In another far-flung college town, at the end of a nightmarish month spent crisscrossing the country finding new ways to unravel, Lincoln Riley sat behind a plastic folding table with his arms crossed, searching for a new explanation to the same familiar questions.
His defiance had since dissolved, lost in the wake of a fourth loss in five weeks. His confidence, never wavering through an uneven six weeks, had given way to confusion after USC fell, 29-28, to Maryland, its most inexplicable defeat to date.
This time, even Riley knew there was no sense in trying to explain away how close his Trojans had come. That same refrain would no longer suffice.
“It just simply hasn’t been enough,” Riley said, shaking his head. “I have to get this team to play better at the end of games. I’ve obviously not done a good enough job of that. Clearly.”
Never before had he experienced anything comparable in his years as a head coach, Riley said. And surely, it’s not often that a college football team, of any stature, squanders away four fourth-quarter leads in five weeks, losing all four in devastating fashion.
That sort of futility had to be seen to be believed, let alone for a team that had visions of the College Football Playoff when this season, Riley’s third at USC, started. But USC (3-4) would manage to defy those odds Saturday, blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter to a team that hadn’t won in the Big Ten since last November.
“What’s made this unique,” Riley said, “is how emotional all of them are and how heartbreaking the losses are. And it’s like that, over and over and over again.”
The loss would leave Riley below .500 for the first time in his career — and USC with a difficult route just to reach bowl eligibility.
This particular collapse played many of those familiar notes, starting early in the third quarter. USC had been in control for most of the first half, even in spite of another slow start, and had just recovered a Maryland fumble in its own territory. So as Miller Moss led the offense onto the field, the Trojans had a chance to extend their two-touchdown lead to three, essentially putting the game out of reach.
All afternoon, even as he piled up 336 yards and three touchdowns, Moss had mixed in questionable deep passes, many of them underthrown, with precision bombs, like his corner score to Kyron Hudson in the first quarter. The redshirt junior quarterback had been similarly uneven throughout the Trojans’ losing streak, but Saturday, Riley turned to Moss more than ever, with the game plan clearly to test Maryland deep. Moss responded by throwing 50 passes, his second-most in a game.
The worst of those throws came at the worst possible time, as Moss forced a pass to Zachariah Branch that was instead intercepted. Maryland’s Lavain Scruggs returned the pick for 51 yards, and on the very next play, Maryland scored, turning the game on its head.
“We had a golden opportunity to take all the air out of the stadium right there,” Riley said.
There would be more chances squandered after that. An immediate three-and-out from USC on the next drive cleared the way for Maryland to march down the field again. But cornerback Jaylin Smith would come up with a huge play at the goal line, intercepting a fourth-down pass that, once again, seemed likely to put Maryland away.
USC took another two-touchdown lead, taking a rare drive to lean on running back Woody Marks, who’d carried the ball only a handful of times in the first half. Marks still managed to tally 82 yards, and with under 14 minutes left, Duce Robinson punched in a critical score.
And still, it wasn’t enough. Not after Maryland drove 80 yards in 10 plays, capping a touchdown drive with a critical two-point conversion that cut the lead to six. In all, the Terrapins tallied 429 yards, the second-most USC has allowed this season.
Suddenly, defeat felt within reach. Right on cue, USC’s confidence seemed to unravel. Even after Maryland handed USC a fumble on its own 33-yard line, the Trojans couldn’t do anything with it.
The clock had dwindled all the way down to the two-minute timeout, when Riley sent his kicking unit out on fourth and one. On the sideline, he and his staff had toiled over whether to go for it or not.
“It was close,” Riley said. “The book certainly says you’re up six, you can make it a nine-point game and make it really, really difficult for them to win if you convert that. We felt really good about it.”
Until the Maryland defense collapsed in on USC’s kicker, Michael Lantz, whose 41-yard kick was easily blocked, courtesy of a clear protection bust from USC.
The script was largely the same from there. A game-winning Maryland drive, aided along by a regrettable pass interference penalty. Then, a desperate follow-up drive that fell just short for USC.
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And here again was the familiar epilogue, with Riley slotted between two dejected Trojans, trying to keep the faith.
“You just gotta stay at it,” Riley said. “There’s not a magic remedy.”
After four close losses in five weeks, options for USC, magical or otherwise, are disappearing fast.
“I know going forward we’re going to keep fighting,” safety Bryson Shaw said. “It’s the only option we have.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
