1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:06,960 Checking out college football on the West Coast. This is Get Off My Pylon, 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:11,400 a look at the PAC twelve and more, part of the College Gridiron 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:17,359 Coast to Coast podcast Network. Here's your host, that Zimo. Welcome to 4 00:00:17,399 --> 00:00:21,000 the latest editionion of to Get Off My Pilon college football podcast. This is 5 00:00:21,039 --> 00:00:24,879 your host, Matt Zena. Now you might know that I'm the editor of 6 00:00:25,039 --> 00:00:30,760 Trojans Wire covering USC football, USC athletics, and I generally try to put 7 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,520 a wall between you know what I do here at Get Off My Pilon, 8 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:38,439 focusing more on the PAC twelve less on USC. But you know, this 9 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:43,560 is not the week on which that's really reasonable or tenable. Like the USC 10 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:48,320 is the big story. It's not for good reasons, but it is the 11 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:53,679 big story. I'm recording this podcast part of the College grid Iron Coast to 12 00:00:53,719 --> 00:00:58,079 Coast podcast Network. I'm recording this Monday night. If you're listening later in 13 00:00:58,119 --> 00:01:00,640 the week, you know, maybe things will have developed changed. But one 14 00:01:00,719 --> 00:01:07,359 of the one thing that's happened just in the few hours before I sat down 15 00:01:07,359 --> 00:01:11,280 to record this podcast on Monday Monday night, is that Lincoln Riley did not 16 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:19,439 appear for his USC radio show. Now could be absolutely nothing and US two 17 00:01:19,519 --> 00:01:23,439 four seven sports reporter Shotguns Brattling, who by the way, is excellent, 18 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,239 does an excellent job covering USC. He said that Lincoln Riley was visibly under 19 00:01:27,239 --> 00:01:33,359 the weather late last week. So when Lincoln Riilly ducked out of this, 20 00:01:33,519 --> 00:01:34,680 you know, it was it decided that, you know, he was not 21 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:40,439 feeling well and he didn't appear, so like, you know, it's not 22 00:01:41,079 --> 00:01:45,560 it's not nothing in the sense that like, he wasn't feeling all that well 23 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,560 a few days ago, so it's not like a complete concoction to be sure. 24 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:56,560 However, however, we have the reality that in twenty twenty one, 25 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,560 roughly three weeks before he actually took the USC job, left Oklahoma, Lincoln 26 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:07,240 Riley did not appear on an Oklahoma radio show. That's something that Oklahoma Beat 27 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:13,759 writer John Hoover has picked up on a few other people have noted that within 28 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:20,479 the Oklahoma orbit, Oklahoma circles seen a lot of regular Oklahoma tweets. You 29 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,199 know, people I follow, people you know who follow Oklahoma very closely, 30 00:02:24,039 --> 00:02:30,879 whom I've known on college football Twitter for several years. Like they are taking 31 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,280 note of this, and they are saying, oh, we've seen this before. 32 00:02:34,319 --> 00:02:38,080 We've been down this road before. I'm not going to make any predictions 33 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:43,680 about what Lincoln Riley's going to do, but I can say with considerable confidence 34 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:50,439 that Lincoln Riley is going through not necessarily a personal midlife crisis, but he 35 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,439 is going through a football crisis. That much can be said, I think 36 00:02:54,560 --> 00:03:04,639 pretty clearly. And this goes back to not just you know, making players 37 00:03:04,719 --> 00:03:09,319 unavailable for the media on Saturday night after the loss to Utah, but there 38 00:03:09,479 --> 00:03:17,000 is a pattern of Lincoln Riley get becoming very closed, very withdrawn after particularly 39 00:03:17,159 --> 00:03:23,439 painful, irritating losses like this is hardly the first time this has happened. 40 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:29,400 After the Cotton Bowl debacle against Tulane, he feeled a very small amount of 41 00:03:29,479 --> 00:03:34,520 questions, very small postgame media availability, and then he folded up the tent 42 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,759 that was it like he does. He does not deal well with losses. 