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USC football coach Lincoln Riley put Big 10 officials on blast following a controversial loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He says that along with an incorrectly overturned touchdown to end the game, the crew missed a slew of calls that benefitted his opposition.
The Trojans took their second loss of the year on Saturday after blowing a seven-point fourth quarter lead. After tying the game at 17-17, the Gophers put the contest away with a rushing score near the end of regulation.
Gophers take over late 👀
After a scoring play, @GopherFootball leads No. 11 USC 24-17.#B1GFootball on @BigTenNetwork 📺 pic.twitter.com/TqpJrqANny
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 6, 2024
That touchdown came on fourth down with less than a minute left in the second half. At first look, it appeared the Trojans made a goal line stand.
Officials marked the ball down inches shy of the endzone, effectively turning the ball back over to USC’s offense.
While there didn’t seem to be any “definitive evidence” to change the ruling, the crew would overturn the outcome and award the Gophers six points after a review.
USC stops Minnesota on fourth and goal from inside the one yard line to get the ball back with less than a minute left. On further review, it was ruled a Minnesota touchdown and Minnesota wins 24-17. pic.twitter.com/1SdYZyT0NU
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) October 6, 2024
Lincoln Riley was testy in his postgame interview, refusing to answer any questions on the controversial play.
After a few days, and a discussion with the Big 10, he finally opened up.
“Regarding some of the calls at the end of the game last week, we went through our normal review process,” the USC football coach said. “That’s why I didn’t want to comment on it [during postgame]… There were a number of misses there at the end of the game. The pass interference that was called, the pass interference that wasn’t called, the intentional grounding, and certainly the last play…
“The explanation that we got on the last play is that they believed the runner had scored. They felt like that was enough to overturn it. I’ve not been given any explanation on why we ignored the part of the rule that states to overturn something that it has to be absolutely, completely clear-cut. There can be no doubt. That part was ignored.”
After talking with the Big Ten, Lincoln Riley addressed the call to overturn #USC’s fourth down stop at the end of the game and give Minnesota the go-ahead touchdown.
“In my opinion there’s no way that that can be overturned. The rules are pretty clear.” pic.twitter.com/ghdGSCn7TU
— TrojanSports.com (@USC_Rivals) October 9, 2024
He says the Big 10 told him the call was correct without giving reasoning as to why it warranted being overturned. Their gut said the runner crossed the goal line, even if their eyes couldn’t be sure!
That obviously didn’t sit well with Riley, but it seems he’s trying to move on. The attention has now been turned to a monster matchup against No. 4 Penn State.