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Lincoln Riley was considered a wonder boy in college football while guiding Oklahoma to four straight Big 12 championships and 55 wins in five seasons and coaching two Heisman Trophy winners.
His decision to leave the Sooners to become head coach at USC in December 2021 was stunning. It was touted as a huge win for the Trojans.
Riley is now in his third season at USC and dealing with the worst stretch of his head coaching career. The Trojans fell to 5-7 in their last 12 games with a 24-17 loss at underdog Minnesota last Saturday.
After a victory over LSU in their opener, they’ve had a bumpy ride in their first season in the Big Ten, losing at Michigan and rallying to beat Wisconsin before losing to the Golden Gophers.
“If you change two plays, then we’re 5-0 and we’re feeling like world beaters,” Riley said Monday night on Trojans Live, a streamed show. “Then we’re worried about being overconfident. It’s all about perspective for this team. You can’t get too caught up in the emotions and all that’s going on.”
USC (1-2, 3-2) has a chance to right the ship when it faces No. 4 Penn State (2-0, 5-0) Saturday at 3:30 (TV-CBS) at the sold-out Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Trojans’ rushing defense will need to be better than it was against Minnesota, which had 193 yards on the ground, and against Michigan, which had a whopping 290 in a 27-24 win over visiting USC.
The Wolverines are 38th nationally with 191.3 yards per game, and the Golden Gophers are 110th with a 116.7 average. The Nittany Lions have a much better ground game, ranking 17th with 217.8 yards per game.
“We didn’t command the line of scrimmage on the defensive front like we have in other games,” Riley said about the Minnesota loss. “The margins there are thin. I didn’t think we tackled as well at the second level. We missed a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/life-riley-southern-cal-coach-034700640.html
Author : Reading Eagle, Pa.
Publish date : 2024-10-09 03:47:00
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