LOS ANGELES — When the coin came down in USC’s favor on Saturday, Lincoln Riley could have gone with conventional football wisdom. Let Rice receive the ball, and take the second-half kickoff.
Instead, Riley opted to put his offense, the unit that he has made his name and reputation off of, on the field first, and make a thesis statement of sorts of what his tenure as head coach of the Trojans would look like.
Three minutes and 19 seconds, seven plays and 75 yards later, USC had the first touchdown of the Riley era, and the first touches on a 66-14 win over the Owls to open the 2022 season.
