USC was on the losing end of an epic shootout with Utah on Saturday night, and Lincoln Riley openly criticized the officiating crew after the game.
The Trojans were called for a season-high 12 penalties in their 43-42 loss. Those penalties included a pair of questionable roughing the passer calls. One of them negated an interception in the first quarter. USC was leading 14-0 at the time, and Utah went on to score a touchdown on the drive. You can see the play below:
This was the roughing the passer call that negated a Calen Bullock interception and then led to a Utah touchdown. #USC pic.twitter.com/UZxEHPBmJe
— Trevor Booth (@TrevorMBooth) October 16, 2022
The other roughing the passer call was just as costly. It came on 3rd-and-6 when Utah had the ball at their own 36. The Utes scored a touchdown on that drive as well to tie the score at 35-35.
Riley called the officiating “really poor” while speaking with reporters after the game.
Lincoln Riley: “The officiating was really poor tonight but we still should’ve won the game. That’s part of football …I’m not gonna be the guy up here saying we lost the game because of officiating.” #USC
— Antonio Morales (@AntonioCMorales) October 16, 2022
While Riley said he was not blaming the loss on the officiating, you can understand why he was not happy. Both calls came at crucial moments in the game. Had the interception stood with USC leading 14-0, it is possible the Trojans would have gone up 21-0. That could have changed the game dramatically.
