USC loses to Oregon in another letdown of the Lincoln Riley era

It was nearly a half decade ago that Lincoln Riley, dressed in a slick blue suit and glossy cardinal tie, stood atop the Coliseum’s rooftop deck, grinning as he gazed out across the field below. He’d just been introduced as USC’s new head coach, and in that moment, anything felt possible for the future of Trojan football. Riley, at the time, was one of the most renowned young coaches in college football. And as he surveyed the scene, he painted the picture of a day when the Trojans were back on top and the Coliseum was hallowed ground once again.

“This place,” Riley said that day, “is going to be the mecca of college football.”

But less than five years later, as final seconds ticked away on a 41-27 loss to Oregon on Saturday, fans trudged toward the exits, many of them surely wondering how much longer they’d accept the current state of USC football.

That moment of truth wouldn’t come Saturday. The first loss for the Trojans at the Coliseum since 2024 wouldn’t spell the end of their season by any means — not after a single defeat to No. 20 Oregon — but in that moment, the future that Riley had envisioned felt as far away as ever.

Riley tried afterwards to plead otherwise: “We have a damn good football team,” he said. “I know we do.”

There will still be chances for the Trojans to prove their coach right. But the stakes on Saturday had arguably never been higher for USC’s coach, who spent all offseason explaining how this season would be different. There were no more excuses, no more explanations for why USC was still falling short — even he seemed to agree to that. Everything he’d been pointing towards in the distance was now here, culminating all at once.

With a gauntlet of a Big Ten schedule ahead, there was no better time for Riley to prove he had USC moving in the right direction and no better matchup to help catapult the Trojans into the College Football Playoff conversation than Oregon, its newest — and still maybe most bitter — rival. The whole college football world was watching, waiting to see if USC’s coach could deliver in the most critical of moments.

Instead, Riley and his Trojans ended up as the punchline in Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s postgame news conference.

“Three wins against these guys,” Lanning said. “I guess if you’re from this area and you’re interested in winning football games, you should go to Oregon. If you’re interested in going to a Chris Brown concert, you should go here.”

The Trojans once again were in an all-too-familiar, all-too-painful position, one they’d experienced many times before during Riley’s tenure. Mistakes piled up. Ill-timed penalties too. And worst of all, USC’s defense still couldn’t get a stop. It gave up 504 yards to Oregon, the third-most it had allowed over the past three seasons.

The Ducks would score on six of their last seven drives, almost all of which featured their backup quarterback at the helm. That was after Oregon star quarterback Dante Moore was knocked out of the game early in the second quarter following a brutal hit by USC linebacker Desman Stephens II. The hit, which Lanning called “disgusting” after the game, started a shoving match between players from both teams.

Stephens, who was seen celebrating after the play, was kicked out of the game, but he remained on the sideline in the second half.

Riley said after the game that he didn’t see Stephens celebrating. And when asked why he stayed on the sideline, Riley responded, “Why? Because he’s on our football team.”

The play cast a pall over the rest of the game, but Oregon backup quarterback Dylan Raiola managed to throw for 289 yards and two touchdowns against USC’s defense. Jayden Maiava, meanwhile, had 326 yards and two touchdowns, but completed just 23 of 42 passes.

The rushing attack wasn’t much better, as the Trojans averaged a mere 3.6 yards per carry.

The game began on a bitter note for USC. After marching on a 13-play opening drive, a third-down sack forced the Trojans to settle for a field-goal attempt. But Caden Chittenden missed an easy kick wide right. It was just the latest in a string of recent special teams slip-ups for the Trojans.

The defense, however, held early, even after Oregon running back Jordon Davison burst out of the backfield for a 45-yard run on the Ducks’ first play. Oregon finished that drive with a field goal, the only points either high-scoring offense managed in the first quarter.

Unable to get anything going on the ground, the Trojans turned to their stud freshman receiver to pace the offense. Five of Maiava’s first seven completions went to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, one of which came on a 31-yard strike down the seam for a touchdown despite tight coverage.

Oregon was mounting a response when Moore took off on a quarterback scramble. But as he slid, Stephens decked Moore with a direct hit to his helmet, even after he had already given himself up. Moore spent several minutes on the field before being loaded onto a cart and taken to Los Angeles General Medical Center by ambulance.

Lanning said after the game that Moore had movement in all of his extremities while at the hospital. His absence left Raiola, the backup, to take the reins of Oregon’s offense, and he led the Ducks to the doorstep of the goal line.

USC’s defense stood tall in the red zone that time, holding Oregon to a field goal. But it wouldn’t last.

Raiola proceeded to find his rhythm in the second half. He led the Ducks on consecutive touchdown drives in just 11 plays.

USC responded with three straight scoring drives, and even added a stop from its defense in between. The third — an 11-yard strike to Tanook Hines — tied the score 27-27 with less than 13 minutes remaining.

USC looked to have Oregon stopped in its tracks on the ensuing possession. Then, on a third-and-long incompletion, defensive tackle Jide Abasiri was flagged for roughing the passer. The penalty gave Oregon just the opening it needed.

“We had all the momentum in the world,” Riley said. “But you can’t do that against good teams and good offenses.”

The Ducks scored five plays later, as Raiola lofted a prayer to the corner of the end zone that was answered by one of his wideouts, Dakorien Moore.

A failed fourth-down attempt for the Trojans, with the Ducks leading 34-27, would all but end it.

Maiava’s desperation pass was swatted away. And with it, so too were any assumptions that this season at USC would be much different than the four that came before it.

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