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Lincoln Riley compared to Clay Helton after USC drops tight game at Minnesota
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Lincoln Riley built some goodwill with USC’s 3-1 start to the season. He watched it evaporate into the Minneapolis night on Saturday when Max Brosmer punched in a quarterback keeper on fourth-and-inches to hand the Trojans a 24-17 loss.
The Trojans were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter. After consecutive weeks with suffocating second-half performances, USC was flat in the final frame. Riley was torched on social media and, perhaps worse, some have begun comparing the start of his USC tenure to that of his predecessor.
https://twitter.com/RedditCFB/status/1842786295661089115
When they’re comparing you to Clay Helton, and Helton is coming off rosier, you might be cooked.
Helton went 21-6 in his first 2 seasons. He lost 7 games in 2018 and things were never quite the same. USC rebounded (sort of) for 8 wins in 2019. The Trojans went 5-1 during the COVID-altered 2020 season and then Helton was fired 2 games into the 2021 campaign.
Riley will say he took over a complete rebuild job when he landed in Los Angeles in 2022 — and to a certain extent he’s right — but Helton didn’t exactly show up to a Ferrari.
The Trojans tarmacked Lane Kiffin, hired Steve Sarkisian, and then started Year 2 with 2 losses to unranked opponents in the first 5 games before making another coaching change.
Helton recruited top-5 classes in 2017 and 2018. The 2019 class had a second-round NFL Draft pick and a first-round wide receiver. The 2020 class had a player who would go on to feature for Riley and become a second-round NFL Draft pick. The 2021 class ranked inside the top 10. And Riley brought the eventual Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback to Los Angeles with him for Year 1.
When the Trojans flamed out in 2023, it was a product of coaching. The Trojans ranked eighth last season in the 247 Talent Composite — the highest of any Pac-12 team and above Notre Dame.
With a near-win over Michigan in Ann Arbor and then a come-from-behind victory over Wisconsin in the home Big Ten opener, USC’s remade coaching staff was drawing praise. The Trojans were making necessary halftime adjustments and playing cleaner ball.
After a flat performance in Minneapolis, questions are being asked of Riley.
Saturday’s loss to Minnesota marked the 19th time in 27 career games a Riley-coached team has gone on the road as a favorite and failed to cover the spread. More often than not, Riley’s teams have been in uncomfortable spots against teams they were expected to beat on the road.
USC is 1-2 to start Big Ten play and it won’t get any easier going forward. It hosts No. 4 Penn State on Saturday. A 4-1 Rutgers squad comes to town on Oct. 25. A Washington team that just knocked off Michigan hosts USC on Nov. 2.
Riley needs a bounceback performance.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
