Lincoln Riley can look in the mirror to find out what's wrong with USC football

Sports fans are overly emotional by default. Often times, fans when faced with a less than ideal situation will catasrophize that situation into a worst case scenario. Thats why after every win or loss you either hear of a fan base wanting to fire a coach, bench a player, or something of a similar action that is nothing short of a knee jerk reaction.

For a long time, that has been the case with Lincoln Riley at USC. Fans have called for his ending with the Trojans for some time and this season has been perhaps the most loud of those calls. However, up until the Wisconsin game, calls for firing or head coach changes were not all that serious.

Sure, there are moments, data points, and other factors that any person can point at to support their argument whether it be in favor of firing or retaining, but USC was in a good position. They were 6-1 and were winning games. Were they winning pretty? No. But they were winning and that's all that matters.

Then came the aftermath of the Penn State game. Lincoln Riley wasted no time in calling out those who doubted his team's ability to play on the road and win a white out game, one of college football's most electric and intimidating environments to play in. Which, from Riley's persepctive was fair.

His teams are doubted to perform well in these games because they haven't performed well in these games in the past. He called the win (against PSU) one of his more favorite wins which is completely fine. It is his career so he can sort the wins and losses however he wants.

However, do not call out your doubters after a win and then have two weeks of rest and prep and then give a performance like what you did against Wisconsin. Its alienating behavior and it is the very reason you have doubters in the first place.

Lincoln Riley has the resources, but hasn't produced the results

The players are talented, there are no doubts there. The facilities and NIL commitment is high, there are no doubts there. Riley's ability to have his teams ready is where all the doubt lies and even for the fans like myself who have been extremely patient, probably too patient with this era, that was the final straw.

USC has four games remaining, they should be favored to win one of them (Maryland) and have the talent to beat two of them (Maryland, UCLA). But Ohio State comes to town and even with Juilan Sayin out,

Riley has proved his team can be beat by a backup quarterback at home already this season and Indiana is a better coached team so I wont even waste my time on getting excited for that one. Maybe USC wins out the final month of the season, but probably not. Maybe Lincoln Riley turns a corner, but probably not.

USC and Riley should probably start working on both their ends to find a clean break from one another because its not just that this arrangement is not working. It hasn't worked. And it probably never will work.

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