43 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:45,840 He's not a guy who you can say stands there faces the music, you 44 00:03:45,879 --> 00:03:52,599 know, talks generously and at length in terms of really owning his mistakes, 45 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:57,639 his failings, his shortcomings. And Lincoln Riley is has said, you know, 46 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:00,680 where did the narrative start that usc was coult for financial championships. Well, 47 00:04:00,719 --> 00:04:05,280 he talked about setting a championship standard when he came to USC. So 48 00:04:05,719 --> 00:04:13,159 like, that's a really odd disconnect, Riley suddenly backing away from expectations he 49 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:21,120 always knew existed at USC. So we've seen this before, but you know, 50 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:25,800 there is something new about all of this. And the new part is 51 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:30,800 that if you followed Lincoln Riley since the Oklahoma days, and you know he 52 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:36,399 was offensive coordinator for two seasons under Bob Stoops before he took over his head 53 00:04:36,399 --> 00:04:43,720 coach in twenty seventeen, this would be the first regular season so not counting 54 00:04:43,759 --> 00:04:47,519 the bowl game, it would be the first college football regular season in which 55 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:53,160 Lincoln Riley was a head coach that his team will lose more than two games. 56 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:58,000 If USC loses to either Washington or Oregon, or to anyone else on 57 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,000 the remainder of the schedule, it will be the first time he will have 58 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,439 lost more than two regular season games. As you as a college football head 59 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:11,199 coach, he never lost more than two with Oklahoma, and he won eleven 60 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:15,000 and one with USC last year in the regular twelve. Then he lost a 61 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,360 second game in Game thirteen the Pac twelve. Jamie's your game but like before 62 00:05:18,439 --> 00:05:24,560 the Bowls, Lincoln Riley's never lost more than two games in any season he's 63 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:29,040 been a college head coach, so this is new, and this is certainly 64 00:05:29,079 --> 00:05:38,519 a much higher degree of failure than anything he has previously encountered. You know, 65 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,920 he had Caleb Williams, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, coming back for 66 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:47,439 another season, had a number of other important players such as center Justin Diditch, 67 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:57,279 running back Austin Jones, receiver Taj Washington, a number of other important, 68 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,920 notable players coming back. And then USC felt it had upgraded its defense 69 00:06:00,959 --> 00:06:08,000 with Mason Cobb, the linebacker from Oklahoma State, and with Bear Alexander from 70 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:13,560 Georgia and some other pieces on the roster. And let's just be honest about 71 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,920 this. Confronting the truth, being honest direct is the only mature response to 72 00:06:17,959 --> 00:06:24,319 any kind of crisis or complicated situation. In August, like, let's not 73 00:06:24,399 --> 00:06:29,079 have revisionist history about this. USC was the pick to be the Pac twelve 74 00:06:29,199 --> 00:06:33,040 champion us He was considered in the preseason the PAC twelve favorite. Not maybe 75 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:40,160 not by a lot, but USC was the majority pick to win the Pac 76 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:45,759 twelve and to at least be right in the thick of the college football playoff 77 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,160 chase, like that was at least the expectation win the Pac twelve be in 78 00:06:49,199 --> 00:06:53,560 the mix for the playoff. That was the standard. It wasn't nine to 79 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:58,839 three, that's for darn shirt like. It was generally an eleven and one. 80 00:06:58,959 --> 00:07:01,079 Like if last year's could be eleven to one, this year's team was 81 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:06,079 at least expected to be that good, if not better, because Kayla Williams 82 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:12,800 was coming back and was gonna make this offense so absolutely unstoppable, which it 83 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:16,959 looked like in the first three weeks. But the first three weeks San Jose 84 00:07:17,079 --> 00:07:23,920 State, Nevada, Stanford, three Tomato Cans, and this USC team feasted 85 00:07:23,959 --> 00:07:29,319 on those cupcakes and never really seemed to get into a mindset of, Hey, 86 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,600 we know the competition is going to get better. We can't just look 87 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,879 at these games and think, ah, we have it made. We need 88 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:41,920 to be growing and evolving and improving consistently, and that has never happened. 89 00:07:41,959 --> 00:07:46,079 That has not really happened in any game this season, except with the slight 90 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:54,600 allowance for the Colorado first half coming off a sloppy Arizona State performance. On 91 00:07:54,639 --> 00:07:58,759 September twenty third, US he then goes to Boulder on September thirty, and 92 00:07:58,959 --> 00:08:01,879 you know, busts out to a thirty four to seven lead over Colorado on 93 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,399 the first half. Like USC was ready to play that game at the start. 