USC comes from behind to defeat Penn State and win Rose Bowl in final seconds
Matt Boermeester missed two field-goal attempts.
He did not miss a third.
The USC kicker lined up from 46 yards and split the uprights as time expired and the ninth-ranked Trojans defeated fifth-ranked Penn State, 52-49, to win the 103rd Rose Bowl.
Safety Leon McQuay II intercepted a pass by Nittany Lions quarterback Trace McSorley with 38 seconds remaining in the game to set up the game-winning drive.
USC finished the season 10-3, winning nine consecutive games after a 1-3 start. Penn State fell to 11-3.
The Trojans went into halftime leading 27-21, but the Nittany Lions scored three touchdowns in three plays in the third quarter to take a 42-27 lead behind running back Saquon Barkley and receiver Chris Godwin.
Barkley rushed 79 yards for a touchdown, Godwin scored on a 72-yard pass play and McSorley rushed for three yards and a score after Sam Darnold threw an interception.
JuJu Smith-Schuster caught a 13-yard pass for a touchdown on USC’s ensuing possession and Coach Clay Helton elected to attempt a two-point conversion. Lining up in a split formation, with several Trojans wide left, Darnold ran right and then passed to tight end Taylor McNamara to make it a one-score game.
McSorley responded when he led an eight-play drive that covered 82 yards and Barkley caught a seven-yard pass for a touchdown. Penn State led, 49-35, at the end of the third quarter.
McSorley was 18-of-29 for 254 yards and four touchdowns, with three interceptions.
The Trojans tied the score, 49-49, when Deontay Burnett caught a 27-yard pass with 1 minute 20 seconds remaining.
Burnett caught 13 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns.
Boermeester had previously missed field-goal attempts of 51 and 49 yards, but connected on kicks from 22, 44 and 46 yards.
Darnold completed 33 of 53 passes for 453 yards and five touchdowns, with an interception.
Barkley rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns in 25 carries. He caught five passes for 55 yards and a touchdown.
USC defeats Penn State, 52-49, with last-second field goal to win the Rose Bowl
Leon McQuay dropped one interception.
He didn’t drop a second.
McQuay picked off a pass by Trace McSorley and returned it 32 yards to Penn State’s 32-yard line.
Matt Boermeester kicked a 46-yard field goal as time expired to give USC the Rose Bowl victory, 52-49.
USC and Penn State are tied, 49-49, in the fourth quarter
What a game!
Sam Darnold completed a 27-yard pass to Deontay Burnett for a touchdown.
Penn State and USC are tied, 49-49, with 1:20 to play. The scoring drive covered 80 yards in three plays and took 39 seconds.
Burnett has caught three passes for touchdowns.
JuJu Smith-Schuster caught an 11-yard pass, Daniel Imatorbhebhe caught a 12-yard pass and Penn State was then called for pass interference on back-to-back plays trying to defend Burnett and Darreus Rogers.
Michael Hutchings makes big third-down stop
Michael Hutchings tackled Saquon Barkley for a seven-yard loss on third down.
Penn State punted and USC will have the ball with 1:59 to play, down 49-42.
Barkley rushed for nine yards in five carries.
USC forced to punt in final minutes
USC punted with 3:56 to play.
Deontay Burnett caught a 17-yard pass before the drive stalled.
Ronald Jones II rushed for two yards, then caught a pass and slipped for a one-yard loss.
Zach Banner was flagged for a false start to make a third-and-11 situation a third-and-16 play. It went nowhere.
USC’s defense makes a stand
USC got the defensive stand it needed.
Penn State went three-and-out.
The Trojans will start from their 23-yard line.
Penn State leads, 49-42, with 6:41 to play.
Penn State leads USC, 49-42, in the fourth quarter
ACC officials have made this a long afternoon.
JuJu Smith-Schuster appeared to make a great catch down the sideline, but officials said he was out of bounds.
The catch was reviewed and overturned. Smith-Schuster’s catch went for 27 yards and USC had the ball at the three-yard line.
Ronald Jones II rushed three yards for a touchdown on the next play.
Penn State leads USC, 49-42, with 8:15 to play in the game. The scoring drive covered 83 yards in 10 plays and took 4:29.
Jones rushed for 17 yards in five carries. Deontay Burnett caught two passes for 26 yards.
This could come down to USC’s final possession.
Penn State punts for first time since first quarter
If you wanted entertainment, this game has it.
Rasheem Green sacked Trace McSorley and forced a fumble that Stevie Tu’ikolovatu recovered, however the call was overturned after a review.
Yes, officials can somehow overturn a call when the ball was recovered at the bottom of a pile.
