No. 23 USC at Nebraska
With two weeks to prepare I thought the Trojans would win and I’m happy they did but the game turned out much closer than I thought it would with a lot fewer points than I thought they’d get. USC came in averaging 326 yards in the air and 42 points a game and boasting the nation’s top passing offense. But Junior QB Jayden Maiava threw up less than half of those yards in a real stinker of a passing game for him—connecting on less than 40% of the 23 passes he threw for 135 yards, no TD’s and 1 interception. Fortunately he did combine with Freshman walk-on RB King Miller for 191 of the team’s 202 yards rushing along with a TD each. And, on his behalf, the three sacks and 5 pass disruptions that Nebraska recorded might not have happened at all if the USC starting offensive tackle Elijah Paige and Center Kilian O’Connor weren’t out for the game along with starting right guard Alani Noa who left after being injured on the second drive in the first quarter.
To say USC got off to slow start is a gross understatement as they didn’t score a single point in the first quarter and had only six on the board at the half on back-to-back field goals. With one of those from 49 yards out thank goodness their Freshman Punter Ryan Sayeri didn’t have an off day as well. Nebraska won the toss and deferred holding the Trojans to a three-and-out on their first possession while taking their nice sweet time afterwards in a 7 minute 75 yard drive to take a 7-0 lead on a 14 yard no-huddle shotgun TD pass from Sophomore QB Dylan Raiola to Senior WR Dane Key. Motivated by their start the Cornhuskers defense held the Trojans to another three-and-out on their second possession. The Trojans, probably panicked by their start, held Nebraska to a three-and-out as well to end the first quarter down 7-0.
USC came out in the 2nd Qtr and got themselves all the way down to the Nebraska 2 yard line on their first possession. But sitting 4th and goal they committed a false start penalty, got moved back five yards, and kicked a field goal to make it 7-3. Forcing Nebraska to punt after just five plays into their drive the Trojans got the ball back but never made it further downfield than the Cornhuskers’ 32 yard line. Sitting 4th and 6 Sayeri came out again and connected on a 49 yard field goal to get USC within a point at 7-6 with six minutes left in the half. Nebraska used a bit more than four of those to make it a 14-6 game with the help of two chunk passes, 2 USC penalties amounting to 25 yards and a 10 yard no huddle TD run by their Junior RB Emmett Johnson. With less than two minutes left the Trojans ended up punting the ball away with time all but expiring and ending the half after eight plays including four pass incompletions.
The Trojans came out determined after the break and with the Nebraska starting QB out due to injury held the Cornhuskers to a three-and-out to start the 3rd Qtr. But they couldn’t capitalize as Maiava threw an interception on their first play from scrimmage—giving the ball back to Nebraska just nine yards outside the USC red zone. But four plays into their possession and sitting 1st and 10 at the Trojan 23 yard line Raiola would fumble the ball while being sacked—a play that, in hindsight, probably saved the game for USC. Although the Trojans couldn’t do anything productive with their possession they were at least able to punt the ball on the other side of midfield. Six plays later Nebraska found themselves sitting 4th and 1 at the USC 34 yard line and made the mind-numbing decision to attempt a 52 yard field goal by a kicker who was only 1-of-3 from 40-49 when they were averaging as a team 4.7 yards per carry on the ground and had a running back in Emmett Johnson who was averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Needless to say the Nebraska Sophomore Place Kicker Kyle Cunanan missed and just five plays later the Trojans were finally in the end zone on a 16 yard no huddle shotgun TD run by Maiava to tie the score 14-14 at the end of three after a successful 2-point conversion.
With no additional points put up on the board after the first five minutes of the fourth quarter it was the first two possessions that decided the outcome of the game. Nebraska was up first and after making it all the way down to the USC 20 yard line kicked and made a 39 yard field goal sitting 4th and 9 to make it 17-14 with just two minutes gone. After an incompletion on their first play, USC’s Maiava connected on a 43 yard flea flicker pass downfield to Senior WR Jaden Richardson. Two runs, a pass, and a Cornhusker pass interference penalty later King Miller would run it into the end zone to give the Trojans a 21-17 lead and the game. USC’s run defense did a really poor job in this one and prior to the Notre Dame game were only allowing an average of 108.5 yards a game. Even with the Notre Dame game they were still holding teams to 136 yards per game. In this one they gave up 188 yards on the ground—165 alone to Junior RB Emmett Johnson. That said, USC was missing two defensive linemen, a defensive back, and a cornerback—all out with injuries. The Trojans have four games left and will need to win out, including a November 22nd meeting in Eugene against No. 6 Oregon in order to stand any chance of making it into the college football playoff.