94 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,199 Second half was a disaster. Defense got lazy, unfocused, and that 95 00:08:09,279 --> 00:08:13,839 game became a little uncomfortable at the end. But USC was ready to play 96 00:08:13,839 --> 00:08:16,279 that game. You know when the game started, it was at ten am 97 00:08:16,639 --> 00:08:20,040 or ten ten am kickoff local time in Boulder. USC did not have a 98 00:08:20,079 --> 00:08:24,639 body clock problem for that game, and it was ready got out to a 99 00:08:24,839 --> 00:08:28,000 twenty seven point lead. That that game was a game in which the team 100 00:08:28,079 --> 00:08:35,000 was ready at the opening whistle, the opening kickoff. But you couldn't say 101 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,480 that about the Arizona State game. You couldn't say that about the Arizona game 102 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,480 in which USC fell behind seventeen to nothing. You couldn't say that about the 103 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:46,960 Motor Game game in which the tropan has got blasted by twenty eight points and 104 00:08:46,039 --> 00:08:52,360 Caleb Williams through three first half interceptions. And USC wasn't entirely ready for this 105 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,440 game, not on defense at least, Utah scoring easily on its first drive 106 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:01,799 out of the locker room. USC's offense, it's aren't well, and they 107 00:09:01,919 --> 00:09:05,639 reconfigured the offensive line, reshuffled a couple of positions. It seemed to bear 108 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:13,360 some fruit. But after two perfect opening drives for USC fourteen quick points, 109 00:09:13,919 --> 00:09:18,919 the Tropans did not put together another sustained touchdown drive. There are only other 110 00:09:20,039 --> 00:09:26,879 offensive possession which led to a touchdown started at the Utah eleven yard line thanks 111 00:09:26,919 --> 00:09:31,759 to a long late punt return by Zachariah Branch. So the offense really got 112 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:39,639 contained through the final three and a half quarters and so like, the USC 113 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,879 has not played a complete football game since the early part of the season against 114 00:09:43,879 --> 00:09:50,279 those cupcakes in early September. So you know, this has by far been 115 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,320 the worst season of Lincoln Riley's coaching career. It's a it's a season in 116 00:09:54,360 --> 00:10:00,399 which you have not seen growth and evolution from offensive player. I mean, 117 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:05,240 Marshawn Lloyd in many ways was the best USC offensive player through the first six 118 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,480 games of the season, better than Caleb Williams. Caleb Williams, you know, 119 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:15,799 struggling against Arizona, struggling against Arizona State, Marshawn Lloyd was actually better. 120 00:10:16,759 --> 00:10:20,000 But then we've seen Marshawn Lloyd struggle the past few weeks, and against 121 00:10:20,919 --> 00:10:24,399 Utah, you know, he bobbled a swing pass. It was almost ruled 122 00:10:24,399 --> 00:10:28,799 a fumble, you know, a pass he easily should have been able to 123 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:33,480 gather. And then and then he made a fumble, and he's not He 124 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:37,519 did not play nearly as well as anyone expected. He did not played nearly 125 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:41,440 as well as USC needed him to. So even us he's best offensive player 126 00:10:41,799 --> 00:10:48,120 regressed in this loss to Utah. Lincoln Riley, you know, he has 127 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:52,000 the Alex Grinch problem. He has the well documented defensive problem. But his 128 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:58,960 offense is not even making the great like his Oklahoma offenses. If you take 129 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:03,279 away the the twenty twenty one season in which Spencer Ratler struggled at the beginning. 130 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,080 Caleb then had to come in. You know, made some great plays, 131 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,799 had some great moments, but you know, as a freshman, was 132 00:11:09,879 --> 00:11:13,720 up and down. If you take away twenty twenty one, if you also 133 00:11:13,759 --> 00:11:18,039 take away twenty twenty, which really, you know, the pandemic season was 134 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,360 an outlier for a lot of college programs. But if you if you look 135 00:11:20,399 --> 00:11:31,360 at Riley's Oklahoma offenses from twenty seventeen through twenty nineteen under a Baker Mayfield, 136 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:37,080 Kyler Murray and then Jalen Hurts and then also twenty twenty two. Those four 137 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:41,840 seasons, you never had like a full month of mediocre football the way we've 138 00:11:41,879 --> 00:11:46,480 seen with this USC team from the Arizona State game, to the Arizona game, 139 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,159 to the Notre Dame game to the Utah game. You know, four 140 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:56,679 really subpar games in a five game stretch, the Colorado game being the only 141 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:03,279 really good one. It's you have not seen Lincoln Riley's offense continue to struggle 142 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:07,799 like this, so like this is a new low, and you know, 143 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:11,519 Lincoln Riley set the bar so high in his career that a new low means 144 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:16,759 