USC Football: Defenders Not Leaning On Lincoln Riley's Easy Out To Explain Failures In Oregon

Is there some disconnect in the Trojans locker room?

The USC Trojans season of hope added another disappointing game onto the docket, as they dropped their fourth game of the season. This time it was to the Oregon Ducks on the road, and it was a reminder of everything that they let slip away from themselves.

USC came into the game banged up, but they felt like they could compete against the Ducks. But as the game started, it felt like they were on a different planet than their opponents.

“But by kickoff Saturday, with USC’s defense hobbled more than it has been all season, that was basically what the two interim co-coordinators were tasked with doing.”

Per Ryan Kartje of The LA Times

With all of the injuries for the Trojans, the task of taking down the highly-ranked Oregon seemed daunting. And head coach Lincoln Riley seemed to express that the injuries were to blame for the performance in the game, a strange admittance from a coach.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever played in a game where we had as many guys banged up, as many guys coming in and out the game,” Riley said.

Per Ryan Kartje of The Los Angeles Times

However, not everyone in the USC program seemed to be on the same page as Riley in regard to what went wrong against Oregon. Defensive end Solomon Byrd didn’t want to make excuses for the guys who ended up playing in the game.

“I don’t think that’s an excuse,” defensive end Solomon Byrd said. “I think everybody that’s here at USC can play, so I don’t think that’s an excuse.”

Per Ryan Kartje of The Los Angeles Times

It seems that there is some disconnect within the Trojans locker room, and that is interesting to see. It has been a frustrating year all around for USC, and emotions may be coming to a head with the season pretty much over.

USC has just one more regular season game left against UCLA this coming weekend, and it will be their chance to salvage their season. Taking down their rivals would be the cherry on top of a very tough year for this program.

Don't forget to join our community at LA Sports Report, where we celebrate all things Trojans!