Lincoln Riley hasn’t had to do this very much in 2022: Talk to the media after a USC loss. In fact, he hasn’t had to do this except after games against Utah. The Utes had the Trojans’ number. They geared up for USC and provided a physical standard the Trojans’ defense could not match. In Game 1 on October 15, the Utes threw the ball all game and were able to keep quarterback Cam Rising clean. In Game 2 on Friday night in Las Vegas, the Utes were able to run the ball and eventually wear down the USC defense with a sledgehammer attack and enough third-down passes to keep the Trojans on the field.
Riley saw up close how much Utah exposed the Trojans at their weakest points. See how he reacted to this loss, which creates a lot of questions heading into the bowl game and, beyond that, the coming offseason: