USC falls to Illinois after Illini hit winning field goal as time expires

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The loose ball tumbled through the end zone, slipping through one set of fingertips, then another, blue-and-orange bodies clawing desperately aside cardinal-and-gold ones. So much had gone poorly for No. 21 USC all afternoon, from its struggling secondary to its stifled pass rush to its inconsistent quarterback, but at the most critical moment in its season thus far, here was a particularly fortunate twist of fate, as linebacker Eric Gentry punched out a fumble, and somehow, some way safety Christian Pierce landed on top of it.

The late-game gift, with six minutes remaining, had come after a particularly frustrating afternoon. The deck had seemed stacked against the Trojans from the start of Saturday’s 34-32 loss to No. 23 Illinois. Not only were they playing without two starting offensive linemen and their top red-zone target, they lost Kamari Ramsey, their defensive leader, to a bout of food poisoning just before the game.

No. 23 Illinois 34, No. 21 USC 32, end of fourth quarter

Illinois starts on its 25 after the kickoff.

Kaden Feagin ran for nine yards. Luke Altmyer passed to Feagin for no gain. Feagin run for eight yards to the Illinois 42 with 1:03 left.

USC broke up a pass, but the Trojans were called for pass interference.

On first down at the USC 46, Altmyer ran for 10 yards to the USC 33.

Feagin ran for six yards and then for no gain.

After USC and Illinois burned timeouts, Feagin ran for three yards.

On fourth-and-one with four seconds left, David Olano lined up and hit the 41-yard field goal to win the game.

No. 21 USC 32, No. 23 Illinois 31, 1:55 left in fourth quarter

USC started on its 20.

Eli Sanders ran for five yards. Jayden Maiava passed to Makai Lemon for four yards. On third-and-one, Waymond Jordan ran for nine yards.

On first down at the USC 38, Jordan ran for three yards. Maiava passed to Tanook Hines for three yards. On third-and-four, Maiava passed to Ja’Kobi Lane for 10 yards.

Maiava passed to Lemon for 18 yards. Jordan ran for 13 yards.

On first down at the Illinois 16, USC let time roll down to the two-minute warning. Maiava faked a handoff and passed to Lemon for a 16-yard touchdown.

Ryon Sayeri hit the extra point to give USC the lead, but the Trojans left a lot of time on the clock for Illinois

No. 23 Illinois 31, No. 21 USC 25, 6:28 left in fourth quarter

Illinois started on its 12 after the Illini were called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the kickoff.

Ca’Lil Valentine ran for three yards and then four yards. On third-and-three, Luke Altmyer passed for five yards.

Kaden Feagin ran for two yards.

Altmyer passed to Collin Dixon, who broke tackles along the left sideline for 61-yard gain to the USC 12.

Valentine fumbled the ball into the end zone and USC recovered.

No. 23 Illinois 31, No. 21 USC 25, 9:54 left in fourth quarter

USC started on its 25.

Jayden Maiava passed to Ja’Kobi Lane for 10 yards. Maiava passed to Waymond Jordan for one yard. Maiava passed to Walker Lyons for three yards. Jordan ran for three yards. Maiava passed to Lane for six yards.

Maiava completed passes to Lemon (12 yards) and Lane for (14 yards). Eli Sanders ran for four yards. Sanders ran for a loss of two yards and Maiava tossed an incomplete pass.

On fourth-and-seven at the Illinois 18, Maiava passed to Lemon in the back left corner of the end zone. Maiava then passed to Lemon for the two-point conversion.

No. 23 Illinois 31, No. 21 USC 17, 14:34 left in fourth quarter

On first down at the USC 29, Aidan Laughery carried the ball for four yards. USC and Illinois were called for offsetting penalties.

Luke Altmyer passed to Justin Bowick for a 29-yard touchdown. Illinois hit the extra point.

No. 23 Illinois 24, No. 21 USC 17, end of third quarter

Illinois started on its 25.

Aidan Laughery ran for two yards. Luke Altmyer passed for 32 yards and another 12 yards to the USC 29 before time expired in the third quarter.

No. 23 Illinois 24, No. 21 USC 17, 1:46 left in the third quarter

USC started on its 19 after the kickoff.

Jayden Maiava ran for nine yards, Maiava passed to Makai Lane for 16 yards. Maiava ran for four yards before he was sacked and USC was called for intentional grounding on the play.

Maiava passed to Lemon for 19 yards. Waymond Jordan ran for seven yards. Maiava tossed an incomplete pass before Jordan ran for three yards.

Maiava passed to Lemon for five yards to the Illinois 18.

Backup quarterback Husan Longstreet ran for 16 yards before Maiava took back over running the offense. Jordan then punched in the two-yard touchdown.

USC hit the extra point to cut Illinois lead.

No. 23 Illinois 24, No. 21 USC 10, 6:59 left in the third quarter

Illinois started on the 34 after the punt.

Kaden Feagin rushed for two yards. Luke Altmyer passed to Feagin for a 64-yard touchdown pass along the right sideline. The play was reviewed and Feagin stayed in bounds for the score. Illinois hit the extra point.

No. 23 Illinois 17, No. 21 USC 10, 7:54 left in the third quarter

USC started on its 20 after the punt.

Waymond Jordan ran for two yards. Jayden Maiava tossed two incomplete passes and USC punted. The kick was returned to the Illinois 34.

No. 23 Illinois 17, No. 21 USC 10, 8:39 left in the third quarter

USC started on its 25.

Jayden Maiava passed to Walker Lyons for seven yards. Waymond Jordan ran for one yard. Maiava’s next pass was intercepted and Illinois took over on its 36.

Ca’Lil Valentine ran for seven yards. Luke Altmyer passed to Cole Rusk for 17 yards. Illinois was called for false start. Altmyer tossed two incomplete passes and Illinois punted.

No. 23 Illinois 17, No. 21 USC 10, 11:37 left in the third quarter

Illinois started on its 25 after the touchback.

Luke Altmyer passed for 18 yards before Aidan Laughery ran for four yards and then another seven yards.

Altmyer passed to Cole Rusk for 21 yards. Altmyer was sacked for a loss of 12 yards. Laughery ran for four and seven yards before Altmyer passed for 11 yards. Altmyer tossed an incomplete pass and David Olano capped the drive with a 45-yard field goal.

No. 23 Illinois 14, No. 21 USC 10, two seconds left in the second quarter

USC took over on its 26.

Jayden Maiava passed to Lake McRee for 20 yards. Maiava passed to Jaden Richardson for nine yards. Maiava passed to McRee for 24 yards.

On first down at the USC 21 with 26 seconds remaining, play was stopped to review the previous catch. It was upheld.

Maiava passed to Lemon for 16 yards. Eli Sanders ran for one yard.

On second-and-goal at the Illinois 4, USC called timeout to stop the clock with 11 seconds left.

Maiava pulled in a high snap and rolled to his right before tossing an incomplete pass.

With five seconds left, USC opted for sure points. Ryon Sayeri hit a 21-yard field goal to trim Illinois’ lead.

No. 23 Illinois 14, No. 21 USC 7, 48 seconds left in the second quarter

Illinois started on its 42 after the fourth down stand.

Ca’Lil Valentine ran for nine yards and then six yards. Luke Altmyer passed to Hank Beatty for one yard. Valentine ran for another five yards to the USC 37 before the two-minute warning was triggered.

Beatty ran for five yards, but Illinois was called for holding and moved back 10 yards. Altmyer passed to Beatty and it was called incomplete and out of bounds, but it was reviewed and overturned for a 16-yard gain.

Valentine ran for five yards and then 12 yards. Altmyer ran for five yards. Kaden Feagin ran for seven yards to the USC 2.

USC called a timeout and Illinois followed it with a timeout.

Illinois fumbled on the goal line and USC recovered. The Illini were called for illegal formation on the play. The fumble was reviewed and it was upheld.

USC took over on its 26.

