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My Analysis Of USC’s Victory Over Penn State

Lincoln Riley celebrated USC’s victory over Penn State like he won the national title last night.

But that was almost nothing compared to after the game, when he went both barrels at everyone who ever questioned him.

“Nobody in the world gave us a chance to come in and win this game, and we did it,” Riley said. “We did it our way.

“We didn’t listen to all that you guys had to say on the outside.”

No one expected USC to beat a team that got destroyed by Northwestern the previous week? What exactly is winning his way? He never explained that part.

More importantly, Riley acted like he had somehow silenced anyone who ever questioned him. His defensiveness showed he has been stung by the past two weeks, with fan furious over the Oregon loss and some chanting for him to be fired at the Washington game.

Riley is actually very thin-skinned although he tries to project he doesn’t care about “outside” noise.

  • Isn’t it interesting that Riley’s big moment to crow at Penn State came on the same day Bob Chesney beat Oregon in Eugene? Chesney’s earned a signature win midway through his first season bigger than anything Riley did at USC.

UCLA’s win should also mean we won’t have to hear “Do you realize how bad a team Lincoln Riley inherited at USC?” from Riley supporters with Chesney working wonders.

Now, do you want to analyze the game? Plenty of USC fans acted (again) like the Trojans turned a corner by overpowering Penn State.

USC played better than it did at Rutgers. It’s receivers were too much for Penn State and its defense bent but did not break. Of course, look at Penn State’s offense and tell me who they will scare the rest of the season? They have one of the worst collections of skill players in the Big Ten. And Penn State still passed for 289 yards.

  • But here’s a couple questions: Why did Riley try an onside kick to start the second half? That could lose you a game against a good team.

And why did he wait until the THIRD QUARTER to commit to the run when Penn State was so inept it let Northwestern rush for more than 400 yards. Was that a coaching masterstroke?

Those two decisions could really backfire against winning teams.

  • This victory was good for team morale after the past few games. But things are going to get real soon with Wisconsin (maybe), Ohio State and Indiana ahead. Did I mention UCLA to end the season?

You can’t have coaching blunders against those teams.

28 thoughts on “My Analysis Of USC’s Victory Over Penn State”

  1. KAM: “The victory {over Penn St] was good for team morale” claims Scott.

    DON: That’s just like Wolf to put a positive spin on an SC game

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  3. After 2 or 3 more losses, we’ll see how much consolation Riley finds in this victory. Same with the people who are now saying “a win is a win”.

    Our wins are against teams with a combined 18-17 record. Our upcoming opponents have a combined record of 22-6.

    Other than Maryland, we have no “locks” ahead of us. Heck, we’d be very lucky to split the other 4! But 4 losses is very possible.

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    1. I understand in year 5 the frustration but I also see a steady trend in:

      last night – defense both secondary and line….
      offense – run game in particular….
      special teams – even for accounting for the failed onside last and FG a good night last night – solid rise.
      Minimize penalties 3 for total 25 yds. compared to season average of 7.
      Time mgmt. especially in the last 4 minutes – after the punt that nailed USC deep in their endzone and the 3 and out with the kick the defense again rose and finished off PA St.
      This game was an all time high attendance 114,419….

      By this time in years past it was obvious there was missing direction, time mgmt, penalities stalling defensive stands, penalties negating TDs etc.

      USC was ready.

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    1. AP still mad about Desmon’s celebration after targeting penalty….USC is 19th …cuz…virtue signaling….

      [Bunch of teams ahead of us will lose on the 17th —while we’re resting up for 24th]…..

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  5. Scott, who ae the plenty of USC fans who tell you that USC has turned the corner. I read the comments on your site, and almost all like the win, but realize that this team is good but far from perfect. LR is only human and has a right to be excited about a win. And, yes he may be reacting to criticism,. Some of his coaching decisions like the onside kick are ridiculous and running the same first running play to start every series is really stupid. I hope that they use the two weeks of practice time to develop some new running plays and wrap arms around players when tackling. The team did appear more disciplined and focused. The big Iowa win at Washington was also a reality check. Can’t wait to see your report card…..with Mosely healthy and Bowman out, I would give the receivers and A. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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    1. If we get to FULL strength on offense [all our wide receivers, tight ends and o-linemen] we will be hard for anybody to beat….

      #But…

      #..NoMoreOnsideKicks

      #UnlessWeNeedThem…

      #…With25SecondsToGoInGame

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      2. Hey mg win win for you on a wager since I still owe you $100 will go double or nothing for $200 for you?

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    2. 25% of the people on this blog think last night’s win is something to celebrate.

      The rest of us are glad we won, but know what’s coming. 3-2 would be great! But 2-3 is much more likely. 1-4 wouldn’t shock 75% of us.

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  6. Let’s pray that Mosley stays healthy – the offense is SO MUCH BETTER with him back. This may have been Maiava’s best game. Glad there is a bye week for the guys to rest and heal, but the game versus OSU could be awful, what with our secondary and Ohio State having perhaps the best receiver in the country with Jeremiah Smith.

    Alv is right, the rest of the schedule is awful. If only we could play a D’ Anton Lynn coached defense every week…

    BTW, Bear Alexander with a totally dirty play yesterday. No flag…

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    2. There was a horrible no call against Georgia last night, towards the end. Defender ran straight into the receiver. Did not look back once, had no idea where the ball was.

      DeBoer was livid and we couldn’t blame him one bit.

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      1. So Cal —It really is terrible when the refs hand the game over like that [I love the announcers going from “Gotta be a flag” to “I guess the ball was uncatchable”…..

        #Yeah,Right

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  7. Yeah, SC is back baby ! They beat a pathetic team in a tough environment, yeah.

    The defense still sucks, the team still isn’t disciplined, the coach is still a moron, but they’re 6-1 ( against HORRID teams ) so yeah, just ignore all of problems.

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  11. Lincoln Riley was hired with the expectation he would win a national title for the Trojans. True Trojan fans won’t feel sorry for him in that he hasn’t delivered. He has proven that he doesn’t have the ability to win a national title and he has no clue as to what’s wrong with team. He has been given an undeserved ridiculous contract. Any initial preseason excitement you had for this year’s team has quickly evaporated. At this point we will have a tough time defeating UCLA.

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    1. When many were celebrating that #1 recruiting class, some of us knew Lincoln would do little with it. So there was no preseason excitement.

      Sark used to be known as “7 win Sark”. Riley is a game or two better than that.

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  12. Bottom line – does anybody think USC has played playoff level football in any game this season?

    No.

    Winning is better than losing, but Riley does not have the team playing at the level they should. They are always playing down to competition.

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  13. Riley is a good OC. So fire him and hire a coach who’s willing to take him on in that capacity.

    Pay him $3M as an OC, which would leave us owing him about $8M a year for his current contract. We’d just need to find a coach who doesn’t mind making less than his OC. Cuz after this fiasco, we need to make a coach EARN an eight figure salary.

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