USC came off its bye and with a new starting quarterback and did what it has struggled so much to do this season -- close out a fourth quarter lead and secure the win.
The Trojans tacked on a 2-yard touchdown run from quarterback Jayden Maiava with 2:09 remaining and then got a game-sealing interception in the end zone from Greedy Vance Jr. to finish off a 28-20 win over Nebraska inside the Coliseum on Saturday.
Making his first USC start, Maiava completed 25 of 35 passes for 259 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception while rushing for touchdown and losing a fumble in an eventful performance.
Afterward, Riley praised Maiava's resilience and steady focus through the ups and downs.
"He did a good job kind of staying in the moment. He got on himself on [the early pick-6] and then certainly on the fumble later in the game, but then he was able to mentally get past it and I thought the guys made some big plays around him," Riley said. "He gave guys opportunities to make plays really throughout the game, so no, I thought he showed some poise. And you can tell he's played some college ball.
"But I know he was excited, nervous, all of that for his first opportunity to really play here at USC, and I thought he handled it well. Especially when you start off like that, that's like the last thing you want to happen. And his response and the team's response was obviously very key."
Watch the full postgame press conference and scroll down for a complete transcript of Riley's comments.
Lincoln Riley opening comments ...
"That was an awesome win. Awesome win. Team was incredibly resilient the entire day. I thought our effort and attitude, physicality really showed up, I thought, on both sides of the ball. And, you know, we made some mistakes where I think we had some opportunities to separate, but just super proud of really the very end -- the last drive offensively and then closing the door defensively there at the end was tremendous. I also want to just say what a great job Eddie Czaplicki has done for us. I mean he has been probably the best punter in the country up to this point, just how consistent he's been, how great our punt team has been. I thought the field position battle was huge on the day. Some big-time plays in key moments, and yeah, just proud of the guys. Especially when we start with the pick-6 and sometimes deals like that, especially at home, can take the air out of your sails a little bit. And the team didn't even flinch and we responded well, and to come back and win it was awesome. So, proud of the guys.
"We talked to them a lot about this three-game stretch here at the end and what an opportunity it is for us, and we got it started off on the right foot today."
After Jayden Maiava's pick-6, what did you talk to him about in that moment and how do you think he responded?
"Yeah, he did a good job kind of staying in the moment. He got on himself on that one and then certainly on the fumble later in the game, but then he was able to mentally get past it and I thought the guys made some big plays around him. He gave guys opportunities to make plays really throughout the game, so no, I thought he showed some poise. And you can tell he's played some college ball. But I know he was excited, nervous, all of that for his first opportunity to really play here at USC, and I thought he handled it well. Especially when you start off like that, that's like the last thing you want to happen. And his response and the team's response was obviously very key."
Aside from that, where did he impress you most?
"Well, I mean, he made a few plays with his legs, but I think just his trust and giving guys opportunities to make plays. I think that was probably the thing that he did the best. He missed a few throws that he normally makes, but he was very trusting of our guys, and I thought for the majority of the game he played very decisive, which was key."
​What went into the fourth-and-inches option call?
"We felt like it was something that we could execute. We've worked it a lot behind the scenes, haven't ran it much this year, but yeah, we got a good look, we executed it, Jayden and Woody did a good job, the line blocked, we had a really good on the perimeter -- I think it was Kyron in there -- so yeah, we knew we wanted to be aggressive in that moment and the guys did a great job executing it."
With Woody Marks over 1,000 yards now, how impactful has he been?
"He's been awesome. We didn't know for certain that he was going to play, so he did a great job. We had a little flu outbreak, which was perfect timing. We're not supposed to have the flu out here, the weather's too good. So we had a number of guys that battled through it not quite feeling their best, but no, he's been consistent, steady, just a tough, physical runner. It's not a shock that the guy plays the way he does every week because he works every day, he's the same guy every day, he comes to compete, so game day is really no different. It's something you just come to expect out of him, and he's answered the bell for us all year long."
Did Woody had the flu?
"Woody's been a little bit under the weather. We had a lot of guys that fought through it, and there was probably some guys that you would have understood if they weren't out there, so you can see the toughness of this team and how bad this team wanted to win this game, how much it meant to them."
How do you view these next three games in the scope of the trajectory of the program?
"Yeah, I mean, I think how you finish seasons is always important, just the momentum that it creates, wanting to continue to build, your young players getting to play more. I think to be the program that we want to be we're going to have to be great at the end of seasons. We're going to have to play some of our best ball at the end, and that's what good teams, that's what really good programs do. No matter the ebbs and flows, the ups and downs, they get better and they stay together and there's a pride about them of wanting to be their best at the end. So we took a great step this week and looking forward to the challenge next week."
What's your assessment of the run game today?
"Yeah, I was pretty proud of it, really on both sides. Obviously, they're one of the best run defenses in the country, a tremendous D-line, so I thought we did a pretty nice job running the ball offensively most of the day. We were pretty consistent. And then I thought defensively we did a nice job especially in some of the key moments. We had a couple that got out, but we were able to get them on the ground, which was key, and not give up the big explosive. So we knew that was going to important against a team that traditionally does a great job of both."
What does Jayden's performance do to make you confident in him for the future?
"Yeah, I mean, you know, we just got done with the first game, but he did a great job. I think he's a talented guy, I think he's very much all-in for this team. And his willingness to be all-in for this team has not been predicated on him playing or not, and that's what I like the best. Your passion for what you do can't be tied to just success or if it goes your way. The more guys we can get in our locker room like that -- these are two guys (Duce Robinson and Jaylin Smith) that have been like that -- the more guys you get in here like that, the more games you're going to win."
How do you clean up the blocked field goals?
"We got to look at. Obviously, it's been an issue that we've got to correct, so we've emphasized it a lot, we've worked a lot, but we obviously just have to do a better job at it. I haven't seen a replay of the one, but we've obviously got to do a better job there on the edges. That's going to be a huge emphasis point going forward. That was a big play in this game. We were able to certainly win without it, but it's got to get fixed."
You mentioned players suffering from the flu -- was Ja'Kobi Lane part of that or was it a coach's decision?
"No, yeah, we've had a lot of people under the weather. There's honestly more that are than not, so our building looked like a little bit of a mash unit the last couple of days, so no, hopefully we can get some of these guys healthy from that. We were definitely fresher today, but we missed some key bodies and guys that, there was a lot of guys that weren't 100 percent and we had to adjust some of the reps because of that."
Kam Fountain and Sam Greene got a lot of reps -- was that because of others being injured?
"No, that was based on performance and we felt like those guys earned the right to get the majority of the snaps, and they've been able to show some playmaking ability here young in their career and they're getting better, we're able to do a little more schematically with them as we go on. The more we give them the better that they get, so no, that's been based on performance and opportunities that they've earned."
​What did you think of what they did today?
"I thought they were impactful. Like you kind of feel them, you feel them on the edges, you feel them getting off blocks, like they both have some playmaking ability to them. And that's the thing, great defensive players, do your job, which is hold your gap or cover your man or cover your zone. But then you've got to make the play too -- you've got to be able to sometimes, OK, like I got my gap controlled but I can throw off this guy and go make the play, and those two guys have a willingness and a hunger to make plays that you can feel on the sideline."
