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    • USC football's Lincoln Riley is out of answers like Jimbo Fisher
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    USC football's Lincoln Riley is out of answers like Jimbo Fisher

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    • Lincoln Riley has proven to be a smart coach, and USC has too much talent to remain mediocre, right? We said the same thing about Jimbo Fisher.
    • Lincoln Riley literally ran out of answers after the loss to Maryland.
    • Lincoln Riley's killer contract protects him…for now.

    Lincoln Riley was literally running out of answers.

    Southern California's coach can't explain why his team can't shut down its opponents.

    “I don’t know,” the third-year USC coach said Saturday after his Trojans blew another second-half lead in a 29-28 loss at Maryland.

    And out with the pitchforks. Unless those pitchforks have $100 bills on the tips, Riley is too expensive to fire – at least for now.

    While Oregon makes the transition to the Big Ten seem like a breeze, USC (3-4) has an arduous road ahead of it simply to make it to a bowl game as well — not that such an offer would be any saving grace.

    They say you get what you pay for, but about the Trojans, they are wrong.

    USC paid for a Ferrari, but a Kia Forte sits in the driveway with an empty tank.

    The Trojans play too quietly, especially at the end of games, but that's not a headline. Soft play is typical of Riley's teams, and in fact, this team has more appetite on defense than either of Riley's first two USC teams.

    Even more horrifying – and surprising – is the disappearance of Riley's crime.

    Riley was once considered college football's smartest offensive guru. He developed not one, not two, but three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft. His offense became his moneymaker, his failsafe, throughout his tenure at Oklahoma and his USC debut.

    Early in Riley's tenure at Oklahoma, the question wasn't whether Riley would win a national championship, but rather how many.

    Riley's updated national title count: Zero.

    He's as far away as he's ever been as USC prepares to host Rutgers in a battle for .500 on Friday.

    If Riley thought he would enjoy the Pac-12 defense, then USC's entry into the Big Ten was a bitter turn. Teams in this conference place a heavy emphasis on defense, and Riley's offense faded into the 3M runner-up to Michigan, Minnesota and Maryland.

    Riley has proven he's a smart coach, and USC has too much talent to stay down, right?

    DISH PROJECTIONS: Georgia is now the top seed in the College Football Playoff

    ONE THING IS RIGHT: Auburn was smart to have a manageable freeze buyout

    I thought the same thing about Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M. However, Fisher was never released from his despair. The Aggies ultimately released him — for a $77 million transfer fee — in 2023, halfway through his sixth season. The Aggies look better without Fisher.

    Riley's tenure exudes a touch of Jimbo.

    The Trojans, like the Aggies, have too much invested in this coach to fire him at the first or even second sign of trouble. So you muddle along, telling yourself that it will get better, it has to get better, you saw this guy do it… until you finally realize that you've paid for a trainer who is inexplicably in one fog of mediocrity has dissipated.

    The Aggies redefined the standard for high-end coaching contracts when they gave Fisher a 10-year, $75 million contract with $75 million guaranteed to hire him from Florida State. The hire seemed like a slam dunk, and the Aggies foolishly doubled down on his contract with an even richer contract after Fisher's third season.

    At FSU, Fisher replaced legendary coach Bobby Bowden after previously serving as Bowden's offensive coordinator. Fisher won at least ten games in six of eight seasons as FSU coach there and won a national championship in his fourth year.

    Fisher never won 10 games in a season at A&M.

    Riley was Bob Stoops' last offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, replaced Stoops as coach of the Sooners with great success, and now…the Jimbo freefall.

    And Riley's going to turn things around, right? Just give it some more time. Because he's a good coach and USC attracts talent, and we've seen him do it before and he can do it again. But what if he can't?

    We've said the same thing about Fisher for years. Today Fisher is unemployed.

    Here's what else I see in this top rope view of college football:

    How Georgia finished No. 1 but missed the SEC Championship game

    Here's an interesting development: No. 2 Georgia could win but fall short of the SEC Championship game.

    You might be thinking: Wait, didn't Georgia restore its status as an SEC front-runner by mutilating Texas?

    As far as optics go, yes. As for the rankings, no.

    No. 7 LSU and No. 14 Texas A&M are undefeated in SEC play, and while only one of those teams finished conference undefeated — the teams will face off Saturday in College Station — both teams could end up in the SEC Championship. at Georgia's expense.

    The SEC's complicated tiebreaker system may be required to determine their championship contenders, and if that tiebreaker comes into play, Georgia's loss to Alabama could come back to haunt the Bulldogs.

    Imagine this scenario: The Aggies beat LSU, win, and clinch their spot in the SEC Championship. LSU bounces back from a loss to the Aggies to beat Alabama on November 9th and win.

    LSU and Georgia are not playing, so there is no direct tiebreaker. Going further down the list of tiebreakers, an LSU win over Alabama coupled with Georgia's loss to Alabama would tip the scales in LSU's favor.

    Let's get even crazier. Say No. 17 Missouri upsets No. 15 Alabama this weekend. There, too, Missouri would overtake Georgia in the tiebreaker rankings.

    To be clear, Georgia retains a shot at Atlanta if it keeps winning. The Aggies, LSU and Missouri could fail. The Bulldogs simply don't have full control of their path.

    Imagine Georgia finishes at No. 1 in the final CFP rankings but, due to the SEC's tiebreaker rules, is denied a spot in its league's championship game and therefore does not receive a bye to the first-round playoffs.

    Three and out

    1. Riley isn't the only coach at a blue blood to falter in the third year. Brent Venables has messed up Oklahoma's quarterback situation, starting with his inability to retain Dillon Gabriel, now No. 1 Oregon's star. Venables fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell this week. Part of the job of a coordinator is to be a ready-made scapegoat. But if Oklahoma doesn't get a speedy transfer quarterback this offseason, Venables could be next in line.

    2. Dan Lanning doesn't like leftovers. All he cares about is clearing his plate.

    “You don't sit in the middle of a meal and say you're done eating when there's still a lot of food on your plate,” Oregon's coach said.

    What he means is that there is no prize for starting 7-0. As for the Ducks' No. 1 ranking?

    “Who cares,” he said.

    Oh come on, you can't treat the US LBM Coaches Survey like that!

    3. It's a shame that Texas has already played Michigan. In Michigan, you can get 10 cents for recycling a beer bottle.

    If Texas were to collect 2.5 million bottles and recycle them in Michigan, it could pay its $250,000 fine imposed by the SEC after Texas fans vandalized the field with bottles during Saturday's loss to Georgia. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate college football story? Pay your fine with the same bottles that caused the fine.

    Blake Toppmeyer is the national college football columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

    The “Topp Rope” is his soccer column published throughout the USA TODAY Networkk.

    Subscribe to read his entire columnS.

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    Kathleen William
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