What a difference a week makes, seriously! After looking totally lost just seven days ago, USC pulled off the unthinkable, absolutely stunning then-No. 1 Ohio State with a convincing 30-18 win in the Halloween rain in Los Angeles. Everyone had Lincoln Riley’s eulogy practically written after that loss to Wisconsin, with talk of a brutal closing schedule against three top 10 teams possibly sending the Trojans to a miserable 7-5 finish. That would have been total doom for Riley, no doubt. But nope, just as everyone was counting them out, USC delivered their best performance of the season and now, at 7-2, they’ve got life. Playoff talk is suddenly back in sight!
From DOA to Playoff Hopefuls
Honestly, it’s wild how fast things flip in college football. One minute, you’re wondering if the Lincoln Riley experiment in L.A. is a bust after a loss to Wisconsin. The next, your team is celebrating a dominant win over the top-ranked squad in the country. That 30-18 beatdown of Ohio State was exactly what the doctor ordered, pulling the Trojans from the brink and launching them to a 7-2 record. Now, they get a bye week to soak it all in and get ready for the real test coming up. It feels good, right? But hold up, the College Football Playoff committee isn’t totally sold on this comeback yet, their first rankings proved that. So, the biggest games are still ahead.
The Road Ahead: A Make-or-Break Showdown
That bye week is crucial because what’s coming next is huge: a road trip to Bloomington to face No. 4 Indiana. Now, Indiana has been playing with fire, barely escaping with overtime wins in back-to-back weeks against unranked opponents. They are limping in, for sure, but they also get a bye week to get healthier. They’ll either give Grant Wilson more time with the starters or Josh Hoover could be back to full strength. Either way, this is going to be USC’s stiffest test on the road all season.
And let’s be real about USC’s road history under Riley. It’s not pretty. They’re a dismal 5-7 away from home in Big Ten play over the last three years, and one of those “road” wins was literally just driving across L.A. to play UCLA. Plus, they’ve got a loss at Notre Dame in that span too. This year alone, they lost as favorites at Wisconsin, almost got embarrassed by Rutgers on the road, and somehow got dragged into a one-score game late at a 1-4 Penn State team. So, can they finally hand Indiana the second loss the Hoosiers seem to have been trying to take for weeks? The game against Indiana is going to tell us everything about this Trojans team and whether they’re the real deal or the same ol’ Trojans when they leave home.
What’s Next: The Biggest Game of Riley’s Tenure
This November 14th game at Indiana, kicking off at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS, is the biggest game of Lincoln Riley’s tenure in L.A. PERIOD. If they win, suddenly the College Football Playoff is back within reach, and Riley can rewrite the entire narrative about his teams on the road. After that, Maryland is pretty much a free space on the schedule, and even with how good crosstown rival UCLA has looked, USC could absolutely win that rivalry game to close out the season. But first, they gotta prove it in Bloomington. Get ready, this one’s gonna be a battle!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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