USC lost to Wisconsin this past weekend, but in many ways, the biggest humiliation of Lincoln Riley came not in Madison, but Eugene. The Oregon Ducks and head coach Dan Lanning fired offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer. This, more than the 24-7 loss to Wisconsin, underscores how fully USC and Lincoln Riley have failed this season.
Drew Mehringer was a failure at Oregon
Drew Mehringer's Oregon offense became so bad that the Ducks didn't score more than 17 points in any of their last three games. Dan Lanning became more involved in the offense, but it didn't matter. Mehringer was so bad at his job that lowly Illinois, a team which lost at home to Purdue, was able to beat the Ducks by 11 points, holding Oregon's offense to just 10 points all day this past weekend.
Oregon and USC numbers
Oregon scored a total
of 42 points the past three games. Against USC, Oregon scored 41 points.
Dan Lanning nightmare
Dan Lanning had been doing a very good job at Oregon until this season. The Drew Mehringer hire was so disastrous because it has obviously hijacked Oregon football. The Ducks regularly had strong offenses under previous offensive coordinators Kenny Dillingham and Will Stein. Lanning's hire of Mehringer dramatically downgraded the quality of coaching and play selection for Oregon. It took down a team which was No. 2 in preseason polls. This has affected Lanning's national reputation as a head coach.
Lincoln Riley stands out for all the wrong reasons - again
Lincoln Riley's USC team is the one team Oregon's offense looked really good against. Oregon struggled against Boise State and Oklahoma State to varying degrees. The offense has been atrocious the past three weeks. Against USC, though, Oregon's offense looked the way the Ducks hoped it would. USC was the tonic for an otherwise-below-average Quack Attack. It reinforces how much of a failure Lincoln Riley truly is.
Change of perspective
Before the season, losing to Oregon wouldn't have been seen as acceptable, but it at least would have been acknowledged as a loss against a national championship-caliber team. It turns out that 2026 Oregon isn't even close to being a national title contender. The Ducks won't even make the College Football Playoff and will probably finish with a record of no better than 8-4. It makes the humiliation of losing by 14 to Oregon that much worse for Lincoln Riley and USC.
Lincoln Riley versus Dan Lanning
This was the year for USC and Lincoln Riley to get Dan Lanning and Oregon. Instead, Riley fell to 0-3 against Lanning, even in a year when Oregon was far from its best. If Riley can't beat Lanning at his worst, what's he gonna do when Lanning returns to being a good coach and hires a better offensive coordinator?
2026 Big Ten football
Big Ten football has been below-average this year. Indiana isn't as good as last year. Neither is Ohio State. Neither is Oregon. Neither is Michigan. Neither is Illinois. Neither is Washington. USC and Lincoln Riley should have risen in this environment. Instead, they have fallen. If USC couldn't get it done this year, when will it ever be able to do the job right?
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Oregon firing offensive coordinator makes Lincoln Riley look worse