what looks like to me an eight and four. Season eight and four is 145 00:12:16,799 --> 00:12:22,679 looking like rock bottom now. It certainly is a disaster for USC, given 146 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:24,879 all the expectations, given all the talent. Let me be clear on that 147 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:31,080 this is a disaster eight and four. He's not paid by USC to go 148 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:35,480 eight and four, But eight and four, if that is your rock bottom 149 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:41,279 in seven seasons of being a college head coach, you know, that's very 150 00:12:41,279 --> 00:12:46,159 different from Clay Helton, who was four and eight in twenty twenty one. 151 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:54,519 It was five and seven in twenty eighteen. Lots of coaches, most coaches 152 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,919 would kill to have eight and four be their rock bottom year, their rock 153 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,360 bottom season. But for Lincoln Riley, it really is rock bottom. It's 154 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,440 a it's a higher level of failure than he's ever had before. And so 155 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:13,639 when I when I reference those previous games like the cotton ball against Tulane and 156 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,840 other instances in which he basically, you know, shuts off the media of 157 00:13:16,879 --> 00:13:20,559 you know, like just a couple questions after the game and doesn't make his 158 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,440 other players available and just you know, closes inward. You know, we've 159 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:31,440 seen that pattern before. But it does reflect that when Lincoln Riley suffers a 160 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:35,519 stinging loss, uh, he doesn't handle it well. And part of this 161 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,440 is he's not used to losing this much like that, that is a just 162 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,799 a real thing. Like that's not exaggerated, that's not hyperbolic. That's true. 163 00:13:43,879 --> 00:13:48,879 He's about to have his first three loss regular season as a college head 164 00:13:48,879 --> 00:13:52,440 coach. He's about to have the first really crushing disappointment like when he went 165 00:13:54,519 --> 00:13:58,320 when he lost two games in the twenty twenty season, he still won the 166 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:05,480 big twelves, still got to a new year six Bowl game. In other 167 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,679 seasons twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, he was still making the College Football Playoff, 168 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,879 like you know that that's something that USC fans were really hoping, Like, 169 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:16,279 you know, USC fans were hoping that, you know, when Lincoln 170 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:22,039 Riley got settled at USC, might not have might not have won the national 171 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,440 championship, but like the floor, not the ceiling, but the floor was 172 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:31,840 going to be a two lost season and a playoff semi final loss like that 173 00:14:31,879 --> 00:14:37,240 would have been a real big step forward for USC football given the program struggles 174 00:14:37,559 --> 00:14:41,600 since the end of the Pete Carroll era. Like you know, obviously, 175 00:14:41,679 --> 00:14:45,919 winning national championships is what USC aspires to, but you know, making the 176 00:14:45,919 --> 00:14:52,519 playoff regularly losing twice, you know, going twelve and two, compared to 177 00:14:52,639 --> 00:14:56,039 what USC fans have endured over the past fifteen years, that's great, and 178 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:01,360 fans were definitely expecting to get into that kind of territory on a regular basis 179 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:05,960 when Lincoln Riley came within one win of the playoff last year. If US 180 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,279 he beats Utah on the Pac twelve title game, Trojans would have been in 181 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:18,559 the twenty twenty two seasons, certainly reaffirmed those expectations for USC fans. And 182 00:15:18,639 --> 00:15:24,080 so now this year possibly eight and four, maybe nine to three. That's 183 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,480 a crash and burn. It isn't a crash and burn for most coaches, 184 00:15:26,639 --> 00:15:31,279 but Lincoln Riley isn't most coaches. He's making a lot more money than most 185 00:15:31,279 --> 00:15:37,159 coaches. He's at a place where most coaches would love to be, but 186 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:43,039 he's the guy in charge and he's not handling it well. And this is 187 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:48,039 certainly an internal emotional crisis for Lincoln Riley. One of the things I always 188 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:52,919 get on my US he shows the YouTube shows that I do with Mark Rodgers, 189 00:15:54,279 --> 00:15:58,399 who is the host of the Big Ten Paradigm podcast that's part of the 190 00:15:58,399 --> 00:16:02,519 College grid Iron Coast Coast podcast network. But when I do my YouTube shows 191 00:16:02,519 --> 00:16:07,240 with Mark Rodgers, people in the chat, people in the