No. 23 Illinois 14, No. 21 USC 7, 4:37 left in the second quarter

USC started on its 20 after returning the kickoff nine yards.

USC was called for delay of game on first down. Eli Sanders ran for one yard. Jayden Maiava passed to Lake McRee for 15 yards. Sanders then ran for a loss of six yards.

USC almost pulled off a flea flicker trick play that led to a 75-yard touchdown pass to Makai Lemon, but it was erased by an ineligible receiver downfield penalty.

Maiava passed to King Miller for six yards. On third-and-16 at the USC 26, Maiava passed to Walker Lyons for 18 yards and the first down.

Sanders ran for five yards. Maiava’s pass to Waymond Jordan across the middle of the field was high and fell incomplete. Play was stopped after two Illinois players were treated for injuries after incomplete pass. On third-and-five at the USC 49, Jordan ran for four yards. On fourth-and-one, Maiava ran for one yard.

Backup quarterback Husan Longstreet handed off to Jordan for four yards. Maiava returned and tossed the ball short of Lake McRee under pressure. Maiava tossed another incomplete pass to Lemon under more pressure. On fourth-and-six, tossed a pass broken up by the Illini and the Trojans turned the ball over on downs.

No. 23 Illinois 14, No. 21 USC 7, 10:53 left in the second quarter

On second-and-10 at the USC 43, Luke Altmyer passed to Hank Beatty for 18 yards. Altmyer tossed an incomplete pass, ran for six yards and passed to Hudson Clement for 11 yards.

On first-and-goal at the Illinois 8, Kaden Feagin ran for two yards as a trick pass play was disrupted by USC. On second-and-goal, Illinois called timeout. Altmyer passed to Hank Beatty for three yards. On third-and-three, Altmyer handed the ball off and it was pitched to Beatty, who passed to Altmyer for a three-yard touchdown.

USC also was called for roughing the passer on the play.

Illinois hit the extra point.

No. 21 USC 7, No. 23 Illinois 7, end of the first quarter

Illinois started on its 25 after the touchback.

Aidan Laugher ran for five yards. Luke Altmyer tossed an incomplete pass. On third-and-five, Altmyer tossed an incomplete pass but USC was called offsides and pass interference. Illinois accepted the pass interference call and 15-yard gain.

Altmyer passed to Christian Abney for 12 yards as time expired in the first quarter.

No. 21 USC 7, No. 23 Illinois 7, 1:23 left in the first quarter

USC started on its 25 after the touchback.

Waymond Jordan ran for three yards. Jayden Maiava passed to Jaden Richardson for six yards. Jordan ran for nine yards and then six yards.

Maiava tossed an incomplete pass to Richardson. On third-and-four at the USC 49, Maiava passed to Richardson for a 30-yard gain.

Maiava tossed a screen pass to Eli Sanders for 10 yards, moving the ball to the Illinois 21 before an injury timeout as an Illini player was treated on the field.

Maiava passed toward Tanook Hines in the right corner of the end zone and Illinois was called for pass interference.

On first-and-goal at the Illinois 2, Jordan ran for one yard.

And a possession after this fumble, Jordan punched in a one-yard touchdown.

Ryon Sayeri hit the extra point to tie the game.

No. 23 Illinois 7, No. 21 USC 0, 5:49 left in the first quarter

Illinois started on its 30 after the turnover.

USC is playing without safety Kamari Ramsey, who Fox reported was sick and throwing up at 2 a.m.

Kaden Feagin ran for five and 11 yards on back-to-back carries.

Luke Altmyer passed to Collin Dixon for six yards, Aiden Laughery ran ran for three yards and Altmyer tossed an incomplete pass.

Altmyer passed to Feagin for three yards. Altmyer then passed to Hudson Clement for eight yards and USC was called for a personal foul penalty on the play, moving the ball to the USC 19. Feagin ran for three yards and then for four yards. On third-and-three, Altmyer ran for a 12-yard touchdown.

USC was called offsides on the extra point and the Illini attempt after the penalty was good.

