Lincoln Riley fields only 3 questions from reporters after stunning Cotton Bowl loss to Tulane
The USC Trojans had a 15-point lead late in the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl, and everything seemed to be pointing to a bowl victory in Lincoln Riley’s first year on the job.
By the time the clock hit triple zero, Tulane had escaped with a 46-45 victory in one of the wildest finishes of the entire season.
Mario Williams bobbled the kickoff at the 1-yard line. Tulane got a safety, and then the Green Wave scored the game-winning touchdown with eight seconds left as the fans went wild.
It was another terrible effort by the defense, and it wasted a five-touchdown masterpiece from Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, not to mention a career outing from Brenden Rice.
There were plenty of quotes after this game, and it’s safe to say that USC is not pleased with how this season ended. How displeased was Riley?
Per Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times, he fielded only three questions from reporters in the press conference following the Cotton Bowl.
Here’s what was said by Riley and others in the USC camp after a gut-punch loss:
BASIC MATH
“Losses like this are always tough to digest” – Riley
— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) January 2, 2023
THEY DID
Lincoln Riley opens by congratulating Tulane and Coach Willie Fritz. “They kept swinging.”
— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) January 2, 2023
NOT TOUGHER THAN THE 2018 ROSE BOWL VS GEORGIA
Lincoln Riley: "As tough a loss as I can remember in my entire career"
— Adam Grosbard (@AdamGrosbard) January 2, 2023
11 WINS BUT NO CHAMPIONSHIPS WILL DO THAT
Lincoln Riley: "All three sides contributed to it. Now that the season's over, I've rarely at the end of a year felt so conflicted. I'm sick about how we ended the season"
— Adam Grosbard (@AdamGrosbard) January 2, 2023
SOMEONE EXPECTS TO MAKE THE PLAYOFF NEXT SEASON
“We’ll see you back in 12 months” – Riley
— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) January 2, 2023
GUT PUNCH
Blackmon said it’s hard to talk about the success of this season after this loss. He needs 24 hours before he can talk about that
— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) January 2, 2023
HE BETTER
Riley asked about the confidence in DC Alex Grinch.
He said they just played the game 15 minutes ago and he’s not going into big picture stuff at the moment.
“We will take a deep dive of it.”
— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) January 2, 2023
YA THINK?
Lincoln Riley described USC’s tackling efforts as “very, very alarming” at times.
— Keely Eure (@keelyismyname) January 2, 2023
BUT WILL ANYTHING BE DONE ABOUT IT?
Lincoln Riley: “We didn’t come here for a one-year deal. We knew that wasn’t [the case] when we signed up to come to USC.”
Riley said today’s loss gives a very clear picture on what they need to improve.
— Keely Eure (@keelyismyname) January 2, 2023
THE PLAY CALL WAS BAD, THOUGH
Justin Dedich on the safety' "We didn't get the job done"
— Adam Grosbard (@AdamGrosbard) January 2, 2023
HOPEFULLY THIS CREATES CHANGES
USC HC Lincoln Riley described today’s loss as a bittersweet ending to a season where so much progress was made.
“We will get there. And we will get there sooner rather than later. Like I said, we’re not going anywhere.”
— Keely Eure (@keelyismyname) January 2, 2023
DEDICH DID NOT LOSE THIS GAME
Dedich said the safety allowed is “sitting in his gut” right now. Team captain puts it on him and the line for not getting it done there.
— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) January 2, 2023
HOPEFULLY OPTIONS ARE BEING CONSIDERED
Lincoln Riley was asked about his confidence in Alex Grinch going forward and responded that he will not offer any big-picture assessments just 15 minutes after the game ended.
— Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) January 2, 2023
TRUTH
Caleb Williams was asked if it was tough for the USC offense to score and then watch Tulane answer so quickly: "Our job on offense is to score, that's all we can control. We can lead from the sideline, lead when you're on the field. Other than that, can't control that."
— Adam Grosbard (@AdamGrosbard) January 2, 2023
FURTHER READING
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Nonetheless, in a Cotton Bowl defeat that defied logic, USC’s defense once again let down its star QB, collapsing in a last-second loss to Tulane: https://t.co/xnJgpffefu
— Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) January 3, 2023
THIS ONE HURT
Riley answered just three questions from reporters after USC’s Cotton Bowl loss https://t.co/4pOqsjzBJf
— Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) January 2, 2023
FORMER USC PLAYER (AND NATIONAL CHAMPION)
If you practice against the best offense in the country every day, how is it possible to be this bad on defense? Iron sharpens iron. This is insane.
— Alex Holmes (@Trojan81) January 2, 2023
COLD, HARD FACT
Lincoln Riley is now 1-4 in bowl games as a head coach pic.twitter.com/grJ2V2rmnF
— PFF College (@PFF_College) January 2, 2023