comments section say, 192 00:16:07,639 --> 00:16:11,519 Lincoln Riley's never going to change, He's never going to be a national 193 00:16:11,559 --> 00:16:15,279 championship head coach, and like that might be true, but all of that 194 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:19,559 hinges on the idea that he's never going to make tough choices. He's never 195 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:23,120 going to fire his buddies, he's never going to cut loose his friends, 196 00:16:23,559 --> 00:16:29,759 like he's going to stick to Alex Grinch and also his strength coach Benny Wiley, 197 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,919 through thick and thin, no matter what, and he's not going to 198 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:37,600 allow his athletic director to fire them or to force him to fire them. 199 00:16:38,279 --> 00:16:42,159 Baked into the assumption that Lincoln Riley's never going to win a national title, 200 00:16:42,519 --> 00:16:47,759 it's that idea that he's never going to change his ways. But one would 201 00:16:47,759 --> 00:16:52,960 think after this Utah loss that this has to be the end for Alex Grinch. 202 00:16:52,039 --> 00:16:55,720 This has to be the end of the line for him, and realistically 203 00:16:55,759 --> 00:16:57,639 it also has to be the end of the line for Benny Wiley, a 204 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:03,279 strength coach who keeps producing USC players who get shoved around by Kyle Whittingham and 205 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:08,880 Utah USC and Riley. Oh and three against Winningham and the utes, USC, 206 00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:15,880 which handled Utah in La in the Coliseum for a very very very long 207 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,160 time, has now lost two straight to Utah and the Colisseum. In toy 208 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,920 twenty one, it was Clay Elton in his last year and it was actually 209 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:27,920 after he got fired. Dante Williams was the interim, but that still went 210 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:33,599 on Helton's record us He's results for the twenty twenty one season went on Helton's 211 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:40,039 record, but now us he's lost at home in the Coliseum under Lincoln Riley, 212 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:44,160 uh to that same Utah team and Riley oh and three against Winningham, 213 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,960 and he's not going to get another chance, uh because to play him. 214 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,440 Because even if Utah makes the Pack Both title game, which is unlikely, 215 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:56,920 it's still probably gonna be Oregon Washington, but uh, you know, USC 216 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:00,319 and Utah probably not going to meet in Vegas. So that's it. Lincoln 217 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,680 Riley might be zero to three all time against witning Haam unless USC and Utah 218 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:10,079 played a bowl game yours down the line, when Utah's in the Big twelve 219 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:15,920 and USC's in the Big ten. But like this was Lincoln Riley's last realistic 220 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,559 chance to beat Kyle winning Ham and he couldn't do it, and Utah was 221 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:25,839 better. Utah was tougher. Utah with a walk on quarterback Bryce and Barnes, 222 00:18:26,279 --> 00:18:30,119 beats Caleb Williams, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, on the road, 223 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:36,480 without Cam Rising, without great tight end Brant Queethey and other players. Utah 224 00:18:36,599 --> 00:18:41,039 shorthanded, USC not nearly as shorthanded, and it didn't matter. Utah is 225 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:45,480 the tougher team because it has the better strength and conditioning program, it has 226 00:18:45,519 --> 00:18:51,359 the better coach, it has the better defense, it has a better winning 227 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:55,960 mindset and makeup than USC does. So you put that all together, Lincoln 228 00:18:56,079 --> 00:19:03,200 Riley has to make significant changes on his coaching staff, and you know it, 229 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,640 it kills him to have to do that. You know, it pains 230 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:10,319 him to face up to the reality that, oh, I have to fire 231 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:15,359 my friends, and that to me, you know, says a lot about 232 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,960 you know, why he's so inward turned at this moment, why he's shutting 233 00:19:19,039 --> 00:19:25,160 out the media, why he's being so defensive. A lot of it is 234 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:26,640 just that, like this is all new for Lincoln Riley, who, by 235 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:30,079 the way, still just forty years old. Like I'm seven years older than 236 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:33,839 Lincoln Riley is. You know, he is still learning how to be a 237 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:38,319 coach, and this is this is his most difficult, painful learning experience to 238 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:44,400 date. And whatever is going through his mind like it's stormy, It is 239 