‘We Go Overboard With Negativity’ — Joel Klatt Rallies Behind Lincoln Riley As USC Criticism Snowballs After Oregon Loss
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USC spent four weeks making the Lincoln Riley hot-seat conversation look a little premature. One loss to Oregon was apparently enough to drag the coffin back out.
The Trojans fell 41-27 at home and dropped from No. 12 to No. 18, which brought Riley’s job status roaring back into the weekly college football conversation. Joel Klatt thinks the reaction has skipped a few steps.
Everybody’s Writing USC’s Obituary Again
“Everybody is writing that program and that coach’s obituary right now,”Klatt said. “That’s the talk of the town.”
Klatt has covered enough college football to know what happens after a high-profile loss. A team can go from playoff threat to alleged disaster before the postgame traffic clears.
“And as we know, those of us, raising my hand, that cover this sport and talk about this sport, we go overboard with positivity and we go overboard with negativity,” Klatt said. “And I think this is a little too negative on USC.”
The criticism surrounding Riley did not materialize out of thin air. USC went 7-6 in 2024 and 9-4 last season, and the Oregon loss reopened the same questions that have followed him through much of his Los Angeles tenure. Thecalls for Riley to get fired got loud almost immediately after the final whistle.
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Klatt does not see the Oregon game as evidence that USC is collapsing.
“That wasn’t an atrocious performance against Oregon,” Klatt said. “That’s a tie ballgame. They get a stop. They get a penalty.”
Oregon eventually pulled away, but USC still produced 446 total yards, and Jayden Maiava threw for 326. The Trojans also remain one of the country’s most dangerous offenses. USC owns a 91.8 grade in PFN’sOffense Impact rankings, No. 3 nationally after five games.
Washington Matchup Will Give Riley an Immediate Answer
Klatt thinks the pressure around USC can push the Trojans in one of two directions. He is betting on the better one.
“You either fold as a program, or you get your best,” Klatt said. “I genuinely believe they either go out there and flop and lose or they go out and say, ‘Nope, we’re going to be all right, and we’re going to point ourselves in a direction that could get us back into the playoff conversation.’”
Klatt concluded by saying, “I expect the latter, and I expect a good performance.”
USC gets that chance Saturday against Washington. The Huskies enter 3-1 after a 27-24 loss to Minnesota, while the Trojans are 4-1 and 1-1 in Big Ten play.
The schedule gets mean immediately after that. USC travels to Penn State next week and still has Ohio State and Indiana waiting later in the season.
That is why Klatt is not treating the Oregon loss like a funeral. USC has one loss, an elite offense, and enough schedule left to either revive the playoff conversation or make the critics look prophetic.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
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