Lincoln Riley irate with officials after fumble out of bounds near goal line in Alamo Bowl

Just before TCU went up 14-10 against USC in the Alamo Bowl, Lincoln Riley made his thoughts clear about a potential missed call. It appeared the Horned Frogs fumbled out of the end zone, which would have resulted in a touchback and given the Trojans the ball back.

Major Everhart ran 11 yards to the 1-yard line, where the ball went out of bounds. TCU got to the line of scrimmage quickly to avoid a potential replay review, and the Horned Frogs cashed in on a 1-yard run from Ken Seals to re-take the lead.

Riley was irate as he pleaded his case with the officials for a review. However, an angle ESPN showed out of the commercial break appeared to show the ball went out of bounds before crossing the goal line, meaning the call was correct.

Many think Lincoln Riley is too calm. I think that’s just a front he puts on for the media to appear CEO like. I think this video is who he really is deep down inside: pic.twitter.com/a87Nl4mHf1

— Checkmate Blaze (@checkmateblaze) December 31, 2025

USC later added a field goal to cut the deficit to 14-13 heading into halftime. The Trojans put up 224 yards of offense through the first half, led by 147 passing from quarterback Jayden Maiava, while holding the Horned Frogs to 171 total yards.

The defense also has a new look, of sorts, for Tuesday’s Alamo Bowl. Defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn left the USC program and co-DC Eric Henderson is calling the defensive plays against TCU.

Lynn emerged as the top target for the defensive coordinator job Penn State, On3’s Pete Nakos reported Monday.. A former Nittany Lions star, he was in his second season with USC after arriving from UCLA, but the Los Angeles Times’ Ryan Kartje reported the two sides made a “mutual decision” for Lynn not to coach in the bowl game.

When asked previously about rumors surrounding the Penn State job, Lynn declined comment. He instead shifted focus back to the task at hand, which was getting ready for the Alamo Bowl.

“I just focus on the players,” Lynn said Sunday. “I just focus on what’s in front of me, their growth, their development and just trying to get their 10th win.”

Lincoln Riley also received a question about Lynn and the links to Penn State. He called it a testament to the work the Trojans’ staff has done as assistant coaches’ names come up in the rumor mill.

“This is just what happens this time of year, especially when you have a really good staff, and are doing a lot of really positive things,” Riley said Dec. 21. “This is part of what happens. So, we’ve seen it, we understand it. We’ll obviously see how it plays out.”