USC’s first season in the Big Ten has not been a success.
The Trojans fell to 2-5 in the conference and 4-5 overall with a 26-21 loss at Washington on Saturday night. All five of USC’s losses this season have come by one possession, and that was something Lincoln Riley alluded to in his postgame press conference when a reporter asked him what his team needed to do to get back on track.
“It’s not like they’re kicking our butts, you know? So it’s not like I go back to the drawing board and say, ‘God, we’re doing this terrible thing and people are wearing us down with this or that.’ “It’s not that,” Riley said. “And this team has shown capacity in all these things that need to be done. We just have to keep our nose to the grindstone, we have to continue to lean on these leaders, we have to continue to improve.”
On Saturday, USC had plenty of opportunities to beat a Washington team with a much different roster than the one that came to the national title game a year ago. USC’s second drive began in Washington territory but ended on the first play when Miller Moss threw an interception. A missed field goal immediately followed.
The Huskies were up 13 at the half, although USC rallied to take a 21-20 lead with two consecutive touchdowns in the third quarter. However, USC’s offense couldn’t get it done when it needed to on the final three drives. Another Moss interception set up Washington in USC territory for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter before a Huskies goal-line stop at the 1-yard line ended a 15-play drive for the Trojans.
USC’s final drive was 52 yards on just six plays, but it ended with four consecutive incomplete passes from Washington’s 14-yard line when Moss’ final pass fell incomplete with 11 seconds left.
“Obviously we didn’t make the plays at the end to do it and we came up short on one play,” Riley said. “…I think it’s important for all of us to not make this about any of the other games, other games that we’ve won or other games that we haven’t won in the end, this game was about this game. You hate missed opportunities away from home against a team that, I don’t know when the last time was that lost here, but it’s been a little bit.”
In reality, the victory is just Washington’s third straight home win. The Huskies lost 24-19 at home to in-state rival Washington State earlier in the season.
But Riley’s comment about USC’s inability to make plays late in games has been a constant theme for the Trojans this season.
USC couldn’t get a first down with less than five minutes left while leading Michigan by four. USC surrendered a 12-play touchdown drive to Minnesota when the Gophers scored the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute left. The team’s overtime loss to Penn State moved into the fourth quarter when USC failed to score despite taking the ball with less than three minutes left in a tied game. And the Trojans gave up 15 straight points to Maryland in a 29-28 loss to the Terrapins.
You get the idea.
To simply reach a bowl game, USC needs two wins against Nebraska, UCLA and Notre Dame. The Bruins beat the Huskers on the road on Saturday, while Notre Dame is 7-1.