Lincoln Riley’s dodge on USC-Notre Dame reeks louder than straight answer ever could

As the Notre Dame football season gets ever closer, there’s one game that has gotten all the attention in the last few weeks. The Fighting Irish’s rivalry with USC is reportedly in jeopardy. 

Those who have reported that the annual rivalry might end haven’t been shy about reporting why. The Trojans are making loud noises about ending the game because they have tougher conference tilts in the Big Ten. USC head coach Lincoln Riley, especially, has taken quite a bit of blame for the situation. His response when asked about the game possibly going away this week won’t help matters.

Lincoln Riley’s refusal to speak on Notre Dame rivalry draws heat for ducking accountability

When asked point blank whether he wanted to comment on the situation with the Notre Dame football team, Riley did the thing that has been the problem since he arrived in Los Angeles. “We will at the appropriate time."

What is the appropriate time you might ask? No one seems to know. At least no one beyond Riley. 

Would this year’s game between Notre Dame and USC be the appropriate time? Perhaps, though he was asked about keeping the rivalry alive last year, and wouldn’t really talk about it then either. 

In fact, if the USC head coach doesn’t want to get blamed for killing the series, he’s not doing a remotely good job avoiding it. If anything it’s comments like this that make him look as though he is to blame and is just too cowardly to own up to it.

No one believes it’s all that hard to give the kind of answer Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman did when he was asked the same question. That Riley refuses to do so likely gives away his true feelings. That’s bad news for everyone. But even if the series is about to die, the Trojans’ head man could act like a man and be forthcoming.