USC’s Lincoln Riley Discusses Officiating Mistake vs. Arizona

The coach explained what the officials told him about the play that ended the first half.

USC’s 45–37 win over Arizona didn’t come without some controversy. At the end of the first half, the officials potentially cost the Trojans a chance at a field goal by re-spotting the ball while the clock was running down from five seconds, which resulted in Caleb Williams spiking the ball after the clock expired, not before.

Trojans coach Lincoln Riley was heated entering the locker room at halftime as he was caught screaming at the officials over the mistake. After the game, Riley told the media that the officials admitted they made the mistake.

“I probably honestly didn’t give them a whole lot of time for an explanation,” he said. “Then after, we talked, and they admitted that they messed it up. My question was, ‘If you messed it up, why wasn’t it stop the play and review it?’ The explanation given to me at the beginning of the third quarter was that they obviously didn’t handle it properly.”

#USC coach Lincoln Riley on the events at the end of the first half, when the Trojans did not get off a play as time expired before they snapped the ball: pic.twitter.com/cMtHbyaA25

— Trevor Booth (@TrevorMBooth) October 30, 2022

Luckily, for the Trojans, the mistake didn’t cost them the game in the end as, despite Arizona keeping it close, USC outscored the Wildcats 14–8 in the fourth to win the game.

Williams specifically came to play for USC, as the quarterback threw for 411 yards and five touchdowns to lead the way. The Trojans improved to 7–1 on the season and are only half a game behind Oregon in the Pac-12 standings.

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