USC Fans Turn Against Lincoln Riley With Firing Chants After Narrowly Avoiding Embarrassment to Big Ten Rival

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This was never supposed to be the standard at USC. Lincoln Riley arrived with championship expectations, went 11-3 with Caleb Williams in Year 1, and made everyone believe the Trojans were finally relevant again. Cute. Five seasons later, USC still has no College Football Playoff appearance, no conference championship under Riley, and a growing collection of high-profile losses whenever the stakes actually rise. The 41-27 home embarrassment against Oregon was bad enough, but needing a late escape just to beat Washington 25-21 only made the whole thing look worse.

And then came the part Riley really could not ignore.

USC’s own student section started chanting “Fire Lincoln!” during a game the Trojans eventually won. That is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the rebuild.

The Trojans trailed Washington 21-10 after Decker DeGraaf ripped off a 42-yard touchdown, and for a while, it looked like Riley was heading toward another ugly home loss just one week after getting handled by Oregon.

When a coach faces his own fanbase's fury, it signals deeper dysfunction at a powerhouse program. Subscribe to stay on top of USC's crisis and college football's biggest coaching controversies.

USC finally responded with a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, but even that only cut the deficit to 21-16. Then the game flipped on one play. Washington quarterback Demond Williams fumbled; Jahkeem Stewart scooped it up and returned it for a touchdown, suddenly giving USC a 22-21 lead.

The Trojans added only a field goal in the fourth quarter and still had to survive Washington’s final push. That is how thin the margin was. USC did not take control so much as take advantage of Washington’s mistakes and hold on.

And remember, Washington entered the night still searching for its first Big Ten win. Riley was hired to make USC a championship program, not to need a defensive touchdown and a late stand just to escape 25-21 at home.

The frustration goes beyond the scoreboard, too. During the Oregon game, a USC player was ejected for a hit on Dante Moore and then celebrated on the sideline afterward. Against Washington, the defensive issues showed up again, with missed tackles and breakdowns allowing DeGraaf to rumble 42 yards down the sideline almost untouched.

Even after USC took the lead, it still could not put Washington away cleanly. The Huskies marched into the USC red zone in the final minute and set up a 4th-and-goal from the 12-yard line with only seconds remaining. The desperation pass into the corner of the end zone fell incomplete, allowing USC to escape.

Winning ugly happens in college football, but this one did little to suggest Riley has fixed the problems that have frustrated fans for years. The team still looks inconsistent, undisciplined, and far too vulnerable against opponents USC is supposed to handle.

Riley spent the summer talking up this roster as one of his best and most physical yet, but the product on the field has not matched that confidence. Surviving Washington because of a defensive touchdown and a late stand is hardly the kind of performance that quiets questions about whether USC can compete with the true heavyweights of the Big Ten.

At the end of the day, the 25-21 win bought Riley a little breathing room, but it did not calm the storm around his future. His massive buyout makes an immediate firing complicated, but the fanbase has clearly reached a point where simply winning is no longer enough. The comeback saved the result. It did not erase the frustration.

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