Lincoln Riley, USC tried out of playing LSU opening weekend of 2024 per report

When Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for the USC Trojans, there was speculation that the former Sooners head coach wasn’t too excited about the Sooners move to the SEC.

He denied those rumors in May of 2022, but the idea lingered.

Late Tuesday night, Saturday Down South’s Matt Hayes reported Riley and the Trojans have been working for two years to get out of their September 1 matchup with the LSU Tigers this fall.

USC tried for nearly 2 years to find a way out of a contract to play LSU in Las Vegas because Trojans coach Lincoln Riley didn’t want the game, multiple sources told Saturday Down South. – Hayes, Saturday Down South

How little did Riley want to play the game? Well, sounds like he tried to get a little help from his agent.

Just how committed was Riley to get out of the game? High-profile sports agent Trace Armstrong represents Riley and LSU coach Brian Kelly, and a source told SDS that Riley asked Armstrong for help in changing Kelly’s mind. – Hayes, Saturday Down South

Riley and the Sooners struggled against Georgia, Alabama, and LSU in consecutive years in the College Football Playoff. The further they got away from the Bob Stoops tenure, which included the loss of strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt, Oklahoma struggled more and more against the top of the SEC.

In 2017, the Sooners lost in overtime to the Bulldogs by six. In 2018, Oklahoma fell behind big in the first half before the Crimson Tide ultimately won by nine. Then, the bottom dropped out in their 25-point loss to the Tigers in 2019.

And if the playoff defeats weren’t frustrating enough, Oklahoma lost a pair of Big 12 games in the next two seasons before Riley’s departure. But the Sooners weren’t down and out by any means.

Even after a six-win 2022 season, Brent Venables has OU on a strong trajectory to be a force when they…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lincoln-riley-usc-tried-playing-100014272.html

Author : Sooners Wire

Publish date : 2024-05-29 10:00:14

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