Could A Divorce Be Mutually Beneficial For Lincoln Riley And USC Football?

Lincoln Riley was brought in to coach your USC Trojans in 2022 out of Oklahoma with the promise of restoring them as a powerhouse in college football. The hiring sent shockwaves throughout the sport, and many people believed that this was the move to bring USC back from the dead.

In his first season, Riley got the Trojans ever so close to reaching the College Football Playoff, but a poor defense ended up hurting them down the stretch. They then dropped their bowl game to Tulane, and many just chalked it up to the team not wanting to play in the meaningless game.

So, entering this season, the Trojans were seen as one of the best teams in the country. They believed that they had fixed their defensive issues, and they still had reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams running the offense.

But through seven games of the season, the issues that plagued the Trojans last season have reared their ugly heads once again. The defense is still a major problem, and Riley has refused to really acknowledge it.

It has become a pattern for him and his teams, going back to his days at Oklahoma. His game strategy has been to outscore teams and hope that the defense can make a play when needed. But this isn’t a sustainable way to win games whatsoever. As the old saying goes, defense wins championships, but it seems that Riley missed the memo.

USC sits with a record of 6-1, but their last few weeks have been shaky at best. The team is lucky to not have another loss on the resume, and their schedule is very tough down the stretch of the season.

It seems that this will be another lost season for the Trojans, and unless things change soon, the fan base may start to turn on Riley. The USC faithful were promised that their program would return to their former glory, but it seems to be more of the same. Excellence was promised, and so far, it’s been anything but that.

He is a brilliant offensive genius, but his troubles in building a good defense have hurt him. And now with the Trojans heading to the Big 10 Conference next season, the lack of defense won’t fly any longer.

It worked in the Big 12 since most teams didn’t play great defense, and even in the Pac 12, it has worked for the most part. But the Big 10 is a physical conference that will bury the Trojans unless something changes on that end of the field.

While the teams are more fun to watch, the Trojans are no closer to winning a National Championship. It’s only the second year for Riley, but there is only so much patience from a school like USC.

Riley won’t be fired if the Trojans waste another season, but the narrative will certainly start. The clock is ticking, and Riley doesn’t have much more time to waste.

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