Lincoln Riley reflects on how his rise started at the Alamo Bowl
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where we’re left wondering if anyone will remember the Alamo (Bowl) after this bowl season.
USC will face Texas Christian in its first trip to the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30, the night before the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff kick off. Throw in the fact that the Horned Frogs finished in seventh place in the Big 12, and you don’t exactly have a marquee, made-for-TV matchup.
But for USC’s coach, the Alamo Bowl should carry a certain significance — if only for the fact that it’s where his reputation as a budding offensive mastermind was born.
Sixteen years ago this December, Lincoln Riley was on his way to a team meeting ahead of Texas Tech’s bowl game, when defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill pulled him aside. Mike Leach, the Red Raiders’ head coach had been suspended for the bowl for allegations of player mistreatment — and would be fired days later. McNeill, the interim coach, wanted Riley to call plays for him.
Riley was 26, and reeling from the news about his mentor.
“An opportunity arose out of a not-very-positive situation,” Riley said Sunday.
It turned out to be a life-changing one for the Red Raiders’ receivers coach. McNeill already knew that Riley was a savvy young coach. But right away, McNeill told me in 2022, his sense of how to lead in such an adverse situation was special.
“I just remember him very confidently taking over the duties,” McNeill said. “He was the youngest guy on the staff, and he had to galvanize the staff immediately. He was the youngest guy on staff, and he did it with no hesitation.”
Then came the game. It was the first time Riley had been on the sideline for a game, having spent most of his time for Texas Tech in the booth. But his confidence came across right away, McNeill said.
After a chaotic few weeks in which Texas Tech could have unraveled, the Red Raiders instead put up 571 yards, its second-highest output of the entire season. Trailing midway through the fourth quarter, Texas Tech mounted two touchdown drives in the final eight minutes. On the second, Riley convinced McNeill to go for it twice on fourth down to ice the game. They converted both.
Years later, McNeill was still in awe of Riley’s performance that night.
“I wish I would’ve recorded the play-calling he did that night,” McNeill said. “I’ve heard him call a lot of games. But that night was amazing to me.”
Years later, with Riley set to return to the scene of his special night, it wasn’t lost on him how every step he’s taken since as a coach started in San Antonio.
“If you’re fortunate enough to get some pretty cool opportunities in this business,” Riley said Sunday, “you have to have some nights like that where you look back and say, you know, if this didn’t happen, would we have gotten these opportunities? Would we have coached at some of these places or experienced what we have?
“That’s definitely one for me that I still remember, like it was just yesterday.”
Texas Christian … by the numbers
TCU quarterback Josh Hoover.
(Eric Christian Smith / Associated Press)
Weeks of bowl projections went out the window when the Alamo Bowl picked TCU with its Big 12 selection. So what should you know about the Horned Frogs?
242.8. The number of passing yards allowed per game by TCU this season.
3,472. The number of passing yards from TCU quarterback Josh Hoover this season, sixth-most in the nation.
This game is shaping up to be a barnburner through the air. The Horned Frogs have been even worse defending the pass down the stretch, having allowed at least 280 passing yards in four of their past six games. Of those six teams only one (Baylor) has a passing attack anywhere near as dynamic as USC.
Both quarterbacks could put up huge numbers. Jayden Maiava threw for 41 fewer yards than Hoover this season, but also five fewer interceptions.
3.93. TCU’s yards per rush attempt this season, which ranks 97th nationally. USC’s biggest vulnerability has been defending the run, but that shouldn’t be a problem in the bowl game. TCU bookended its season with two big games on the ground — 258 yards against North Carolina and 238 against Cincinnati. But during the 10 games in between, the Horned Frogs averaged just 109.5 yards rushing per game, which would rank in the bottom 15 in college football.
9. The number of rushing touchdowns allowed by TCU this season. While the Horned Frogs have struggled to defend the pass, they’ve been stout against the run. Only 10 teams in college football have allowed fewer rushing scores.
The Biletnikoff case for Lemon
Makai Lemon makes a catch while under pressure from Iowa defensive back Zach Lutmer.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
The nation’s top receiver will be named next Friday, and while I wouldn’t begrudge anyone for suggesting fellow finalist Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State is the better pro prospect — objectively, he is — I think it’s quite clear Makai Lemon has had a better overall season than any pass-catcher in college football.
Let’s start with the basic numbers, even though those only tell part of the story: Lemon had 79 catches to lead the Big Ten, seven more than Smith and 15 more than any other conference wideout before the Big Ten championship game. He had 1,156 yards — 214 more than Smith, who was third in the Big Ten, and 11 receiving touchdowns, which tied with Smith for the conference lead.
