Lincoln Riley's weaknesses are revealed in USC's loss to Michigan

USC played against a team that threw passes over 32 yards.

Not in a single game.

Throughout the game.

Coach Lincoln Riley described Saturday's 27-24 loss to Michigan as a game his team could have won, saying, “We were missing a play.”

Honestly, the Trojans should have won this game.

This was a game in which the Wolverines, the defending national champions, were booed in their own stadium. This was a game in which USC had the ball for the final five minutes and held a four-point lead against an opponent that had not scored a point in any of its last six drives.

In their previous two games, the Trojans played as if the days of beating themselves were behind them, but they overlooked one crucial detail.

They were still trained by Riley.

As dynamic as his offense can be and as much as new coordinator D'Anton Lynn has improved his once-poor defense, Riley has not proven he can keep a cool head in games of this magnitude.

USC’s first Big Ten game was another example.

Riley made some odd plays, the most notable of which came on the possession that preceded Michigan's game-winning drive. The Trojans went three-and-out and twice stopped the clock on incomplete shovel passes attempted by quarterback Miller Moss. The possession lasted less than a minute, giving the Wolverines enough time to regain the lead on Khalel Mullings' one-yard run with 37 seconds left in the game.

“I thought I could have done better,” Riley admitted. “I don't think I predicted a very good drive there.”

Riley was much less self-critical when asked about his team's offensive philosophy early in the game, even though the Trojans scored just three points in the first two quarters and went into halftime trailing 14-3.

“I felt like we had a lot of chances in the first half that we missed,” Riley said. “It was probably more about execution than decision-making.”

But USC obviously tried to beat Michigan at its own game by doggedly running the ball up the middle, even though the Wolverines' defensive line included two future NFL tackles in Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. When the Trojans weren't running the ball, they often resorted to screen passes.

The results were catastrophic.

The Wolverines were more physical on both sides of the ball. They held the Trojans to negative yardage for two quarters. They started with a mobile quarterback who couldn't throw and who the Trojans knew wouldn't throw, but still managed to score two touchdowns before halftime.

The Trojans came out of the break with a game plan similar to their own. Instead of using the run to release the pass, they relied on the pass to release the run.

Moss threw his first touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. On USC's next drive, Moss intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown, but he responded with two more passes that put the Trojans ahead 24-20.

The crowd of over 110,000 turned against the home team, booing the Wolverines as their running-based offense stalled.

The game was winnable. But somehow the Trojans messed it up.

In the post-match press conference, Riley preferred to praise his team's resilience rather than lament the missed opportunities.

“I think it was a classic back-and-forth battle,” he said.

The approach was understandable. The Trojans have nine games left in the regular season. They can still make the College Football Playoffs.

However, if USC wants to become the program it envisioned when Riley was hired, it has to figure out how to close out a game like this. Riley wasn't brought to Los Angeles to compete. He was brought to win championships.

Right now, the Trojans have a defensive coordinator who can get to the championship. They have a quarterback who can get to the championship. They need Riley as a head coach who can get to the championship.