SEATTLE — A long, cold night for USC had been leading here, to the doorstep of the Washington goal line. For most of this slog of a football game, through the rain and the freezing lake wind, Lincoln Riley stuck stubbornly with his approach, throwing regularly into a driving rain, testing the nation’s No. 1 pass defense with his struggling quarterback.
But after climbing back in spite of those conditions, after taking the lead, then giving it back, USC’s coach turned back to the ground, grinding away at Washington’s defense until his Trojans were just a few feet away from stealing back a game.