FOOTBALL

My Analysis Of What Happened At USC-Oregon Game

There is no shame in losing at Autzen Stadium, especially when you are as much as a 10.5-point underdog.

So why was Saturday’s loss to Oregon sickening to watch?

Because of the lack of preparedness and leadership that USC arrived in Eugene with for the biggest game in years.

Let’s look at some miscues:

How do you hit a punt returner who signaled for a fair catch? How do you give up an 85-yard punt return? How do you inexplicably leap over the line of scrimmage on a field goal? How do you chase an Oregon player off the field on their sideline to try and retrieve a ball after an interception?

How do you call two running plays for Makai Lemon from around the 10-yard line and less than a minute remaining in the first half? How do you have a game plan of just throwing deep balls up for grabs and hoping for a penalty/great catch?

How about a kickoff going out of bounds and a missed 27-year-old field goal?

Does this sound like any way to face Dan Lanning, who has six losses in four-plus seasons with five of them to top 10 teams.

You can’t show up to play Oregon in sloppy mode. It’s been clear for years that Lincoln Riley is not a leader of men. People thought beating Iowa last week proved something. Give me a break.

Oregon was down to its No. 3 center and a No. 4 tackle at times. But “dawg work” was getting dominated at the line of scrimmage. And where was linebackers coach Rob Ryan and his unit on Saturday? Has Ryan done much overall in terms of impact this season?

  • Pete Carroll took an average team to Autzen Stadium in 2001 and lost to No. 7-ranked Oregon, 24-22, on a field goal with 12 seconds left. He lost but he got every ounce out of his team and won at Autzen the following season, 44-33.

When has Riley ever gotten the most out of his team?

  • Did you see Lanning chew out his receiver after a taunting penalty? Has Riley ever done that to a USC receiver?
  • I also cannot believe people are making excuses about USC being ready to win these games in Year 4 of Riley that Curt Cignetti is winning in Year 2 at Indiana. At. Indiana.

75 thoughts on “My Analysis Of What Happened At USC-Oregon Game”

  1. No excuses, loss was team effort.

    Oregon won this game before start of season with their NIL and portal transfers.

    USC’s top 10 offense with an inconsistent top 50 defense will result n a 9 and 3 season.

    This is a successful year no matter how you spin it, Wolf.

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    1. KAM: Cowardly Gabby considers this year a success because she is Charlie Bucket the SC Fan. Any real SC Fan expects USC to be winning NCs and building to win more. Riley Coyote has been a failure after 4 years here.

      DON: All Cowardly Gabby has in life is to root against SC and harass us here at the USC blog. Her life legacy is one of complete emptiness.

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    2. Well, I think her point was more that no matter how good our offense is, if our defense is only “top 50”, 9-3 is a good year. We are not going to be in the playoff conversation and even further from the NC conversation.

      It’s just not going to happen under Riley.

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  2. This isn’t a successful season by any stretch of the imagination- because once again Lincoln Riley was exposed for what he is. SW nailed it with his comment about his offense- Chuck it down field and hope for the best, that isn’t an offense. No special teams coach? It shows. Undisciplined penalties-that’s coaching. I love USC- but this charlatan is killing our program and it’s painful to watch. We have zero chance to beat a top level program as we are currently constructed- the reason being, the same errors happen every big game- poor player judgement, poor play calls, poor O line/ D line play. Oregons depleted O line controlled the line of scrimmage-ours got bullied. Off to another 2nd tier bowl game, and we can hear LR say the same thing- can’t wait till next year, cuz we’re close…..

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    1. Thanks to Gabby and Jeff and, especially, Scott for speaking the Truth: Riley is, in the immortal words of the late Dick Cheney, a deadender. I didn’t [fully] appreciate what a bad choice he was until yesterday….when he went way out of his way to prove it in his post game presser. His red faced “Why don’t YOU try it?!” answer to a reporter’s question demonstrated what’s at the root of USC’s football problems: the coach is a snob who thinks he’s WAY smarter than he is. He, then, pathetically, said “what you saw out there were TWO great teams battling each other ALL the way.” Duck fans were laughing at that comment online most of the night. The standard reply was “We saw one great team out there —the other one got shut down and lost by 2 touchdowns.”

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      1. That presser was nauseating. Reminded me of Helton after his team was thoroughly trounced by Iowa in the Holiday Bowl saying “we a very good team on the cusp of being a great team.” Helton and Riley act like used car salesmen. Who are they trying to sell. The Oregon fans weren’t buying it.

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      2. Those two pressers were bad in different ways. Helton was humbling himself [and USC] with over the top praise of Iowa and its fans. Riley was imagining a game fought between two Titans –when in actuality he got his butt wiped. On balance, Riley’s presser was worse. And it’s a big red flag for what’s ahead.

