LOS ANGELES — Four times in his tenure as head coach at Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley played in the Big 12 championship game. By nature of the Big 12’s round-robin schedule, each title bout was a rematch. Two times, it was against a team the Sooners beat in season, twice it was against an opponent that beat Oklahoma.
In those rematches, Riley’s team went 4-0.
It’s this type of experience that led USC to hire Riley a year ago. And despite inheriting a 4-8 team, one year later Riley has the Trojans ranked fourth nationally as they head to Las Vegas to play No. 11 Utah in the Pac-12 championship game.
Like in Riley’s Big 12 days, this is a rematch for his team. The Utes beat USC 43-42 in Salt Lake City in October, the Trojans’ only loss of the season. If USC can avenge it, the Trojans will find themselves in the College Football Playoff for the first time.
“It’s great that it worked out that way,” Riley said after practice Tuesday. “This is not a revenge game. That’s not what this is. We played a really good football game, as did Utah, up in Salt Lake. It was an elite college football game. Came down to one play here or there. They got us that time, but this one’s not about that game.”
After losing to Texas in 2018, the Sooners made a pointed effort to take away the Longhorns’ run game in the title-game rematch. They limited Texas to 2.8 yards per carry on the way to a 39-27 win.
In the 2020 rematch with an Iowa State team that beat the Sooners in Week 3, Oklahoma again relied on its defense to make the key adjustment, forcing three turnovers to win the championship game.
“It is a challenge. It’s good to have some of that experience that we’ve had. I remember the first couple of times doing it at OU it felt unique just because I hadn’t done that,” Riley said. “You got to understand that maybe the way the first one played out is not necessarily the way the second one plays out. A lot of times actually they play out very differently in terms of flow of the game.”
A handful of USC players have championship game experience from the 2020 season, when a 5-0 Trojan team’s fourth-quarter comeback fell short in a seven-point loss to Oregon. Those players had to watch the Ducks celebrate on the Coliseum field.
But few players remain from that team two years ago. So Riley is trying to remind his Trojans that this week is the same as any other.
“It’s just football. Everybody sees that [pressure] now, but the reality is all the games have this much at stake on them because if you don’t win those you’re not even playing in this one,” Riley said. “For us, it’s just playing ball. It’s what this team enjoys to do.”
And the team has been overwhelmingly successful on Saturdays (or Fridays) this season. Except that one game against Utah in October.
But the players on the team to a man say it was that loss that rallied this team and helped it reach this moment with a playoff spot on the line.
“The vibe inside the room was completely different than times when I’ve lost before,” quarterback Caleb Williams said of the post-game locker room in Salt Lake. “That was one of the main things that was being said in the locker room, is, ‘We have this adversity in our life right now, that we just lost. I know we didn’t want to lose, but we did lose. And a great book or story can’t be written without it.’”
When USC has the ball
Williams has put himself on the precipice of winning the Heisman Trophy with how he’s played this season. He had success against Utah in that October matchup, throwing for 381 yards and five touchdowns.
But the Utes did well to put pressure on Williams in that game, with four sacks and 15 quarterbacks hurries allowed by the USC offensive line.
Which makes it all the more important for USC to establish its run game. The Utes have held opponents to 68.2 rushing yards per game the past five weeks, and USC starting back Travis Dye will be on the sideline with a cast on his leg. But Austin Jones has been a revelation stepping up for Dye, and if he can keep the Utah defense honest, then Williams should have more time to operate in the pocket.
When Utah has the ball
The Utah game from six weeks ago is surely one USC’s defense would like to flush away, having given up 562 yards and six touchdowns in the loss.
But USC also feels as if it has improved since then, as evidenced by Saturday’s lock-down performance against Notre Dame, holding the Irish rushing attack to 90 yards and 3.5 per carry.
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The keys for the USC defense in Utah rematch
That improvement will be key against a Utah offense that has leaned on its run game in recent weeks as quarterback and former Newbury Park High star Cam Rising plays through injury. Tavion Thomas has been the lead back all season, but the Utes have also used freshman quarterback Ja’Quinden Jackson as a running back in recent weeks. Against Colorado last week, he rushed 10 times for a team-high 117 yards.
Jackson has yet to attempt a pass this season, but USC will have to keep an eye out for a trick play if the ball goes to him.
No. 4 USC (11-1, 8-1) vs. No. 11 Utah (9-3, 7-2)
What: Pac-12 championship game
When: 5 p.m. Friday
Where: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas
TV/Radio: Fox/790 KABC