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USC’s Lincoln Riley decries poor tackling against Washington: ‘zero excuse’

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Cite

Bolch, B. (2026, October 7). USC’s Lincoln Riley decries poor tackling against Washington: ‘zero excuse’. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/06/sports/uscs-lincoln-riley-doesnt-excuse-poor-tackling-on-washington-td/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-07 · by Ben Bolch

Quick Summary

USC coach Lincoln Riley criticized his team’s poor tackling during their game against Washington on Saturday. Specifically, he pointed out two instances where USC defenders failed to stop Washington tight end Decker DeGraaf from scoring a touchdown late in the third quarter. Riley emphasized that such defensive lapses are uncharacteristic of his players and unacceptable for the Trojans’ standards. He also mentioned discussing the matter directly with the involved players, Urlacher and Hill, indicating that they understood the severity of their actions.
Written by AI on 2026-10-07, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Lincoln Riley, USC’s coach, criticized his team's defense after a game against Washington where poor tackling led to a touchdown. The incident occurred when Decker DeGraaf, a tight end from Washington, caught a pass and broke free past Brian Urlacher, a USC safety, who failed to bring him down or out of bounds with two-handed shoves that had no effect. Similarly, cornerback Elbert “Rock” Hill IV also missed the tackle inside the 20-yard line. Riley noted these were the worst tackling attempts he saw all game and emphasized there was "zero excuse" for such performance. He stressed that players cannot play for USC if they do not make proper tackles.

Written for “College Football Tackling Issues” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 College Football Tackling Issues
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 3 of 27 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss Lincoln Riley's reaction to poor tackling during a game against Washington, Article A covers fan reactions and the game progress on Saturday, while Article B focuses on Riley's comments made several days later.”
New York Post
Hedges 3 of 36 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events related to poor tackling by USC players, with Article A referring to a game against Oregon and an incident involving linebacker Desman Stephens II, while Article B discusses a game against Washington and coach Lincoln Riley's comments on defensive tackles.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-07 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16360 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ben Bolch
67 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “The standards Coach Cori holds here are huge for me,” Aarnisalo said, “and I just knew they could really help me take that next step in my own game and for my future.”
🔮 UCLA (8-0) Hasn’t faced a challenge it couldn’t meet under Bob Chesney.
🔮 With UCLA’s game scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. at the Rose Bowl and USC’s at 4:30 p.m. at the Coliseum, the clock might become the enemy in trying to see both local teams on the same day. 10:07 a.m. – The GPS says it’s 36 minutes to Rose Bowl Parking Lot K as my car exits the driveway under gloomy skies.
🔮 Lincoln Riley couldn’t help himself.
🔮 The big question is if they will be one of the top eight teams, which would put them in position to host a first-round game at the Rose Bowl.
🔮 Among the many theories as to why they could upset second-ranked Ohio State: The Buckeyes will start either a true freshman or a redshirt freshman at quarterback after Julian Sayin suffered a severe shoulder injury.
🔮 “You raised the standard,” Chesney told his players last week, “of what it means to play football here – the physical nature, the disciplined nature, the tough and nasty f—ing nature that will play all the way to the whistle on every single play.
🔮 It also sparked speculation about Riley’s fit at a place where he wasn’t hired by athletic director Jen Cohen as well as his possible desire to go somewhere else that might offer an easier path to the CFP.
🔮 The final frontier for UCLA’s undefeated football team might be getting more assertive – in connecting with classmates.
🔮 In the game that could be dubbed Lincoln Riley’s Last Stand, the Trojans will need to upset the Buckeyes to sustain not only their flickering College Football Playoff hopes but also any belief in their beleaguered coach.
Also by Ben Bolch
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 67 articles by Ben Bolch →

Topics

Big Ten Huskies Trojans USC Washington

Subjects

Riley PERSON · 6× USC ORG · 4× DeGraaf PERSON · 3× Trojans ORG · 3× Big Ten ORG · 2× Hill ORG · 2× Washington GPE · 2× Decker DeGraaf PERSON · 1× Huskies ORG · 1× Lincoln Riley PERSON · 1×

Narrative

USC’s defense was bolstered in part by the strong play of linebacker Ta’Mere Robinson, subbing for Desman Stephens II after Stephens was suspended for celebrating his big hit on Oregon’s Dante Moore the previous week.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-07
🔮 It started when Huskies tight end Decker DeGraaf caught a short pass from Demond Williams Jr. early n in the third quarter and turned upfield.

Claims (22 extracted, 1 hedged)

USC fans who watched a pair of defenders play two-hand touch on Washington’s final touchdown Saturday weren’t the only incredulous observers. asserted
pair → watch → touchdown
“It was just, I think, two really just poor attempts at a tackle,” Riley said Tuesday evening after having several days to digest the indignity. asserted
Riley → think → indignity
It started when Huskies tight end Decker DeGraaf caught a short pass from Demond Williams Jr. early n in the third quarter and turned upfield. asserted
DeGraaf → start → quarter
USC safety Brian Urlacher had a chance to stop DeGraaf around the 30-yard line, but his two-handed shove attempting to move the receiver out of bounds had zero impact as DeGraaf continued to run up the sideline. asserted
DeGraaf → have → sideline
Cornerback Elbert “Rock” Hill IV had one last chance inside the 20, but his two-handed push had the same negligible effect as his teammate’s. asserted
push → have → teammate
“He got face masked like crazy,” Riley said of Hill, “but it’s still zero excuse to not get the guy out of bounds. asserted
it → mask → bounds
I mean just, it really wasn’t representative of the way we played the entire game. asserted
we → mean → game
It was kind of weird that our two worst attempts at a tackle happened on the same exact play. asserted
attempts → happen → play
“You can’t play for us and play like that.” asserted
You → play → that
Did Riley speak with Urlacher and Hill afterward? asserted
Riley → speak → Urlacher
“Oh, yeah,” Riley said. asserted
Riley → say → ?
“Message received loud and clear and it was a bad play by our standards. asserted
it → receive → standards
That hasn’t been representative of how KU and Rock have played this year, how they’ve tackled or hit or competed. asserted
they → play → ?
So out of character for both of them and I bet we won’t see it again.” asserted
we → bet → it
On the plus side, DeGraaf’s touchdown represented Washington’s final score before the Trojans rallied for a 25-21 victory while allowing their fewest points in a month. asserted
Trojans → represent → month
Students who chanted “Fire Riley!” after USC fell behind 21-10 were silenced by what happened the rest of the game. asserted
what → chant → game
USC’s defense was bolstered in part by the strong play of linebacker Ta’Mere Robinson, subbing for Desman Stephens II after Stephens was suspended for celebrating his big hit on Oregon’s Dante Moore the previous week. asserted
Stephens → bolster → Moore
Might that impact the team’s linebacker rotation against Penn State (3-2 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) on Saturday given it received some of its best play of the season at the position? uncertain
it → impact → position
“It’s gonna create more opportunities for some of those guys, there’s no question about it,” said Riley, whose No. 19 Trojans (5-1 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) will face a Nittany Lions offense averaging 32 points per game. asserted
Trojans → go → game
“I think what we learned this week is we’ve got a handful of guys in there that can go out there and play really, really well. asserted
that → think → guys
[So] whether it’s somebody else getting more reps or it’s just the ability to just simply rotate guys to keep them fresh, we’re using guys different from a package standpoint. asserted
we → ’ → standpoint
We certainly look at it as a positive and feel like we know a little bit more, have developed some more depth in that room than maybe we felt 10 days ago.” asserted
we → look → room
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