Lincoln Riley believes some USC players let up effort against Colorado

After heading into halftime with a 34-14 lead against Colorado this weekend, USC let the Buffaloes back into the game in the second half but held them off to secure a 48-41 win.

There’s no doubt the Trojans took their foot off of the gas a little bit in the second half, which head coach Lincoln Riley agreed with following the game and fully broke down on the ‘Trojans Live’ coaches show this week.

“Do I think we had some guys that probably thought the game was over and fell asleep a little bit? Yeah I do, I mean we were beating up on them pretty good. And do I think we had some guys that thought that? Yeah, I do,” Riley said. “I think we had some young guys that lost a little bit of focus and missed a few plays and then what’s crazy is once a team that doesn’t have momentum gets a little bit of it then all of a sudden you’re gonna play an even better opponent at that point. It changes and you gotta be ready for that and you gotta expect that.”

USC made gaining a lead look easy but maintaining it much harder, being outscored 27-7 after drawing first blood in the second half and taking a 41-14 lead, nearly paying the price for their lack of effort and focus. But Riley understands that not all of his players let up in the second half, and broke down the challenge that presents as well.

“And then did we have some guys when we lost some momentum that panicked a little bit that went away from doing some of the things that got you such a big lead in the first place? Sure we did, the hard thing in football is it’s not basketball or it’s not an individual sport where you only got a few guys out there,” Riley explained. “I mean you got 11 guys on the field at a time and you’re playing with, I mean realistically you’re playing 40 or 50 guys. So this person might be in this head space, this person might me in this head space, it’s not necessarily everybody’s one or the other.”

A basketball coach’s message to his starting five is likely easier to get across versus one towards 50 people. And Riley shared the themes of the messages to his players amid their second half struggles as he and his staff will look to avoid similar problems finishing games in the future.

“And so yeah, I think you’re constantly reassuring the guys of what they need to be doing, if guys are not intense or they’re not in that right mindset you’re jumping them and you’re getting their attention quickly and I think you’re trying to keep them in the moment right? Because human nature says they scored a few, oh no, you start thinking about what might happen and this and that as opposed to just go play. Just stay very present,” Riley said. “And we’ve got a mixed bag, there’s different guys in different positions and in different mindsets and the key is we gotta be able to assess it as coaches in the moment and after, learn from it, and be better the next time.”

The Trojans may have been disappointed with their second half showing, but winning is the most important thing, as they extended their record to 5-0 ahead of their next game this Saturday against Arizona, which kicks off at 10:30 p.m. ET and airs on ESPN.