USC Football: Lincoln Riley Admits Uncomfortable Truth About Oregon

USC head coach Lincoln Riley didn't mince words after his team dropped another game this past weekend. The Trojans fell to the Oregon Ducks by a score of 36-27, giving them their fourth loss of the season.

He knows that this year has been tough, but he did credit the Ducks for their strong depth on the roster.

“There’s each year. We were the team sitting in the conference championship game last year and beating everybody in the league other than Utah. Tonight, they were a deeper football team. I thought tonight they played better on the lines of scrimmage than we did. We threw some good shots in there, but we’re still — certainly some depth issues that showed up. And they’re probably a deeper roster than us right now. They’re also a much healthier roster than we are right now, too. So I think that compounde a little bit. But we’ve got to continue, looking bigger picture, gotta continue to make gaines. We know that.

Per Lincoln Riley via WeAreSC

It was always a tough task for the Trojans to go on the road to take on the high-powered Ducks. They gave it their best effort but couldn’t overcome the talent disparity.

Oregon is one of the best teams in the country for a reason, and it was a measuring stick game for USC. They haven’t been able to match up with some of the better teams in the country this season, and it’s a big reason why they have faltered.

Riley also addressed the issues that plagued this team all year, saying that they needed to get better. They have one game left on the schedule of the regular season, and he knows that they need to beat UCLA to make this season even somewhat decent.

“We’ve got to continue to address some of the areas within the program, within the roster that have got to get better. We realized that. But, kind of been the theme of the last several weeks is we’re not that far off. I mean, we’re not. We’ve got to work to do. But that’s kind of big picture right now. We’ve got a big game coming up here against UCLA and I know how important that is and we need to be ready for it.”

Per Lincoln Riley via WeAreSC

Getting a win over the Bruins would salvage this frustrating year for the Trojans and put the final piece on top. It hasn’t gone the way that anyone would have hoped for, but a win over their rivals would go a long way.

It’s the last time that these programs will meet in the Pac-12, so USC wants to go out on top. It could be a long summer for this team if they can’t beat UCLA, so the pressure is on USC to take advantage of this opportunity.

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