CHOOSE LSU vs USC from Las Vegas | Brian Kelly, Garrett Nussmeier vs Miller Moss, Lincoln Riley | 08.26.24

Lincoln Riley took an interesting decision late in the first half after USC came up against a defensive stop LSUThe Trojans forced a fourth down and the Tigers were poised to kick a game-tying field goal.

However, despite the fact that there was still over a minute left in the half, Riley did not use a timeout to stop the clock, even though he had all three minutes left. USC still managed to drive down the field and get into field goal range before missing, but it was still a puzzling call.

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Former Oregon and NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz criticized Riley on social media for his game management.

“So USC wasted almost a minute by not taking a timeout on LSU’s FG attempt and 2nd down run,” he wrote on X. “Then they played for a FG because they ran out of time. And they missed the FG. Just terrible game management.”

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Schwartz wasn’t the only one confused by Riley’s decision. Former State of Mississippi And Florida coach Dan Mullen said during ESPN’s halftime that he would have called a timeout in that situation as well.

He did admit that the drive was still successful in his estimation because USC got the field goal attempt, but more time might have allowed them to score a touchdown.

“It was really interesting, especially with the three timeouts,” Mullen said. “They lost that 40 seconds. You take that timeout, save the time. You still have timeouts in your pocket. You saw at the end of the half, they would have liked to have had those 40 seconds there.

“The drive to me was still successful. They got a field goal attempt and they were hoping for a two-for-one. They get the ball to start that second half and you want that two-for-one opportunity to score twice before LSU touches the ball.”

Riley enters his third season as USC coach after going 19-8 in his first two years. He will look to start with a win as the Trojans try to pull away after being tied 10-10 with LSU at halftime.