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      4. Even during his infamous “Uniforms don’t win football games” interview Larry NEVER lashed out at the reporters for “being stupid”…

        #RileyDoesn’thaveAnyMoreCardsToPlay….

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      5. I Missed the presser MG- just a typical Lincoln Riley press conference- he’s completely oblivious. One more thing to add to piling on to LR’s incompetence-

        wtf is up with his play calls on a

        crumpled napkin. Can someone say doofus!

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      6. Jeff:

        When USC gets real close to the end zone, Lincoln goes into an internal debate as to whether or not it’s polite to enter it w/o the other team’s permission.

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      7. P. S.

        Lincoln was very close to going Howard Beal [“I’m mad as Hell..!”] at his press conference…. I was afraid the trapdoor on his forehead was going to open up and the birdie on the spring was going to pop out.

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  3. Scott’s analysis is spot on. I was particularly miffed at Stephens jumping over the center to try to block a field goal. Doesn’t he know the rules of the game! Oregon missed the field goal but with the penalty were able to drive it in for a touchdown to take a 42 to 27 lead. That iced the game. Without that penalty, we had momentum and could have drove it down and scored and tied the game in the fourth quarter.

    And where is Gentry. He was so good in the LSU and Michigan games last year before he was hurt. Rob Ryan was saying he should be a first round draft choice. I can’t recall him making one big play. And why can’t we defend a WR screen. It’s game 11 and we still haven’t figured it out. It probably has something to do with our inability to make open field tackles.

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    1. Yep.

      I re-watched the game and several players on defense were not giving 100%. As a matter of fact, players aren’t giving Lynn much more than they gave Grinch. I realize you can’t stuff every play, can’t always be on top of those crossing routes –but giving up that much yardage to a team with o-line and receiver injuries was hard to watch.

      Riley showed his true colors last night. Calling a critic “the dumbest questioner” he’s ever witnessed was a serious red flag: Coach doesn’t get it. People are sick of his act. HE’S the one who needs to improve —not the reporters.

      The problem is: Riley CAN’T change. He’s a good, not great, offensive coordinator —a guy that can call the right plays until we get in the red zone…and then he goes flaccid. [And forget it when it comes to defense and special teams].

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      1. P. S. Riley actually said “we don’t teach jumping over center!” Well, you obviously don’t teach avoiding it either. How could a player NOT know that’s a penalty?

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      5. It depends, T….. does Nico have a concussion or not. If he’s good to go, I’m not confident USC wins [Paige and Ramsey may decide to sit the remainder of season out, waiting for NFL contracts]….

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      1. He definitely wasn’t lost. Lost people move around: Gentry froze in place…

        #ItWasMoreLikeHeWasHavingASpiritualExperience

        #[AllOurDefendersSeemedAsIfTheyWereOn”PersonalJourneys”]

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  4. On an interview ESPN aired yesterday, Riley himself said it best. “I probably moved ahead in my career more quickly than I should have”. Said this from Day 1, this little boy is in over his head. The decision to be made is: a) Stay the course and let him grow into the job. b) Fire him and correct the coaching mistake Haden made on the tarmac in 2013 by going after Lane Kiffin. USC is either serious about football or they are not.

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    1. If we could get Lane back we’d be the luckiest school in the country — Riley deserves to be fired …but only if we have a proven winner to replace him.

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      4. KAM: Please no more Denny’s menus and sunglasses after a assistant coach punches him out!

        DON: Lame is mentally unstable and his antics this week prove it.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. hey mg I would love to see Wasserman whip out his checkbook again and make kiffin an offer he can’t refuse him and Lincoln could be neighbors in there mansions in Palos Verdes 😂

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    1. Unfortunately…for the first time since I was 13 years old — I won’t be seeing a USC/UCLA football game. NBC has removed itself from FUBO & I don’t feel like spending an extra penny to watch this game….

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      2. KAM: Battle of the Crummies!

        DON: Hard to believe that game once meant something. Now we are reduced to Cal-Stanford levels of irrelevancy.

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  7. DON: Oregon is 3-deep with its linesmen. SC is catching up and the 2026 class will definitely help

    KAM: Got to place some blame on the players and not just Wiley. How does a kid jump over the Oregon line on a failed Oregon field goal attempt? That changed a 21-14 game into a 28-14 one

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  8. KAM: Since Wiley will be at SC at least for the 2026 season, I choose to support him

    DON: Besides, fire Wiles now and watch the 2026 class disintegrate

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    1. Probably true, John —but we’re gonna lose them anyway if Riley doesn’t fire a lot of his coaches on defense. Who would want their kid playing for the present bunch?

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      2. KAM: Incorrect. The lesson of the Oregon Debacle was that Oregon is so well coached they can dominate USC with their bench warmers who were pressed into service on their depleted OL and WR positions.

