"Kind of a poetic ending": USC HC Lincoln Riley pours out his feelings following the Las Vegas Bowl win against Texas A&M 

Lincoln Riley led USC to a fantastic comeback victory over Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday. The Trojans defeated the Aggies 35-31 at the Allegiant Stadium to end a challenging season on a high note.

In his postgame press conference, Riley offered his view on his team's ending to the 2024 college football season. So far, this is the worst season since taking charge of the program in 2022, but he was happy with his team's attitude in the bowl game.

"Kind of a poetic ending to the season," said Riley (timestamp 0:20). "Just incredibly proud of this group, the resiliency they showed, I told them there's a toughness and hardness developing within this program right now.”

“I think you could look at a lot of different points throughout this season and certainly tonight and you see that, and there's a lot of excitement about that. Great win, I think they said the biggest comeback in this bowl’s history, which is no small feat.”

Lincoln Riley saw his team fall to a host of tough losses during the season. Most of the Trojans’s defeat in 2024 was decided by one score or less. The win against Texas A&M helps round up the season on a positive note.

Lincoln Riley on what the win meant for USC

USC Trojans HC Lincoln Riley celebrates winning the Las Vegas Bowl. (Credits: IMAGN)

USC started the 2024 college football season on a bright note with a superb win against LSU in Las Vegas. This created a lot of anticipation about what the season would look like for the Trojans. However, they were unable to live up to the billing.

Despite the challenges, USC ended the season on a high with another win at the same venue they had started in. Lincoln Riley expressed what the win means for the Trojans ahead of 2025.

"I think the mentality has been on display all year and it was important to finish that way," Riley said (timestamp 7:32). Again that's another good football team. We beat two good football teams in this building. Had to do it in different ways.

"You just gotta feel it within the locker room right now. [there's] a confidence that they're going to be in every single fight, that we're not going to go away and that we're just going to keep getting better and better. I think that was the sentiment in the locker room.

Following two underwhelming seasons, Riley faces his most crucial season at the helm of affairs at USC in 2025. The coach has to get it right or face the prospect of losing his job at the program.