Shane Lee details the importance of finishing after disappointing Cotton Bowl loss

In one of the best games in all of bowl season, Tulane came from behind to beat USC in the Cotton Bowl. For the Green Wave, it was arguably the most important win in program history. For the Trojans, it was a massive disappointment.

USC linebacker Shane Lee explained that the team learned the importance of finishing the season strong after the game, which saw the Trojans lose a lead in the late stages of the fourth quarter.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily just at the end of the year,” Shane Lee said. “Like you have the whole offseason.”

“You have to finish in everything that you do, whether it be workouts, whether it be a sprint, whether it be a meal. Whatever. Like the smallest things, and that’s how I look at it. Like I said, we came together really fast. We had a lot of success this year, despite losing the big games that we wanted to win, obviously, we had a lot of success and I don’t think it’s realistic to say that you should have everything set in stone or you should be exactly where you want to be after year one,” Lee said.

“I don’t think that’s really realistic. I think what we’ve done is build a great foundation and I’m proud of everybody. I’m proud of our coaches. I’m proud of our staff.”

Expectations are going to be sky-high for the Trojans next season. Luckily, as Shane Lee explained, USC has something to build on now.

“But, now we have something that we can look forward to. Something that we can build on. Finishing is something that–obviously finishing is at the end, and so we started out the game strong. We played a strong game, but at the end we let it go. So, that’s something that we have to focus on in the future.”

Lincoln Riley says the Cotton Bowl loss one of the toughest in his career

USC head coach Lincoln Riley took the Cotton Bowl loss to Tulane tough, calling it one of the most challenging losses in his career.

“First want to congratulate coach [Willie] Fritz, Tulane, the magical year that they’ve had. We knew they were a very tough opponent and no surprise to us that they kept swinging throughout the ebbs and flows of the game, so a really well-coached football team. Obviously, it’s a huge win for them and their program and just want to offer congratulations to them,” Riley said.

“It’s as tough a loss as I can remember in my entire career. You know, had the momentum a number of times. Obviously, didn’t do a very good job finishing there at the end. The thing we told the guys in the locker room, obviously a very very disappointed locker room, losses like this are always just tough to digest man, they really are.”