After spending the entire summer criticizing Lincoln Riley, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum had to backtrack on his harsh words following USC’s impressive season-opening win against LSU.
Finebaum had been vocal in his skepticism about Riley, labeling the USC head coach as “average” and claiming he “only knows one side of the ball.” Throughout the preseason, Finebaum went so far as to suggest that Riley should have been fired after last season’s 8-5 record, even with star quarterback Caleb Williams at the helm. He also predicted that Riley would struggle to keep his job through the 2024 campaign, and on Friday’s episode of *First Take*, Finebaum confidently forecasted a Week 1 loss to LSU.
However, Riley and the Trojans proved him wrong in a big way, securing a 27-20 victory over the Tigers at Allegiant Stadium. The win didn’t go unnoticed by former USC quarterback Matt Leinart, who took to social media to mock Finebaum, posting, “Wonder what excuse Finebaum going to say this week.”
Faced with Leinart’s jab, Finebaum addressed the situation on Monday’s *First Take*. Instead of offering excuses, he conceded his mistake and acknowledged USC’s strong performance.
“Every Southern Cal fan in America has every single right to come after me and do it,” Finebaum admitted, as reported by Awful Announcing. “Just bury me.”
Yet, Finebaum wasn’t ready to completely let Riley off the hook. He pointed out that Riley had made it easy for critics by underachieving with teams loaded with talent at both Oklahoma and USC. However, Finebaum did offer praise where it was due, noting that Riley had addressed his team’s shortcomings during the offseason.
“But he went out in the offseason, and he found a solution to his problem,” Finebaum continued. “My hat is off to him. I compliment him because he looked like the elite coach last night. He looked like the coach of the future — not the coach of the past — who inherited a great situation at Oklahoma and took his best player with him to Southern California.”
Finebaum also urged USC fans to savor the victory over their SEC opponent, acknowledging that the Trojans had cleared one of the major hurdles of the season.
“You’re back, at least for the time being,” Finebaum said of USC. “You don’t have an easy path, but you have overcome one of the big obstacles of this season, and that’s knocking off LSU.”
The win not only silenced some of Finebaum’s doubts but also set a positive tone for Riley and USC as they look to build on this early success in the 2024 season.
