USC’s Struggle for Relevance in the Los Angeles Sports Landscape
The most important college football story in Los Angeles is not about the team’s performance on the field, but about the downtrodden program from Westwood and whether it will leave its dump of a stadium in Pasadena. UCLA’s incompetence has overshadowed every team in this market outside of the Dodgers and Lakers, and that includes USC. The Trojans have become afterthoughts in a market they once owned, and they only have themselves to blame.
Their 29-10 victory over the Bad News Bruins at the Coliseum on Saturday didn’t change that. The 17th-ranked team in the country, the Trojans are by no means a bad team. They’re something worse. They’re stuck. USC coach Lincoln Riley congratulates tight end Walker Lyons after a successful two-point conversion attempt.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
USC’s Inability to Compete for Championships
USC literally can’t afford to buy out coach Lincoln Riley’s contract, which means that until further notice the Trojans will be known as the team that’s good enough to not embarrass itself but not good enough to reach the College Football Playoff. In this particular time in this particular market, that pushes USC to the margins of Los Angeles’ congested sporting landscape.
USC backup quarterback Gage Roy leaps into the arms of offensive lineman Tobias Raymond after Roy completed a two-point conversion pass against UCLA at the Coliseum on Saturday.