        DON: Meanwhile our backup center struggled at simply hiking the ball. Coaching and fundamentals matter.

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      3. Reminder:

        Coach Helton was fine with the snaps flying over the QB’s head too..

        #InFact,HeSaidHe”Loved”Toa&WantedTo”NeckHug”Him

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  9. That was painful watching the Ducks run roughshod over the Trojans time after time, and then SC could not penetrate that Oregon line led by Brer Bear

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      1. Getting screamed at when you screw up matters too! Riley doesn’t want to be a “Mean Dad” coach like Saban…. he wants to be the players’ Mom…..

        #What’sNext?SomeMayorPeteBreastfeeding?

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  10. “Don’t throw me in the briar patch!”

    An alltime bizarre football play occurred when a punt struck a player’s helmet of the opposing team, bounced backwards over 30-yards and was then recovered by the punter

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    1. I gotta say that JaKobi Lane walking over to the opposing bench AND getting beat up AND getting penalized was a real prize play too….

      P.S.

      We’ll know we’re in serious trouble if Riley claims the mean question at the press conference gave him pneumonia.

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      1. KAM” Prediction: After SC romps over the hapless Bruins Saturday , rah rahs will rally around Riley Coyote.

        DON: And Riley Coyote will say the Trojans were 3 plays from an undefeated season, proclaim the season was a success and that the Trojans are thrilled to be representing the Big Ten in the Alamo Bowl.

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      3. WHAT THE PHUCK DUDE…….YOU WERE TROLLING THE BLOG AT 12AM AND AT 5AM…….COME UP FOR AIR AND TAKE THE REST OF THE DAY OFF.

        BETTER YET, GET A HOBBY OR A REAL JOB……THE ENDURANCE TROLLING IS BEYOND PATHETIC…….JUST SAYING

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      4. Sybil gotta do Sybil.

        Look inward, dumbo….

        [Your problem is not Trump, Scott or me…..it’s you…it’s been YOU all along]…

        #FirstBabyStep…

        #….GetMarriedAndFindOutWhatABrother-In-LawIs

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  11. KAM: Cowardly Gabby is blue. Her Bruins were humiliated at home by Washington 48-14.

    DON: But worse yet: The announced crowd of 38,201 brought the Bruins’ average home attendance to 37,282 over six games. Fans streamed out at the end of the third quarter, with Washington leading 34-7.

    Way to go! Beat the traffic!

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    1. But… the fans weren’t leaving to go home …. they were leaving to smoke crack…and waiting to beat up the team in the parking lot…

      #SybilWouldaJoinedIn…

      #ButShe’dAlreadyPassedOut

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  12. all in all i think you went easy on SLR, wolfman? i know you’re not getting soft on us, you still show flashes of the cruel and unusually sharp criticisms of SC Administrators. no, i’m picking up a different vibe here…PITY??

    that’s it!! wolfman you are subconsciously experiencing pity for SLR! this column reminds me of when Mad Max discovers the Blaster part of the Master Blaster is really a special needs kid, and although he beat him up, he couldn’t bring himself to deliver the final blow.

    #WolfmanTheMerciful

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    2. Did you catch the acting job by UCLA OL #71 at the 5:03 mark of Q3? An obvious graduate of Vlade Divac’s Flopping Junior College. I was embarrassed for him.

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  15. Scooter,

    That was a total embarrassment and humiliation. This was just as bad as when Haden came out of the stands at Stanford. U saw Riley at his full term as a head coach, being discombobulated and lost. His team and he are undisciplined. He has no strategy and there is no defense. What in the hell is an SC player chasing an opposing player after the play? Disgusting.

    Jen Taco Lita has no reason to be the AD. She is as lost as Riley.

    what happens if SC loses to ugly next Saturday? Do they fire Riley and Cohen?

    This is a sh!r show.

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  18. So it all boils down to the final game against ucla. No BCS monkey on our back anymore, courtesy of our soft/undisciplined game in Autzen, a game that was lost at both lines of scrimmage, and lost badly. Which goes to show how LR fundamentally misunderstands the nature of a game that must be won in the trenches first, or it won’t be won at all. Pregame jumping jack towel waving on the sideline just does not cut it as a stand in for O and D line recruiting at the highest level. Lanning showed that to us in spades with his depth on both sides of the ball. So saying all that to say this, I hope USC does not expect the same ucla team that has been a doormat this season and most recently to Washington at the Rose Bowl to be the same team that shows up in the Coliseum this week. Never underestimate how much the ruins want redemption for this season, and this is what they are playing for this Saturday. Expect the team that beat Penn State to be taking the field against us on Saturday, and another performance similar to that against Oregon will not be enough to assure a W.

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