Nevertheless, USC’s defense held and Penn State punted.
USC’s Adoree’ Jackson injured
This has gone from bad to worse for USC in the third quarter.
Adoree’ Jackson was injured on a kickoff return and was tended to by trainers on the field before they assisted him to the sideline.
Deontay Burnett caught consecutive passes for eight and five yards before the Trojans’ drive stalled.
Players from both teams have had a difficult time managing the turf at the Rose Bowl, slipping and sliding.
Sam Darnold scrambled on third down, but was sacked and fumbled. USC recovered and punted.
Penn State leads USC, 49-35, in the third quarter
Penn State has scored a touchdown with all four of its third-quarter possessions.
Trace McSorley completed a seven-yard pass to Saquon Barkley for a touchdown.
Penn State leads USC, 49-35, with 1:55 remaining in the third quarter. The scoring drive covered 82 yards in eight plays and took 4:46.
Trojans inside linebacker Cameron Smith was ejected from the game after he was called for targeting.
Barkley is making USC’s defense look terrible. The Nittany Lions’ running back rushed for 25 yards in two carries and caught four passes for 55 yards.
Penn State leads USC, 42-35, in the third quarter
What a game this is.
Sam Darnold completed a 13-yard pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster for a USC touchdown and then Darnold completed a pass to Taylor McNamara for the two-point conversion.
Penn State leads the Trojans, 42-35, with 6:47 remaining in the third quarter. The scoring drive covered 65 yards in 10 plays and took 3:39.
USC’s sideline appeared out of it, but now is jumping up and down - getting the Trojans’ fans back into the game.
Seldom-used tailback Aca’Cedric Ware made the play of the drive, catching a short pass and turning it into a 20-yard gain on third down.
Ronald Jones II rushed for 13 yards in three carries and Justin Davis rushed for 10 yards in two carries.
Penn State leads USC, 42-27, in the third quarter
Three plays in the third quarter for Penn State, three touchdowns in the third quarter for Penn State.
Brandon Bell intercepted a pass by Sam Darnold and returned it 24 yards to USC’s three-yard line.
Then Trace McSorley rushed three yards for a touchdown.
Penn State leads USC, 42-27, with 10:26 to play in the third quarter.
Darnold targeted Smith-Schuster with the pass that was intercepted. The ball bounced off Smith-Schuster’s hands before the pick.
What a wild turn of events in four and a half minutes.
Penn State leads USC, 35-27, in the third quarter
Unbelievable.
Penn State has run two plays in the third quarter and has scored on both of them.
Chris Godwin caught an unbelievable 72-yard pass for a touchdown over the top of Iman Marshall. How Godwin hauled in the throw, we might never know.
Marshall, according to the radio broadcast, had been ruled out of the game because of vertigo, but was back on the field.
Penn State leads USC, 35-27, with 11:27 remaining in the third quarter.
Godwin has caught nine passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
Penn State defense tightens up against USC
James Franklin lost his mind — in excitement — over a pass breakup on third down.
Sam Darnold’s pass was intended for Deontay Burnett, but fell incomplete.
USC is slowly starting to unravel, unable to move the ball on offense, and now they have false started twice in the punt formation.
Darnold attempted three passes, but all three fell incomplete.
Darreus Rogers was able to draw pass interference on a play, about the only highlight of the Trojans’ offense so far in the third quarter.
USC injury update: Cornerback Iman Marshall has been ruled out of the game because of vertigo.
Penn State leads USC, 28-27, in the third quarter
Saquon Barkley is breaking ankles.
Barkley broke six tackles as he ran 76 yards for a touchdown.
It was incredible.
Penn State leads USC, 28-27, with 13:05 remaining in the third quarter. The scoring drive — one play. All Barkley.
Barkley’s run was as impressive as any that most writers in the press box have seen this season, or even in recent seasons.
Barkley has rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns in 14 carries.
USC offense goes three-and-out to start second half
This is going to be a game in the second half.
USC received the ball, but went three-and-out after Adoree’ Jackson returned the kickoff 35 yards to the 35-yard line.
The Trojans also were called for a false start before Chris Tilbey punted.
USC leads Penn State, 27-21, at halftime
USC tried to get into position to kick a field goal with 46 seconds remaining in the half, but Matt Boermeester missed a 49-yard attempt.
USC leads Penn State, 27-21, at halftime.
Boermeester also missed a 51-yard attempt on the Trojans’ first possession.
USC lead Penn State, 27-21, in the second quarter
This game has a little bit of everything, and a handful of impressive touchdown receptions.
