Lincoln Riley's record in big games: USC coach's struggles continue with another loss to Oregon
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Lincoln Riley's record in big games: USC coach's struggles continue with another loss to Oregon originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The No. 12 USC Trojans fell to No. 20 Oregon 41-27 on Saturday night, even after the Ducks lost their star quarterback Dante Moore to a scary hit in the first half.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley's team entered this game 4-0, and his Trojans were slightly favored, getting the Ducks at home. Although USC tied the game up at 27-all early in the fourth, Oregon scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to get a huge 41-27 victory.
With the loss, Riley, who is in his fifth season with the Trojans, extends his poor record against Oregon and ranked teams.
Lincoln Riley extends poor record against ranked Big Ten teams
Coming into this game, the expectations were high for the Trojans. USC entered 4-0, and quarterback Jayden Maiava had been playing lights out all season. It felt like Riley finally had put the pieces together for his team to have a legitimate shot at competing for both a Big Ten and College Football Playoff berth.
Instead, USC lost at home to an Oregon team that lost on the road to unranked Oklahoma State just two weeks ago. With the latest loss to Oregon, Riley now has a 5-14 record against ranked teams while at USC.
Perhaps the most frustrating stat for USC fans is that Riley is now 0-3 against Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks. The fact that Oregon beat USC by two scores, and did so with a backup quarterback that's been sitting on the bench all season makes it even worse. Of course, Raiola is not your typical backup quarterback, as the former five-star recruiting prospect transferred from Nebraska this offseason.
Riley was hired to have USC compete for championships. Instead, he can't even manage to beat Oregon at home on his third try, not to mention the fact that under Riley, USC has yet to win a conference championship, or even come close to the CFP.
In a recent interview with ESPN leading up to Saturday night's game, Riley's comments about where he is as a coach might come back to haunt him in the coming weeks if this season goes sideways.
"Frankly, I think that's why [USC] needed somebody like me," Riley told ESPN in July. "This wasn't going to turn around without some bumps along the way, especially just how scrutinized and the expectations are at a place like this."
Riley is also the sixth highest-paid head coach in all of college football, making $11.5 million annually.
USC also has remaining games against ranked teams in Penn State, Indiana and Ohio State. What started as USC's most promising season yet just might end in yet another subpar finish for Riley.
MORE:Dante Moore injury update: Oregon QB carted off after massive hit to the head
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos