In a tenure filled with squandered opportunities, Lincoln Riley added another one to the list on Saturday night. USC had the chance to prove that this year was going to be different -- not just another seven-to-nine win season at a program with immense resources. Instead, the Trojans dropped another big-time game to one of the Big Ten's marquee teams.
To make matters worse, Oregon didn't even have star quarterback Dante Moore for most of the game. Moore was stretchered off after taking a late hit to the head in the second quarter, and Dylan Raiola took his place for the final two-plus quarters. Despite the Trojans' issues, it was tied in the fourth quarter.
A win was within reach, but USC got outplayed in the high-leverage moments. With USC staring down an upcoming schedule that includes games against Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana, this could have been a springboard. However, familiar issues lead to one big question: When?
After years of poor defensive results against the toughest competition, Riley made a splashy offseason hire when he brought in Gary Patterson to be his defensive coordinator. There was hope that Patterson could help make the Trojans a more complete team and give them a better shot to win games like this one. Then, USC surrendered 35 points and 460 yards to Rutgers in Week 3.
That could be chalked up to a look-ahead spot on the other side of the country. As it turned out, that performance indicated what was to come against Oregon. Even with Moore out of the game, the USC defense couldn't get off the field.
The Trojans gave up 366 passing yards to Raiola, and they allowed the Ducks to convert on 50 percent of third downs and 100 percent of fourth downs. Perhaps the most damning assessment of the new-look USC defense came from Riley himself. With just over seven minutes remaining and all three timeouts in his pocket, Riley rolled the dice on a fourth-and-7 from his own 49-yard line.
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