Trace McSorley completed an 11-yard pass to Mike Gesicki for a touchdown. Gesicki left his feet to make the athletic grab and held on as he hit the turf.
USC leads Penn State, 27-21, with 54 seconds remaining in the half. The scoring drive covered 75 yards in 13 plays and took 5:22.
The Nittany Lions converted twice on third down when Chris Godwin caught a seven-yard and 10-yard pass.
The Trojans were about to get them off the field on third-and-five at their 24-yard line, but Stevie Tu’ikolovatu grabbed McSorley’s facemask as he made a tackle.
USC leads Penn State, 27-14, in the second quarter
USC isn’t settling for field goals any longer. The Trojans are getting into the end zone.
Sam Darnold completed a three-yard pass to Darreus Rogers for a touchdown.
USC leads Penn State, 27-14, with 6:16 remaining in the first half. The scoring drive covered 75 yards in six plays and took 2:23.
The Trojans’ receivers made great plays throughout the drive.
Rogers caught an 11-yard pass.
JuJu Smith-Schuster climbed to make a 36-yard reception, and Adoree’ Jackson caught a pass off his fingertips that he turned into a 24-yard gain -- if he could have made one more man miss, he would have had a touchdown.
USC leads Penn State, 20-14, in the second quarter
What a pass, what a catch.
Trace McSorley completed a perfect 30-yard throw to the back corner of the end zone to Chris Godwin for a touchdown.
Adoree’ Jackson was on the coverage.
USC leads Penn State, 20-14, with 8:39 to play in the second quarter.
Godwin caught a 29-yard pass on the first play of the series and Saquon Barkley rushed for 12 yards in consecutive carries before the touchdown.
The scoring drive covered 71 yards in four plays and took 1:31.
Godwin’s touchdown reception was reviewed. The call stood.
USC leads Penn State, 20-7, in the second quarter
Things just got wild here at the Rose Bowl.
Sam Darnold completed a three-yard pass to Deontay Burnett for a touchdown, but officials called pass interference against JuJu Smith-Schuster.
The play was reviewed — surprising because of the penalty — but officials determined that the ball was touched behind the line of scrimmage, therefore there was no pass interference.
USC leads Penn State, 20-7, with 10:15 to play in the second quarter.
Darnold completed a 42-yard pass to Burnett on the first play of the series, and Justin Davis rushed 24 yards to setup the touchdown.
The drive covered 51 yards in five plays and took 1:44.
USC leads Penn State, 13-7, in the second quarter
Penn State figured it out — feed Saquon Barkley.
Barkley rushed 24 yards — untouched — for a touchdown.
USC leads Penn State, 13-7, with 11:44 to play in the first half. The scoring drive covered 70 yards in nine plays and took 3:37.
The Nittany Lions have started to find their rhythm.
Chris Godwin caught three passes for 29 yards. Iman Marshall and Adoree’ Jackson left him open on two of those catches.
But Barkley has done the most damage. He caught a short pass and turned it into a 16-yard gain a few plays before he made the touchdown reception.
Barkley has rushed for 57 yards and a touchdown in seven carries and has caught one pass for 16 yards. He is Penn State’s offense.
Slideshow: Photos from the Rose Bowl game between USC and Penn State
USC leads Penn State, 13-0, in the first quarter
USC is settling for field goals despite moving the ball well on offense.
Matt Boermeester kicked a 44-yard field goal; now the Trojans lead Penn State, 13-0, with 21 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The scoring drive took three minutes and covered 54 yards in 10 plays.
Ronald Jones II rushed for 13 yards in three consecutive carries.
Daniel Imatorbhebhe made an unbelievable 13-yard catch on third-and-nine with a defender draped over the top of him.
And it wouldn’t be a bowl game without a little razzle dazzle.
Sam Darnold tossed to Jalen Greene, who tossed to Darreus Rodgers, who went back to Darnold before he completed a 28-yard throw to Greene. It was a double-reverse flea-flicker screen pass, or something like that.
However, the drive stalled after two incomplete passes and then a nice breakup on third down by Jordan Smith on a throw intended for Smith-Schuster.
The Trojans have 145 yards on offense to the Nittany Lions’ 38.
Penn State struggling to move the ball against USC
Penn State’s offense is struggling against USC, all except for Saquon Barkley, the Nittany Lions’ running back.
Barkley rushed for nine yards in consecutive carries before Trace McSorley’s third-down pass fell incomplete.
Barkley has rushed for 36 yards in five carries.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott gives Sam Darnold a shout out
Sam Darnold has completed six of 12 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. USC leads Penn State, 10-0, with 4:04 remaining in the first quarter.
