The USC Trojans were desperate for a win when they welcomed Ohio State to the LA Coliseum on Saturday after facing a disappointing 24-7 defeat against Wisconsin in the prior week. The Buckeyes, on the other hand, were coming off a bye week after surviving a last-gasp attempt by Indiana in a low-scoring 19-15 win on Oct. 17.
While Ryan Day's squad was the favorite to win the matchup, which would have put Lincoln Riley's USC tenure in jeopardy, the Trojans flipped the script completely, dominating the Julian Sayin-less Ohio State in a 30-18 win with stellar performances from Trent Mosley (101 yards, touchdown), Mark Bowman (79 yards) and King Miller (78 yards, touchdown).
However, according to On3 analyst George Wrighster, the win was nothing to brag about for Riley, with Ohio State missing its starting quarterback. Speaking on 'George Wrighster's College Football Podcast' on Sunday, he said :
"It's like when you jump up and down, celebrating, pumping your chest after, you know, that the person that was in there was hurt or damaged or anything else. And I know that you're not, and I'm a big proponent of, listen, if you come out there, there are no excuses. So Ohio State has no excuses, but deep down in USC's heart and deep down in Lincoln Riley's heart, he knows, he knows that there's still a little bit of a question about this game."
With two losses on their resume against Oregon and Wisconsin, the College Football Playoff was seemingly out of USC's reach before their battle with Ohio State. However, beating the former No. 2-ranked team in the AP Poll Top 25 before this Sunday will certainly prove to be a major boost to their resume.
After the win, Riley spoke on the team's mentality to bounce back from a loss and the immediate turnaround at his postgame conference, saying :
"I know what's building within those walls. Like, I know it, and all my years of experience, and all that I've kind of seen and got to experience in this game, tells me that. I believe that with every fiber of my being. I felt like we would play well. I knew we would respond."
The Trojans will now face No. 6 Indiana after a bye week, followed by Maryland and UCLA to close the regular season.
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