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:48,480 stormy in there. And that brings up the point that, you know, 240 00:19:48,559 --> 00:19:52,960 all the things that he's going through, never having faced them previously in his 241 00:19:53,039 --> 00:19:59,359 coaching career, not on this scale. It does bring some uncertainty into the 242 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,960 equation. Now, I'm not going to predict what Lincoln Riley is going to 243 00:20:03,039 --> 00:20:04,920 do. I I you know, I am. I have said that, 244 00:20:06,039 --> 00:20:08,799 like he does have to make changes, like that just seems so obvious, 245 00:20:08,799 --> 00:20:14,440 it's so in his face. But is he really going to make them? 246 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,359 And I guess we can't really say that it's a guarantee, right because we 247 00:20:18,599 --> 00:20:23,400 haven't really seen him turn over a new leaf, show that he's willing to 248 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:30,839 admit that his methods are wrong or at least incomplete. We haven't yet seen 249 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,960 him have that come to Jesus saw on the Road to Damascus type moment where 250 00:20:36,319 --> 00:20:38,960 you know, the scales are removed from his eyes and he finally sees things 251 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:45,920 clearly. He's finally able to make mature decisions. We haven't seen him actually 252 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:49,400 make those moves yet, and you can just feel the the the gears grinding 253 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:55,759 inside his mind like he's agonizing over all of this and that that's part of 254 00:20:55,799 --> 00:21:00,799 it. But maybe maybe I'm not predicting anything here, but maybe this means 255 00:21:00,799 --> 00:21:04,160 that he's going to retire from coaching. Maybe this means he's going to go 256 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:10,599 to the NFL with Caleb Williams. Not predicting anything, but when a relatively 257 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:15,880 young coach or a young professional in any high stress, high pressure situation is 258 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:21,880 suddenly confronted with failure on a larger scale than he's ever known before, we 259 00:21:22,039 --> 00:21:27,960 cannot know exactly how that person is going to react. And that's why USC 260 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:33,920 has suddenly become a very big soap opera and a place where Oklahoma fans are 261 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:40,240 saying, oh, I've noticed this before. Lincoln Riley panicking, Lincoln Riley 262 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:45,440 feeling uncomfortable where he is. Maybe he might get out of town. Not 263 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:51,400 making any predictions, but the situation at USC does feel certainly more volatile than 264 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:56,960 it has in quite some time, and it's going to be really interesting to 265 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:03,319 see how Lincoln Riley handles all these wins swirling around him. We work with 266 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:08,119 ticketsmarter dot Com and ticket the ticket Smarter mobile app. Get in the game 267 00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:14,480 with ticket Smarter for the best prices on the secondary market for a very painless, 268 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:21,200 easy ticket purchasing process online to get you into the biggest games of the 269 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:25,200 college football season out here in the Pac twelve. We have that Oregon Utah 270 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:30,440 game in Salt Lake City on October twenty eighth coming up this week Week nine, 271 00:22:30,839 --> 00:22:34,960 We have Washington at USC November fourth in the Colisseum. That's going to 272 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:41,799 be a four to thirty pm Pacific game primetime on abc USC at Oregon on 273 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:47,519 November eleven. That's another showcase game. Hey, if you want to get 274 00:22:47,519 --> 00:22:52,920 into these games, get into the game literally with ticketsmarter dot com and the 275 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,359 ticket Smarter mobile app. And we have a special offer for all of you 276 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,640 here at College Grigar on Coast to Coast podcast network. LWOS ten is the 277 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:04,799 promo code that enables you to get ten dollars off a purchase of one hundred 278 00:23:04,839 --> 00:23:12,359 dollars or more. LWOS twenty. LWOS two zero gets you twenty dollars off 279 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:18,599 a purchase of three hundred dollars or more. So l WOS ten ten bucks 280 00:23:18,599 --> 00:23:23,400 off one hundred dollars or greater purchase LWOS twenty twenty dollars off a purchase of 281 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:27,880 three hundred dollars or more from ticket Smarter. That's ticketsmater dot com and the 282 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:33,839 ticket Smarter mobile app. Get in the game with ticket Smarter, so USC 283 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,359 the dominant story. We also have to give flowers to Kyle Whittingham and the 284 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,000 UTS. I mean I kind of wove that into the USC crisis, is 285 00:23:41,039 --> 00:23:45,480 