USC lead Penn State, 10-0, in the first quarter
USC had to settle for a field goal after Penn State’s red zone defense held the Trojans out of the end zone.
The Trojans lead the Nittany Lions, 10-0, with 4:42 to play in the first quarter. The scoring drive covered 53 yards in 12 plays and took 4:52.
Penn State has put pressure on Sam Darnold through three possessions, but the USC quarterback was able to convert twice in the series on third down — completing a six-yard pass to Darreus Rogers and a 14-yard pass to Justin Davis.
USC forces a three-and-out
Porter Gustin put pressure on Trace McSorley, whose third-down pass fell incomplete.
McSorley tried a keeper on the first play of the possession, but was taken down by Stevie Tu’ikolovatu and Rasheem Green.
His second-down pass was incomplete.
The Trojans will start with good field position at their 43-yard line.
USC leads Penn State, 7-0, in the first quarter
This is the start USC needed.
Adoree’ Jackson intercepted Trace McSorley, and five plays later, Sam Darnold completed a 26-yard pass to Deontay Burnett for a touchdown.
USC leads Penn State, 7-0, with 10:31 remaining in the first quarter. The scoring drive covered 51 yards in five plays and took 1:44.
Jackson returned the pick 29 yards to USC’s 49-yard line. McSorley has attempted two passes — both resulting in interceptions.
Darnold and JuJu Smith-Schuster looked out of sync on a couple of plays before Darnold, under pressure, completed a 25-yard pass to him on third down, setting up the long touchdown throw.
The Trojans must shore up their run defense. Before the interception, Saquon Barkley rushed for 27 yards in three carries.
USC misses a 51-yard field goal
The Rose Bowl is off to a wild start.
Iman Marshall intercepted Trace McSorley on the first play of the drive, but USC was unable to convert the turnover into any points.
Matt Boermeester missed a 51-yard field goal attempt.
The Penn State defense stifled the Trojans after the turnover.
Justin Davis rushed for two yards in between incomplete passes from Sam Darnold.
Ronald Jones II to honor Joe McKnight
Ronald Jones II will wear No. 4 in today’s Rose Bowl instead of his usual No. 25, in honor of Joe McKnight, the former Trojans tailback who was killed in December.
Watch B2 bomber flyover at the Rose Bowl
USC vs. Penn State: How the teams match up in the Rose Bowl
Most intriguing story line: Bowl games have taken some lumps. Over-indulgence watered down their prestige. The College Football Playoff rendered the others less meaningful. Draft-eligible players are less willing to risk injury. Some bowls aren’t what they used to be. And then there is the Rose Bowl. USC’s players, even the ones that figure to be high draft picks, said they wouldn’t consider skipping this game. After two snoozers in the playoff semifinals, college football fans look West, where the Rose Bowl gets the game it deserves: two traditional powers, the best teams in the Pac-12 and Big Ten, fighting it out in January in the sport’s most iconic venue.
Clay Helton switched quarterbacks, and it led USC to an improbable Rose Bowl meeting with Penn State
USC Coach Clay Helton usually carries a small piece of paper, marked up with topics he wants to discuss, when he meets with reporters after practice. One day in mid-September, he gripped in his hand news of the sort that can alter seasons and make or break careers.
He began speaking, glancing up occasionally.
He said he’d “made the decision for our football team that we would make a change at quarterback.”
Sam Darnold would replace Max Browne, he went on, a move Helton hoped would provide the spark his team had been missing.
Last of Paterno-era recruits poised for ‘storybook ending’ in Rose Bowl
In the middle of a hotel ballroom in downtown Los Angeles, Malik Golden watched his Penn State teammates mug for pictures with red roses, grin as they faced the bright lights of television cameras and eye the Rose Bowl’s 21-inch sterling silver trophy.
The fifth-year senior seemed to be in disbelief.
“To see where I started and to see where we’re ending with our last game in the Rose Bowl is surreal,” Golden said.
The safety, along with offensive linemen Derek Dowrey and Brian Gaia, are the last three players left on Penn State’s roster who committed to play for the school when Joe Paterno was the head coach. They stayed with Penn State through the Jerry Sandusky child sexual-abuse scandal, Paterno’s abrupt dismissal after 46 seasons as head coach, crushing NCAA sanctions and a revolving door of coaches.
Penn State and USC warm up for the Rose Bowl
USC and Penn State have taken the field for warmups with about 35 minutes until kickoff in the Rose Bowl.
Nittany Lions fans traveled well and will stand out wearing white, but this should feel like a home game for the Trojans with cardinal and gold dominating the bowl.
It’s 54 degrees and cloudy, but the sun is trying to peak through and shine against the San Gabriel Mountains.
