USC Football: Lincoln Riley Identifies Where Season Fell Apart
The USC Trojans Football team started the season off hot, securing a 6-0 record, and the hopes that they would make it all the way to the College Football Playoff Championship. However, the season fizzled out, and head coach Lincoln Riley knows exactly when that happened.
Much of the blame had been placed on defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, who allowed his unit to get beat practically every week. Grinch was fired before the season concluded. However, it was a certain game that Riley reveals began the tumultuous end to the Trojans playoff hopes.
"I think the Washington game in particular, when we didn’t win that game in the end, especially in the fashion it happened, and some of the things were off the table, I did not think we handled that well after that."
After their 6-0 hot start the Trojans' Football team began to unravel. They would get destroyed at home by Notre Dame, with a final score of 48-20. The next loss to Utah was close with a 34-32 score. They would sneak in a win against Cal with a 50-49 score.
However, it was the game against Washington, where the team lost 52-42, that became the turning point. It could have been that the defense was tired of not being put in place to win, but Riley believes that is when everything unraveled.
The Trojans would lose their next two, with the final loss coming at the hands of their crosstown rivals, the UCLA Bruins. Both teams are heading to the Big Ten next season, and the Bruins can now brag about ending their long-standing rivalry with a win.
Riley believes that the team lost their fire in the Washington game, but they might have done in after Notre Dame. Either way, what should have been a trip to the playoffs ended in a 7-5 record, and a fired defensive coordinator.
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