After a ferocious comeback, the USC Trojans and Lincoln Riley lost another excruciating game in the final seconds, this time at the hands of Illinois.
After falling behind 31-17, the Trojans came all the way back, thanks to an Illinois fumble as they were about to score, and were in position to take the lead.
Coming out of the 2:00-minute timeout, the USC Trojans were down five with 1st and 10 from the Illinois 16-yard line. Both teams had all three timeouts. Instead of running the ball and bleeding some of the clock, or at a minimum forcing Illinois to use some timeouts, USC scored on the next play on a beautiful pass from Maiava to Lemon.
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USC took a one-point lead, but left 1:55 on the clock for the Illini to play with. They subsequently drove down the field and kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.
Did Lincoln Riley And The USC Trojans Leave Too Much Time?
Head coach Lincoln Riley was asked about this decision after the game and if they considered draining the clock more.
“Yeah, we thought about it. We knew they were probably going to try to be aggressive, so just kind of a quick play for us, and Jayden made a great read. You know, in that moment, when you’re down five, it’s not like you can be too cute with it. I mean, you’re playing a really good defense on the road. Scoring is not easy. Would it have worked out great if we could have bled more clock? Yes. But if you bleed the clock and don’t score, then it doesn’t matter anyway.”
Many will point to this decision as a summation of Lincoln Riley’s tenure at USC. On the other hand, nothing is ever guaranteed, especially when you are losing.
However, with the way the offense was playing (and the way the defense was playing, for that matter), it may have felt better to at least run one running play and force Illinois to use a timeout.
Lincoln Riley and the Trojans decided to go for the score, in hopes that their defense would come to life and close the game out. Similar to just about every loss in 2024, they were unable to do so, and the USC Trojans have a tough flight home.
All that being said, their loss comes at the hands of a ranked opponent on the road. They still have everything in front of them.
The bye comes at a very opportune time. They need to get healthy and then come out against Michigan in two weeks and prove that they are a real contender in the Big Ten.
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