiar Problems Fans Feared
The bye week was supposed to help USC reset, but the trip to Wisconsin instead brought back the same frustrations that have lingered through too many uneven stretches this season. For a half, the defense gave the Trojans a chance, mixing in sacks and tackles for loss while holding down the Badgers on the ground, and it looked like USC might be able to turn a rugged road game into the kind of grind-out win it has often struggled to find.
Instead, the offense never offered enough support. Turnovers and an ineffective running game kept USC from building momentum, and once the defense started to wear down in the second half, Wisconsin took control and pulled away to a 24-7 win. It was the sort of loss that leaves the Trojans not just disappointed with the result, but uneasy about how familiar the script felt once the game started to slip away. [Read more 🡒]
Lincoln Riley Just Put USC In A Brutal New Conversation
USCs latest setback in Madison only sharpened the questions already hanging over the program. The Trojans were handled 24-7 at Wisconsin in a game defined by an offense that never found its rhythm, and with two losses already on the season, the margin for error is disappearing fast as the schedule turns toward a brutal stretch against ranked opponents.
Lincoln Riley brought a playoff reputation to USC, but the conversation around his tenure has shifted in an uncomfortable direction. His 5-15 record against top-25 teams is becoming a talking point again, and if the Trojans cannot climb back into College Football Playoff contention, the speculation about his job security figures to get louder rather than fade. [Read more 🡒]