The deeper you go into the details, the more the numbers favor Lemon. No one is more dangerous with the ball in his hands as he averaged 6.4 yards after the catch per reception this season. That’s almost two full yards more than Smith.
Lemon outperformed Smith on contested catches, pulling down 66% compared to just 46% for Smith. He was also harder to bring down, forcing 20 missed tackles to Smith’s 13.
It’s no disrespect to Smith, who will be a top-10 NFL draft pick soon enough. But Lemon has been the better receiver on the field this season. And he should get the hardware to prove it.
Bishop Fitzgerald scores a touchdown after intercepting a pass against the Missouri State Bears.
(Luke Hales/Getty Images)
—Notre Dame was left out of the Playoff. So now what? Before we consider what this means for the rivalry, I should note that I think it was the wrong decision for the committee to keep the Irish out of the field after Alabama had just been trounced in the SEC title game. But now that it has happened, you can imagine the feelings of schadenfreude around USC. The snub of the Irish only proves how much they need a non-conference opponent like USC, as my colleague Bill Plaschke pointed out before the final CFP rankings. If only there was a collective of similar teams that Notre Dame could have joined to help boost its strength of schedule. Oh well.
—The Big Ten media voted five Trojans onto the all-conference team. Lemon was obviously on the first team, as was safety Bishop Fitzgerald. Tight end Lake McRee made the second team after his best season yet at USC, and wideout Ja’Kobi Lane made the third team despite dealing with injuries through a large chunk of the year. Kicker Ryon Sayeri also made the third team after coming out of nowhere as a walk-on. Any one of USC’s running backs would’ve made the top three teams, if they’d started the full season. Maybe there was a case, at one point, for Maiava; though, the top three of Julian Sayin, Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore are pretty competitive at quarterback. Otherwise, it seems like no Trojans had much of a case that they were left out.
—After the Miller brothers, King and Kaylon, were standouts of the 2025 season, USC is adding a third brother to the mix. Kayne Miller, a running back at Calabasas High, signed last week with USC as a preferred walk-on, starting from the bottom just like his brothers did. King and Kaylon should be getting scholarships come January, and Kayne will have the perfect blueprint to follow in their footsteps.
—Penn State hired Iowa State’s Matt Campbell as its head football coach after a roller coaster search process that tiptoed along the edge of disaster. But after all that, the Nittany Lions actually ended up with the guy who likely would’ve been USC’s coach, had Riley turned the job down in 2022. Now we’ll get to see how Campbell translates to the Big Ten after all.
Olympic sports spotlight
Aside from a loss to No. 1 Nebraska last month, USC women’s volleyball hadn’t lost a match since Oct. 11 — nearly two full months — when the fourth-seeded Trojans welcomed Cal Poly to Galen Center in the second round of the NCAA tournament last week.
But the Trojans immediately dropped their first two sets Friday. And despite winning the next two, the hole they’d dug proved to be too deep.
The upset defeat put a damper on what was an otherwise strong season for the Trojans, who finished 25-7 and 15-5 in the Big Ten.
Portal polling
Transfer portal season is fast approaching, and while USC is planning to be more selective in this cycle, there are still spots to fill with portal players.
With those needs in mind, I want you to tell me what you think: Which of these five options would you put at the top of USC’s transfer portal wish list?
— A No. 1 wide receiver
— A shutdown cornerback
— Reinforcements at linebacker
— A run stopper on the interior
— A standout edge rusher
Click here to take part in our survey.
In case you missed it
No. 16 USC will face surprise opponent TCU in Alamo Bowl
Plaschke: Don’t kill college football’s best tradition. Compromise to keep USC vs. Notre Dame
No. 24 USC gives up 18-point lead, falling to Washington for first loss
UCLA and USC football transfer portal tracker: Who’s in and who’s out?
USC star freshman Alijah Arenas could return to action as soon as January
USC is back. Trojans lock in national No. 1 recruiting class for first time since 2006
Here’s the advice Lane Kiffin received from former USC boss Pete Carroll before LSU move
What I’m watching this week
Sarah Snook, left, and Dakota Fanning, who star in the Peacock miniseries “All Her Fault.”
(Victoria Will / For The Times)
If you’re looking for twists and turns this holiday season, look no further than Peacock’s “All Her Fault,” a show whose plot you could not possibly have seen coming from the pilot episode. The show, which stars Sarah Snook of “Succession,” follows a wealthy family in the wake of their young son being kidnapped. But nothing, as you might imagine, is exactly as it seems.
Credit goes to my wife, who first recommended it and nudged me at every mention of the mental load mothers deal with on a daily basis, which the show points to often.
Until next time …
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
