Is this the end of the line? Is this the final chance for Lincoln Riley to save his USC football coaching tenure
? No one knows for sure, but if the Trojans do get blown out by the Ohio State Buckeyes, it will be really hard to see how Riley comes back for a 2027 season. His buyout is large, but surely USC would want Riley to take the Baylor Bears' head coaching job. Surely USC would want to seek a path out of that huge buyout in some way.We all knew Alex Grinch was done as USC defensive coordinator when the Trojans gave up 52 points to Washington at roughly this same point in the 2023 season. There was just no way Grinch could continue. The very last shred of doubt about his future at USC was eliminated then and there, in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Will this USC-Ohio State game give us that same sense of finality and clarity, or will USC surprise everyone and upset the Buckeyes to stay in the College Football Playoff race?
USC fans are in a tough position. On one hand, they want the team to win. On the other hand, a loss makes it easier to put an end to the Lincoln Riley era. There are legitimately good head coaching candidates out there. USC has a real chance to make an upgrade over Riley, but it has to get rid of Riley first. A win over Ohio State could actually make that task a lot more difficult. A USC win over Ohio State would mean a lot only if the Trojans can then win at Indiana and UCLA to finish the job and get to 10-2. Does anyone think they will do that?
Follow along as USC and Lincoln Riley face the Ohio State Buckeyes. We'll have plenty of analysis and hopefully some USC scoring highlights - we didn't have much of that last week versus Wisconsin:
USC Trojansvs Ohio State live updates, analysis
Hit refresh for the latest updates from USC football's Week 9 game against Ohio State at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
USC vs Ohio State weather forecast
05:29 PM ET, October 31 2026The forecast for Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles is for cloudy skies with a high of 72 degrees.
How to watch USC vs Ohio State: TV channel, streaming info
05:27 PM ET, October 31 2026- USC vs Ohio State airs live on NBC and will be streamed on Peacock
- Saturday, October 31, 2026
- 7:30 p.m. Eastern time, 4:30 p.m. Pacific time
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC vs Ohio State live updates: highlights, predictions, analysis
