Nearly half a decade ago, Lincoln Riley, dressed in a smart blue suit and shiny cardinal tie, stood atop the Coliseum roof deck, smiling as he looked down at the field below. He had just been introduced as USC’s new head coach, and in that moment, anything seemed possible for the future of Trojan football. Riley, at the time, was one of the most renowned young coaches in college football. And as he observed the scene, he painted a picture of a day when the Trojans were back on top and the Coliseum was hallowed ground again.
“This place,” Riley said that day, “is going to be the mecca of college football.”
But less than five years later, as the final seconds ticked down in a 41-27 loss to Oregon on Saturday, fans trudged toward the exits, many of them surely wondering how much longer they would put up with the current state of USC football.
That moment of truth would not come on Saturday. The Trojans’ first loss at the Coliseum since 2024 would by no means mean the end of their season — not after just one loss to No. 20 Oregon — but in that moment, the future Riley had envisioned seemed as far away as ever.
Riley then tried to argue otherwise: “We have a damn good football team,” he said. “I know we do.”
There will still be chances for the Trojans to prove their coach right. But the stakes Saturday were arguably never higher for the USC coach, who spent the entire offseason explaining how this season would be different. There were no more excuses, no more explanations for why USC still wasn’t good enough – even he seemed to agree with that. Everything he had indicated in the distance was now there, culminating in one fell swoop.
With a Big Ten schedule ahead, there was no better time for Riley to prove he had USC headed in the right direction and no better matchup to help catapult the Trojans into the College Football Playoff conversation than Oregon, his newest — and perhaps still most bitter — rival. The entire college football world was watching, waiting to see if the USC coach would rise to the occasion in the most critical moments.
Instead, Riley and his Trojans ended up as the punchline of Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s postgame press conference.
“Three wins against these guys,” Lanning said. “I guess if you’re from this area and you want to win football games, you should go to Oregon. If you want to go to a Chris Brown concert, you should go there.”
The Trojans once again found themselves in an all-too-familiar and all-too-painful situation, one they had experienced many times before during Riley’s tenure. The errors piled up. Untimely penalties too. And worst of all, USC’s defense always I couldn’t stop. He gave up 504 yards to Oregon, the third most allowed in the last three seasons.
The Ducks have scored on six of their last seven drives, almost all with their backup quarterback at the helm. That was after Oregon’s star quarterback Dante Moore was knocked out of the game early in the second quarter following a brutal hit by USC linebacker Desman Stephens II. The hit, which Lanning called “disgusting” after the match, sparked a stampede between players from both teams.
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore is taken off the field on a stretcher before being taken to the hospital after taking a hit from USC linebacker Desman Stephens in the second quarter. Stephens was ejected from the match.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
Stephens, who was seen celebrating after the play, was ejected from the game, but remained on the sideline in the second half.
Riley said after the game that he didn’t see Stephens celebrating. And when asked why he stayed away, Riley replied, “Why? Because he’s on our football team.”
The play cast a shadow over the rest of the game, but Oregon’s backup quarterback Dylan Raiola managed to throw for 289 yards and two touchdowns against the USC defense. Jayden Maiava, meanwhile, totaled 326 yards and two touchdowns, but completed only 23 of 42 passes.
The rushing attack wasn’t much better, as the Trojans averaged just 3.6 yards per carry.
The game started on a sour note for USC. After marching on a 13-play opening drive, a third-down sack forced the Trojans to settle for a field goal attempt. But Caden Chittenden missed an easy kick wide right. It was just the latest in a string of recent special teams miscues for the Trojans.
The defense, however, held on early, even after Oregon running back Jordon Davison burst out of the backfield for a 45-yard run on the Ducks’ first play. Oregon finished that campaign with a field goal, the only points made by either high-scoring offense in the first quarter.
Unable to get anything going on the field, the Trojans turned to their freshman receiver to pace the offense. Five of Maiava’s first seven completions went to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, one of whom completed a 31-yard strike for a touchdown despite tight coverage.
Oregon was preparing a response when Moore embarked on a rush at quarterback. But as he slid, Stephens hit Moore directly on his helmet, even after he had already surrendered. Moore spent several minutes on the field before being loaded onto a gurney and taken by ambulance to Los Angeles General Medical Center.
Lanning said after the game that Moore had movement in all of his extremities during his hospital stay. His absence left Raiola, the backup, to take the reins of Oregon’s offense, and he led the Ducks to the goal-line doorstep.
The USC defense stood tall in the red zone this time, limiting Oregon to a field goal. But it wouldn’t last.
Raiola found his rhythm in the second half. He led the Ducks on consecutive touchdown drives in just 11 games.
USC coach Lincoln Riley, left, and defensive coordinator Gary Patterson talk on the field after a 41-27 loss to Oregon at the Coliseum Saturday night.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
USC responded with three straight goals and even added a stop from its defense in between. The third – an 11-yard strike to Tanook Hines – tied the score 27-27 with less than 13 minutes remaining.
USC appeared to have stopped Oregon in its tracks on the ensuing possession. Then, on a third-and-long play, defensive tackle Jide Abasiri was flagged for roughing the passer. The penalty gave Oregon just the opening it needed.
“We had all the momentum in the world,” Riley said. “But you can’t do that against good teams and good offenses.”
The Ducks scored five plays later, as Raiola raised a prayer in the corner of the end zone that one of his players, Dakorien Moore, responded to.
A failed fourth down attempt for the Trojans, with the Ducks leading 34-27, would end all that.
Maiava’s desperation pass was canceled out. And with that, there was also speculation that this season at USC would be very different from the previous four.
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