PISCATAWAY, N.J. – As reporters waited down a narrow corridor from an open USC locker room, they caught glimpses of Lincoln Riley delivering his postgame speech.
Fragments of the coach’s fiery address could be heard.
When it ended, a team spokesperson scurried over to the handful of media. Asserting that what Riley had said was private, the spokesperson demanded that reporters not disclose any of it.
The sad truth was that nothing Riley said Saturday evening was nearly as embarrassing as the statement his team made on the field.
His quarterback? Struggled to complete passes against Rutgers’ soft zone coverage.
His special teams? Gave up a 40-yard pass on a fake punt when the Scarlet Knights were backed up at their own 16-yard line.
His defense? Oh, boy. It was beyond bad.
The 12th-ranked Trojans delivered the wrong kind of throwback performance during their not-so-great-escape of a 42-35 victory at SHI Stadium, raising questions about anything having changed under new defensive coordinator Gary Patterson.
They couldn’t stop the run with any reliability. They repeatedly gave up big plays to a quarterback who looked better suited to the Football Championship Subdivision level.
They surrendered 460 yards and two more touchdowns than Rutgers had managed against UMass – UMass! – on this same field just two weeks earlier.
A team supposedly ready for prime time appeared unprepared for a midafternoon game against possibly the worst Power Four opponent in the nation.
Who could have imagined that the highlight of the trip would be the USC band performing Friday in Times Square?
The showing left Trojans fans in a rightful frenzy over the state of a team that was supposed to be peaking in Year 5 under Riley. Instead, this looked like more of the same from a program whose flaws have been annually revealed by midseason.
Riley’s moment of truth was supposed to come later this season against top teams like Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana. Maybe it came on a cloudy September day against Rutgers.
What Riley said – on the record, thankfully – when he finally met with reporters in a tiny interview room didn’t soothe any concerns.
He claimed the close call was mostly a result of the fake punt shifting momentum in the second quarter after his team had taken a 10-point lead.
“It kind of breathes life into them,” Riley said, “where, you know, you flip that scenario and don’t give up the fake punt, get the ball back, we were moving it pretty good at that point – go score, I mean, the air is going to be out of that stadium when you go into halftime.”
While acknowledging the defensive breakdowns, he spent equal time praising the highlight plays, which included safety Prophet Brown’s 99-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“We made some big ones,” Riley said. “Obviously, the pick-six was massive.”
He defended his decision to go for it on fourth-and-4 at the Rutgers’ 17-yard line early in the fourth quarter. That move backfired when wide receiver Corey Simms caught a pass but was stopped short of the first down.
“Obviously, you get a chance to use more clock, get a chance to obviously score a touchdown, get it back to a 14-point game, and the field position piece is real there too, right?” Riley said. “And if you don’t convert it, you know, it’s a long ways for them to go and the game is starting to get short there.”
Most gallingly, Riley referenced prevailing in a half-filled stadium against a crummy team whose coach may not make it to midseason.
“Listen, we’re not going to take road wins for granted in this league,” Riley said. “They’re all hard.”
What’s hard is believing that the Trojans might really be different this season.
Reporters deserve their share of blame for hyping this team amid the usual devouring of cupcakes, but USC’s lack of meaningful practice access prevented them from seeing many of these warts.
Jayden Maiava has gone from Heisman hopeful to a quarterback who locks in on primary reads and struggles with accuracy.
Patterson has gone from savior to supervillain.
Riley has gone from being redeemed to feeling a new level of heat.
His only saving grace may be that nothing is linear in college football. That means the narrative could wildly shift again Saturday at the Coliseum when the Trojans face equally frustrating Oregon in what’s long been billed as a make-or-break moment for Riley and his team.
Now this onetime showdown might more accurately be described as the Disappointment Bowl.
After nearly stumbling against Boise State, the Ducks looked listless during a loss to Oklahoma State. Pounding helpless Portland State by a ridiculous 84-0 margin didn’t ease any of the worries that popped up during the season’s first two weeks.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning was panned for a nasty exchange with a reporter inquiring about quarterback Dante Moore’s interview availability after the Oklahoma State game. It turned out that Moore was getting two bags of intravenous fluids, a fact that was withheld in the moment but emboldened Lanning to later get unnecessarily snippy when trotting it out.
Riley has been unfailingly pleasant in his dealings with reporters, though he hasn’t faced many probing questions.
That could change as soon as this week, and everyone will get to hear what he has to say.
