USC's fourth-quarter resilience defeats UCLA in "flu game"

PASADENA, Calif. — Before USC arrived at the Rose Bowl Saturday night, they had already faced an uphill battle. 

A widespread flu outbreak in the program made this week’s practices feel smaller than usual. On Tuesday, 27 players missed practice among other coaches and staff. Coach Lincoln Riley dealt with the outbreak himself during the midweek. 

"Preparation was a little disjointed because of that," Riley said. "We said from the very beginning, 'we are going to get through this deal at the beginning of the week, and then there are no more excuses." 

The Trojans banked on their resilience nature from the week to guide them Saturday night. USC headed into the fourth quarter, facing a four-point deficit. 

"We are going to have obstacles thrown at us, but be ready for it," receiver Kyron Hudson said. 

The story felt already written in a season when close games were far from guarantees for the Trojans. The 59,473 screaming Bruin fans created a ruckus atmosphere at the Rose Bowl, with light drizzle adding to the effect. 

With their backs against the wall, the Trojans maintained their belief in Jayden Maiava under center. After a shanked punt by UCLA, the Trojans began with prime real estate at the Bruins’ 49-yard-line with 8:16 left.

USC had to do something different when needing a score in a matchup where two programs had met 93 times before. Going into his bag of tricks, Riley dialed up a receiver pass play by Makai Lemon to fellow receiver Kyron Hudson for 39 yards. Hudson and Riley admitted that the play was a late add to the offensive weekly game plan. 

"Makai threw it even better [in practice}," Hudson said. 

But Maiava capitalized when USC needed him the most. When the pocket collapsed immediately on 1st-and-goal, he turned to his legs to get him out of trouble. Still scanning the field, Maiava connected with Ja’Kobi Lane for a 4-yard score with 7:04 left. 

"[Lane] has made some big-time catches in games that have really helped us, and this was another one," Riley said. "It was great to see."

A 30-yard field goal from Micheal Lantz — fourth of the game –  gave USC a 19-13 lead with 2:09 left. But it was too early for USC fans to celebrate. UCLA’s offense, which gashed the Trojans for 376 yards, had one final chance. 

Now, wearing the Cardinal and Gold, defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn had his chance to put his former team to bed. The Trojans honed in on their resilience and forced four straight incompletions from UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers to seal the game. 

One year after UCLA (4-7, 3-6 Big Ten) had its way with USC at the coliseum, the Trojans returned the Victory bell to south Los Angeles. A pair of new faces in this historic rivalry, Maiava and Woody Marks, lead USC (6-5, 4-5) to a 19-13 victory.

"Winning breeds confidence; it breeds excitement," Riley said. 

Maiava finished 19 of 35 for 221 yards and one touchdown. Marks had 101 scrimmage yards and 76 rushing yards. 

Saturday’s victory sealed USC's bowl eligibility for a third straight year. Riley continues his perfect streak of bowl game appearances in his eight seasons as a head coach with Oklahoma and USC. 

But, to get to their sixth win, it was not all pretty.

Riley’s persistence with the passing game became his worst nightmare in the red zone. Riley kept trying to have Maiava connect on fade-routes in three goal-to-go possessions in the first half. None of them converted. 

"We didn't run the ball well down there. We had a number of busted assignments, which was strange because we were running the ball in the open field pretty well," Riley said. "We had the opportunity to make a lot of one-on-one plays, and we didn't make enough of them."

USC was left settling for three field goals, keeping the Bruins afloat. At halftime, USC led 9-3. 

With the offensive stalling, the Trojans' defense had to keep fighting. USC’s pass rush came through versus UCLA, recording three sacks and four quarterback pressures. USC held the Bruins to zero points in the fourth quarter.

A USC 4th-and-1 stop on a Grabars quarterback sneak set up Lantz's fourth and final field goal. Lynn shined when USC needed him the most on crucial downs. UCLA went a combined 3 of 14 on third and fourth down.  

"We were able to affect the quarterback," Riley said. "That changes the way we can call the game. It gives us opportunities to call things differently."

The Trojans will have one final chance to improve their two-game winning streak. USC hosts No. Notre Dame at 12:30 p.m. on CBS next Saturday.