Lincoln Riley has reached the end of his leash.
No more losing. No more excuses. If this continues, his time in Los Angeles should be over.
No. 15 Southern California lost another Big Ten road game it had no business losing, getting pushed around by a Wisconsin team that was jumping around and around the Trojans in a 24-7 rout.
Here we go again.
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It’s become an annual tradition for USC to lose Big Ten road games it should win. The Trojans are now 4-9 when playing in the Central or Eastern time zones. But for as damaging as those defeats have been, this one might be the most embarrassing yet.
There was nothing pretty about USC’s first visit to Camp Randall Stadium since 1965.
Jayden Maiava looked like a shell of the gunslinger who had established himself among the Big Ten’s best quarterbacks, throwing two interceptions for the first time this season. USC’s collection of explosive playmakers looked stuck in neutral, unable to produce the big plays that normally make this offense dangerous.
And, of course, there was the defense.
Oh, USC’s defense.
If Saturday, Oct. 24, was the first time you watched Wisconsin play football this season, you might have mistaken the Badgers for one of the Big Ten’s best teams. Luke Fickell’s team is vastly improved, perhaps enough to save his job, but this is not a team that should be physically dominating USC.
Yet that’s exactly what happened.
Wisconsin ran straight through the Trojans for 142 yards on 43 carries, despite quarterback Colton Joseph throwing for just 58 yards on 12 completions. USC knew what was coming. It simply couldn’t stop it.
The result was historically ugly.
The 17-point defeat is the largest for a ranked Riley team against an unranked opponent. The seven points are the fewest a Riley-coached team has scored in his head-coaching career.
This wasn’t merely another bad road loss. It was the kind of performance that should make USC question how much longer it can tolerate the same problems producing the same results.
Will USC football fire Lincoln Riley?
That question no longer feels nearly as outrageous as it once did.
This atrocious performance didn’t come out of nowhere. USC hasn’t looked particularly good for weeks. Once the Trojans escaped their cupcake nonconference schedule, getting to 6-1 became a struggle.
They barely survived Rutgers. They lost to Oregon again. They played so poorly in a win over Washington that the student section chanted for Riley to be fired. Then they escaped a whiteout against a bad Penn State team.
If you’re a USC fan, is there anything about this 6-2 team that suggests Riley’s program is finally ready to take the step everyone has been waiting for?
Somehow, the season isn’t completely lost. But there is absolutely no margin for error now.
And take a look at what’s coming.
Ohio State is next. Then defending national champion Indiana. Then comes the rivalry game against UCLA.
Good luck.
Because another loss could turn the conversation about Riley from increasingly uncomfortable to unavoidable. What was supposed to be the season USC finally broke through is instead threatening to become another chapter in a massively disappointing tenure.
And Saturday’s opponent makes the embarrassment even worse.
This is the same Wisconsin team that lost 17-7 to UCLA.
Oh, and that team across town?
It’s 7-0.
USC is running out of explanations, patience and opportunities.
No more excuses.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lincoln Riley has reached the end of his USC leash. Now comes the reckoning