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

USC‘s season did not end the way they planned, losing in their conference championship and bowl game following an 11-win regular season in Lincoln Riley’s first year as the Trojans’ head coach. The Trojans’ one-point upset loss to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl was a down to the wire heartbreaker that no team wants to be on the wrong end of, as Riley gave kudos to Tulane’s program following the loss.

“First want to congratulate coach Fritz, Tulane, the magical year that they’ve had,” Riley said “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 has lost in College Football Playoff and in bowl games before, but said this most recent Cotton Bowl loss may take the cake for being the toughest of his entire career.

“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,” Riley said.

It was a hard-fought matchup, but one where the Trojans were able to keep Tulane at bay for the most part, maintaining a lead for the entire game except for a 14-14 tie in the second quarter. But in the last four minutes of the game, the Green Wave were able to pull off a 16-point swing that would give them the one-point lead they needed to steal the game.

“I thought our guys really laid it on the line, played really really hard, prepared hard, really wanted to win this game and obviously we put ourselves in phenomenal position to get it done. And then all three sides right there at then end with the dropped kickoff, and the safety, and then obviously not getting the stops we needed defensively down the stretch,” Riley said. “I mean all three sides contributed to it.”

USC’s season may not have ended the way they wanted, but many would say they overachieved in Riley’s first season making a conference championship and New Year’s six bowl appearance. Those accomplishments may be hard to see following a devastating loss, but regardless, the Trojan’s first season of the Lincoln Riley era as a whole was a success, and definitely something to build upon next season.

“Now that the season’s over, I’ve rarely at the end of the year felt so conflicted. You know on one hand sick about the way we finished the season, particularly the fourth quarter of the last two ballgames. We lost three games this year, we lost two of them on the last play of game and we lost one in the fourth quarter of the championship game where we had a chance to go to the College Football Playoff. And that’s a competitor in you, the competitor in us, that’s a tough pill to swallow because those opportunities are not easy to get,” Riley said.