Why USC's Lincoln Riley was sounding 'alarm' despite 19-point win over Louisiana
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Why USC's Lincoln Riley was sounding 'alarm' despite 19-point win over Louisiana appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The USC football team is expecting a great season in 2026, under head coach Lincoln Riley. Riley is considered a hot-seat candidate by many national college football insiders. Despite a 19-point win on Saturday for his Trojans team over Louisiana, Riley wasn’t too pleased with things.
“The penalties are going to be the most alarming thing for us tonight. It was a lot, and they were really at horrible times,” Riley said postgame, per the school.
USC football would finish the contest with eight penalties, for 78 yards.
Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (free trial)
“There’s never really good times for penalties, but we had some at really inopportune times, and that’s something we have to clean up a lot. There’s no doubt about that,” Riley said.
USC was led in the game by quarterback Jayden Maiava. Maiava threw a whopping five touchdown passes in the game, to help the Trojans win 49-30.
“It definitely didn’t feel like that, but shout out to the guys up front, the running backs and receivers being able to trust me to get them the ball,” Maiava said.
The Trojans moved to 3-0 on the season following the win.
USC football looks for a strong season in the Big Ten
The 2026 Trojans squad has wins this year over Louisiana, San Jose State and Fresno State. USC now moves on to begin conference play.
“I think if we’d set a goal here in the beginning, it would have obviously been to win the first three games. Get a chance to play a bunch of guys, develop your roster, put a lot of guys out there to see where they’re at, and give us a chance to evaluate and develop, which we’ve been able to do,” Riley added.
USC football next plays Rutgers on Saturday, to begin Big Ten play. The Trojans have a tough conference slate this year, with games against Indiana, Ohio State and Penn State.
Related: Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht puts positive spin on Temple slog before Big Ten play
Related: Alabama football’s Kalen DeBoer trying to teach Keelon Russell hard lessons despite dominant wins
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos