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The USC football program suffered a brutal 29-28 loss to Maryland on the road on Saturday, and it is the fourth time that the Trojans have suffered a close loss that easily could have gone in their favor. USC football coach Lincoln Riley had a blunt takeaway after the game when speaking on his team being unable to come away with wins in these situations.
“Closing out games is hard,” Lincoln Riley said, via Shotgun Spratling.
As a result of the loss, USC football fell to 3-4 on the season overall and 1-4 in Big Ten play. It was a game that the Trojans held multiple score leads in multiple times. Riley spoke on the frustration after another blown opportunity.
“We've had so many games come right down to it in a row,” Riley said, via Spratling. “What makes this [run] so unique is how emotional and heartbreaking each of these have been.”
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At separate points, USC led 21-7 and 28-14. Maryland cut the score to 28-22 with just under 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Trojans had a chance to put it away with a score late in the game, but Michael Lantz missed a 41-yard field goal with two minutes left in the game. Five plays later, Maryland was in the end zone and took a 29-28 lead with 53 seconds left. USC's last drive failed just outside of field goal range, sealing the latest heartbreaking loss.
What can USC football, Lincoln Riley salvage down the stretch?
With USC at 3-4 overall and 1-4 in conference, the Trojans will have to close the season strong to gain bowl eligibility.
In the next game, USC will host Rutgers in what should be a winnable game to get back to 4-4 overall. The following four games will be against Washington, Nebraska, UCLA and Notre Dame. USC needs to win at least three of the remaining five games to get to bowl eligibility.