Keith Jackson returns to the Rose Bowl game, just not in the broadcast booth
This year’s Rose Bowl will feature a legendary comeback, no matter what happens on the field between USC and Penn State.
A college football icon is coming home.
Announcer Keith Jackson, whose voice was the quintessential Saturday soundtrack for generations, will be at the game as a spectator. He hasn’t attended a college football game since the Bowl Championship Series title game at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4, 2006, when Texas beat USC. That was the final game of his broadcasting career.
Rose Bowl game will be traditional Pac-12 vs. Big Ten. The offenses didn’t get the memo
Monday’s Rose Bowl will be as it almost always has been. Parade goers will settle in to watch a Pac-12 Conference team play one from the Big Ten Conference. There will be, as usual, an efficient offense behind a line of prodigious size. The other team will offer a familiar contrast, a speedy spread capable of shredding a defense on one big play.
The only difference is which team is which.
“I don’t think it’s the proverbial slow Big Ten versus fast Pac-12 matchup,” USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin said. “These guys are very athletic, they’re fast, they have size.”
USC and Penn State have flipped the Rose Bowl archetypes. Penn State abandoned three yards and a cloud of dust for great big chunks of yardage, run out of an up-tempo, no-huddle offense.
USC’s Clay Helton and Penn State’s James Franklin follow similar coaching paths to Rose Bowl
Everything started to turn not long after Clay Helton talked to the public about getting punched in the face.
It was at the end of September and USC was in a bad way. Sports Illustrated and others in the college football pundit class were speculating that Tom Herman, then the coach at Houston, could become the next coach of the Trojans — after Helton was fired.
USC was 1-2, about to be 1-3, with two players under investigation in connection with sexual assault.
At one point, Helton was forced to address a false but widely circulating rumor that a transferring player had punched him.
Penn State, meanwhile, wasn’t doing much better. A few days after Helton spoke about the punch that wasn’t, James Franklin’s Penn State squad lost to Michigan, 49-10.
That dropped the Nittany Lions’ record to 2-2, and the next week the home fans booed and chanted, “Fire Franklin!” (Herman, again, was among the speculated replacements.)
And then, suddenly, neither team could lose.
Going public about eating disorder eased burden for Penn State kicker Joey Julius
Joey Julius called his mother. It was 2 a.m. on a day after a Penn State football victory, and his feelings of triumph were being gnawed by doubt.
He was that big guy everybody loved but nobody really knew. He was a video sensation, a giant kicker who made crushing tackles. But nobody understood his real fight.
“Mom, I feel like a fraud,” he said. “I feel like I’m not being true to myself.”
Joey Julius then hung up the phone, logged onto Facebook, and began to type.
“After a long consideration of not only myself, my family and my team, I have decided to go public about my absence from the team during spring ball of 2016 and thru out this summer,’’ he wrote. “I was admitted into the McCallum place on May 9th for eating disorders.”
No Rose Bowl for USC without Darreus Rogers
All week long, USC’s players have been trying to explain how a team that started 1-3 ended up winning eight straight games and qualifying to play in the Rose Bowl game.
There was an important players-only meeting after the third loss. That helped. There was Coach Clay Helton’s steady guidance. That was necessary, too. Much of the credit is thrown to freshman quarterback Sam Darnold.
All good reasons. But none has been bigger than the man who was fiddling with his phone in a hotel ballroom on Friday.
Darreus Rogers.
It was Rose Bowl media day downtown, and his more famous teammates were surrounded by a coterie of reporters. Rogers was mostly ignored.
Asked about the play that saved USC’s season, Rogers brightened. He stood, his eyes fixed on a point far across the room, as if he was trying to picture the play.
Join us from the sideline before USC and Penn State kick off in the Rose Bowl
Join beat reporter Zach Helfand and Lindsey Thiry from the sideline before the kickoff between USC and Penn State in the 103rd Rose Bowl.
Penn State’s Koa Farmer comes home with ‘big time’ role
The text message arrived on Koa Farmer’s phone as Penn State’s third-year sophomore slept the morning after Christmas.
Brent Pry, the school’s defensive coordinator, wanted him to call immediately.
Farmer roused himself in an upstairs bedroom at his family’s home in Lake View Terrace — the name is tattooed on his left arm along with a slew of palm trees — and figured he was in trouble.
But Pry had different news. Sophomore outside linebacker Manny Bowen had been suspended for violating unspecified team rules. Farmer would start in his place against USC in the Rose Bowl.
“I was probably really short with him, acting like I didn’t care,” Farmer said Friday. “But I was so excited.”