that, you know, Kyle Whittingham takes these takes, Bryson Barnes a backup, 286 00:23:45,519 --> 00:23:48,519 a walk on, and he beats kayleb. Williams with him in Los 287 00:23:48,559 --> 00:23:52,960 Angeles kind of says it all. And Kyle Whittingham, you know, ever 288 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:57,200 since twenty nineteen, you know, he's just been getting better, better, 289 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,759 better as a head coach. You know, in twenty eighteen, when Utah 290 00:24:02,519 --> 00:24:07,039 lost ten to three to Washington Pac twelve Championship game, that was really a 291 00:24:07,039 --> 00:24:11,880 continuation of Utah just not having the quarterback play, not having the offense needed 292 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,640 to complement the defense and become a complete program. But in this thirty four 293 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,759 to thirty two win over USC, and in last year's forty three forty two 294 00:24:19,839 --> 00:24:22,920 win over USC, in the forty seven to twenty four win over USC in 295 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,519 the Pac twelve title game, you know, Utah's offenses have gotten better. 296 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,680 And Kyle Winningham, you know, he had Cam Rising for last year's wins, 297 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,599 but this year he didn't have all of his tools. He didn't have 298 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:38,480 Brant Queethe as I mentioned, but he's still with Andy Ludwig putting together a 299 00:24:38,519 --> 00:24:44,839 better offense, a more integrated team with a with a full philosophy like Utah 300 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:49,319 used to lean all entirely on its defense, and you know, like the 301 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:56,559 opposite of Lincoln Riley leaning entirely on his offense. When Utah's now a balanced 302 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:00,440 program, Utah is now a balanced team. And that is so much of 303 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,400 the battle in terms of why Utah has elevated itself as a program. I 304 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:08,200 mean, Utah is probably not gonna beat Oregon or Washington, but you know, 305 00:25:08,319 --> 00:25:12,279 Utah looks like a team that's gonna finish nine to three without Cam Rising 306 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:15,720 for all twelve games. That would be that would still be an amazing, 307 00:25:17,279 --> 00:25:22,160 amazing coaching job from Winningham. And if cam Rising comes back next year twenty 308 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:26,759 twenty four, with Oklahoma and Texas off to the SEC, Utah would be 309 00:25:26,799 --> 00:25:34,160 the clear Big twelve favorite if cam Rising does come back. The other story 310 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:38,079 worth learning from the PAC twelve. The other really big story Washington not scoring 311 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:45,640 an offensive touchdown against Arizona State really rather remarkable that. You know, Washington 312 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,079 and Arizona State, if you go through the recent history, they always seem 313 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:52,440 to play one score games. It's really actually crazy, like this ASU team 314 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:57,480 decimated by injuries first year head coach Kenny Dillingham. You'd think Washington would have 315 00:25:57,759 --> 00:26:02,440 absolutely blown as s U to smithereens. Now what helped, ask you a 316 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,039 little bit. Washington had that draining game against Oregon, so this was a 317 00:26:06,079 --> 00:26:10,880 hangover and Washington was favored by twenty seven and a half. If you pounced 318 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:15,000 on SU plus twenty seven, you had a very easy cover. But no 319 00:26:15,039 --> 00:26:18,960 one was expecting Washington to score just fifteen points and not score an offensive touchdown 320 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:25,680 like that's ridiculous. And Michael Pennix had that substantial Heisman Trophy lead. That 321 00:26:25,799 --> 00:26:29,920 lead is gone and it's going to be fascinating to see how Michael Pennox and 322 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:37,720 Washington bounced back from that particular game. So we're almost at November, almost 323 00:26:37,759 --> 00:26:42,359 in the home stretch of the Pac twelve race. Oregon State at Arizona is 324 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:48,039 the really, really interesting game in addition to Oregon Utah this week, and 325 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:55,039 we will have plenty to talk about after those particular showdowns on the Get Off 326 00:26:55,079 --> 00:27:00,960 My Pylon College Football podcast. So remember at ticket Smarter and ticket Smart ticket 327 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,720 Smarter mobile app LWS ten ten dollars off an order of one hundred or more 328 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:11,519 LWOS twenty twenty dollars off purchase of three hundred dollars or more. Get in 329 00:27:11,559 --> 00:27:15,039 the game of ticket smarter and stay with us here on the Get Off My 330 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:19,680 Pylon College Football podcast, part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast network. 331 00:27:19,799 --> 00:27:22,799 This is Matt Zemeck. Thanks for listening.