Lincoln Riley praises Colorado, shares moment with Shedeur Sanders during postgame interview

Heading into Saturday’s game against Colorado, Lincoln Riley spoke at length about the respect he has for Deion Sanders and what he’s done since taking over in Boulder. After USC fought off the Buffaloes and got a 48-41 victory on Saturday, he shared a special moment with Sanders’ son, Shedeur.

The Trojans held a 41-14 lead at one point, but Colorado battled back to eventually lose by seven points. Riley praised the Buffaloes’ resilience and the atmosphere at Folsom Field for one of the most anticipated Pac-12 games of the year.

Then, mid-interview, Riley congratulated Shedeur Sanders on his performance.

"Obviously something is going to have get better for us going forward."@JennyTaft checks in with with Lincoln Riley after the win vs Colorado ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/cH4XExJims

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 30, 2023

Caleb Williams had a monster day as he led the USC offense. He completed 30 of 40 passes for 403 yards and six touchdowns as part of the Trojans’ high-powered attack. On the other side, Sanders went 30 of 45 for 371 yards and four touchdowns as the two Heisman Trophy hopefuls battled it out.

It was quite a show from the two quarterbacks, and Riley credited both quarterbacks afterward.

“It was a good battle,” Riley told FOX sideline reporter Jenny Taft. “Shedeur played really well in the second half. I mean, Caleb [Williams] has played at a high level, had a couple that we would want back there at the end, that we don’t typically make. But guy continues to perform for us. I’m proud of his progress and the rest of the team has to keep coming along.”

Lincoln Riley: ‘Obviously, something’s gonna have to get better’ for USC after rough second half vs. Colorado

The first half was all USC as the Trojans took a 34-14 lead into the break. They added two more touchdowns onto that, but the offense went cold. Riley said that, along with some big plays allowed by the defense, gave Colorado a chance to get back into the game.

That said, there’s plenty of room for improvement.

“Yeah, played a great first half, didn’t play very good in the second half, offense got stalled out,” Riley said. “We gave up some big plays defensively where we just simply didn’t tackle. Listen, I give Colorado credit. They fought back, the crowd in here was awesome today. They fought back and got some momentum and we didn’t do a very good job finishing.

“So fortunately, we had a big enough lead, but obviously, something’s gonna have to get better for us going forward.”

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.