LOS ANGELES — There's been loads of scrutiny for Lincoln Riley following Southern California's pivotal loss to Oregon, and while the Trojans coach admitted the only way to quiet down the noise is to win, he still believes his team did "a lot of good things" in Saturday's game.
The matchup against the Ducks was massive given it was both a chance for USC to prove it's a legitimate College Football Playoff contender this year and that it can win the big games under Riley, which it hasn't often done. Since the 41-27 defeat, there have been questions if Riley is the right guy to lead the blue blood program ... and if he wants to get out of Los Angeles.
Riley acknowledged that at a major program, even one loss means "there's always going to be a sense
of 'Oh my God, the sky's falling'" mentality from the outside. He said he wants to be better and still has the same high expectations for USC.
Still, there are plenty of USC fans concerned − namely by how Riley is now 6-14 against ranked opponents at USC and that the same problems have prevented the Trojans from reaching the Playoff. USC still faces No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Ohio State and No. 22 Penn State later in the season.
When asked by USA TODAY Sports at his media availability on Tuesday, Sept. 29 how he can assure the fanbase that everything is not going wrong for USC, Riley said "by winning" and pointed to the positives from the Oregon loss.
"Just by winning," he said. "Look, we didn't get run out of the stadium. There's a lot of good things on that tape. There's a lot of young guys making a lot of plays. There is a lot of good on that tape. You don't have a chance to win a game like that if you don't do some things pretty well. So we got to capitalize on those, and we got to attack the areas we got to be better at."
It's a similar message that Riley has made after other losses. When USC lost to Oregon in 2025, which effectively ended its playoff hopes, he said USC "just weren't quite able to get over the hump," but "it’s just going to keep getting better and better" with the Trojans.
Offensive lineman Elijah Paige was asked what gives him confidence Riley is the right guy to lead USC. Paige credited "all the work he puts in with us and the culture that he's built here." Quarterback Jayden Maiava added the team has been accountable for the mistakes it made in the Oregon game, and has remained tight in moving forward from it.
USC next faces Washington at home on Saturday, Oct. 3.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lincoln Riley defends state of USC football: 'We didn't get run out of the stadium' vs. Oregon
