Lincoln Riley should be on hot seat after USC

Another big sport, another big stink.

Another loaded season, another misplaced season.

Four years after Lincoln Riley arrived at USC amid gaudy guarantees to return the soccer program to national prominence, effectively, two phrases.

Still ready.

Needing a win at Oregon’s Autzen Stadium on Saturday to have a likelihood at their first College Football Playoff berth, the Trojans once again fell short, fell deep and principally fell on their faces.

Still ready.

In entrance of its jubilant followers roaring like USC followers once roared, Oregon used an 85-yard punt return, a horrible Trojans penalty and terrible USC play calls to roll to a 42-27 victory.

Still ready.

With the win, the seventh-ranked Ducks nearly definitely earned a playoff spot.

With the loss, the Fifteenth-ranked Trojans undoubtedly have been eradicated for the fourth time in Riley’s 4 seasons while hanging an equally damning quantity on the embattled coach.

Under Riley’s management, the Trojans are 0-5 against top-10 groups.

Nearly as dangerous, in 4 years the Trojans have gained just three highway video games against groups that completed the season with data better than .500. Before beating Nebraska this 12 months, Riley’s Trojans had not recorded a high quality highway win since his first season.

If USC beats UCLA next weekend as anticipated, the Trojans will end with a 9-3 document and a good trip in some nameless bowl sport.

And that won’t be enough. That can not be enough.

One wonders how long the deep-pocketed USC people will endure such failed expectations, such fruitless autumns, such … mediocrity.

Heck, if UCLA can buy its approach out of the Rose Bowl, one imagines that USC may buy its approach out of a soccer coach.

Just saying. Just saying, because at this level, there actually isn’t something more to say.

“We’re right there,” Riley said afterward. “This has been an inspiring team to watch all year. It’s just gonna keep getting better and better.”

It certainly has been inspiring watching the Trojans battle back from numerous accidents to subject a battling crew Saturday that was gutted at a number of positions.

But that still didn’t make it a lot enjoyable to watch Oregon gain more than thrice as many dashing yards while the Trojans harm themselves with an unacceptable 103 yards of penalties.

When it got here time to make a big stop, the Trojans couldn’t. When it got here time to full a big play, they often had been flagged.

Oregon is nice, but Oregon shouldn’t be ready to control the sport against a deep and gifted USC crew … and yet for long stretches, the Ducks did.

“They made more plays than us,” Riley acknowledged.

The relaxation of the time, the Trojans just tripped over themselves.

USC started Saturday’s sport with strength and model, 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 sport.

If only the swaggering Trojans weren’t also so sloppy.

On their next possession, a line-drive punt was returned 85 yards for a landing by Malik Benson to give Oregon a 21-14 lead.

“Obviously a huge, huge play in the game,” Riley said.

Then at the end of the first half, every little thing fell aside for USC, just like every little thing always appears to collapse in big video games.

The breakdown started when USC appeared to regain momentum on a missed 44-yard subject objective by the Ducks’ Atticus Sappington. But on the play, the Trojans’ Desman Stephens II leaped over the road for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

“Panicked a little bit,” Riley said. “Did something that we don’t teach.”

Given new life, the Ducks shortly took benefit with a one-yard landing run by linebacker Bryce Boettcher to give them a 28-14 lead with 1:52 remaining in the half.

Then USC regarded even worse on its ensuing drive when, on first and objective from the Oregon eight-yard line, Riley inexplicably called two operating performs by Lemon that had been stuffed. The Trojans ultimately had been pressured to attempt a subject objective, but, in the ultimate ticks of the half, Ryon Sayeri bounced it off the fitting upright and the Trojans ended up with zilch.

“The defining sequence in a lot of ways,” Riley said.

At halftime, the Ducks’ 14-point lead appeared a lot bigger, and it turned out to be 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, transformed their own fourth down and ultimately scored on a four-yard go from Jayden Maiava to Lemon to make it 28-21.

But then Oregon used a number of bruising runs to set up a 28-yard landing go to Kenyon Sadiq to make it 35-21 late in the third quarter.

The Trojans made it a one-possession sport again on a nine-yard landing go to Lake McRee early in the fourth quarter, but Oregon drove 79 yards and scored on another bruising run by Noah Whittington to clinch it.

End of sport. End of season.

Still ready.