No. 21 USC 0, No. 23 Illinois 0, 10:48 left in the first quarter

USC started on its 25 after a touchback.

Elijah Page is out and the Trojans started Justin Tauanuu again at left tackle.

Jayden Maiava ran a loss of two yards. Eli Sanders ran for six yards and Maiava passed to Makai Lemon for seven yards.

Maiava tossed two incomplete passes before passing to Lemon for nine yards. On fourth-and-one, Waymond Jordan ran the wildcat and gained four yards.

Maiava passed to Jordan for 11 yards. Jordan ran for seven yards.

Jordan ran for three yards before fumbling. The ball bounced to the Illini’s Jaheim Clarke and he ran it to the Illinois 30.

No. 21 USC 0, No. 23 Illinois 0, start of first quarter

Illinois won the coin toss and deferred.

When he first started spreading the word about Waymond Jordan, Mike Bennett figured the film would speak for itself. The Escambia High coach had been in the South Florida preps scene long enough to know what he was seeing from his new running back.

“Just watching him run the football for the first time, he was amazing,” Bennett said. He figured scholarship offers would roll in soon enough.

Jordan had similar expectations. Since he first picked up football, at 4 years old, he’d always told himself that he’d play at a big school, on the biggest stage. He’d come to Escambia as a senior with that in mind.

Walker Lyons took his place in the slot and looked right. Lake McRee crouched on the opposite wing and looked left. The two Trojan tight ends had spent all last Saturday night moving around USC’s formations — split out wide, in the backfield, on the line of scrimmage — paving rush lanes and creating mismatches wherever they went.

Now it was third and short, early in the third quarter of USC’s win over Michigan State, and the two of them were on the field together again, forcing the Spartan defense to decide in a hurry just how Lincoln Riley planned to deploy them.

That unpredictability was precisely the point of the position. It’s why the tight end has been a critical tenet of his Riley’s offense since he started as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator in 2015. No other position, Riley has come to believe, adds more versatility to an offense.

As USC enters a critical stretch of its conference slate, it’s unclear if it’ll have its star wideout or starting left tackle ready to play.

Junior wideout Ja’Kobi Lane did return to practice on Tuesday after sitting out last Saturday’s win over Michigan State with an upper body injury he suffered the week before. But junior offensive tackle Elijah Paige was not seen entering or leaving USC’s practice field.

USC coach Lincoln Riley declined to provide an update on Lane or Paige on Tuesday and instead referred reporters to the Big Ten’s availability report, which is released two hours before kickoff every Saturday.

Bishop Fitzgerald stood inside the 5-yard line at Ross-Ade Stadium, watching the eyes of Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne, waiting for the right moment to pounce. It was a critical third down Saturday, midway through the fourth quarter, during a Big Ten road game.

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Fortunately, Fitzgerald knew exactly where the play was headed. The USC senior safety recognized it from film clips he studied of Purdue’s red zone offense. He knew not to bite on the play-action fake and that the receiver would, in a matter of seconds, cut across the center of the field on his route.

Makai Lemon came screaming across the center of the field, gliding past one Michigan State defender, then another, moving as if the world around him were in slow motion.

USC’s top receiver had presumably been a top-line focus of the Spartans’ game plan — and even more so after fellow wideout Ja’Kobi Lane was ruled out Saturday with an injury. But here was Lemon slicing his way through Michigan State’s secondary as if no one had bothered to tell him as much, sprinting free as a deep pass soared in his direction and hit him in perfect stride.

Most of Saturday night’s 45-31 win over Michigan State felt that seamless for USC, which moved the ball with ease on offense, racking up 517 yards in the process. But in a swirl of penalties and poor discipline from its defense, USC inexplicably found itself clinging to a one-score lead in the fourth quarter.

Through four games this season, Jayden Maiava has done just about all he could to dispel any lingering doubts about him as USC’s starting quarterback.

Maiava is averaging 12.7 yards per pass attempt this season, higher than any other quarterback in college football. His completion percentage has risen more than 11 points since last season (to 70.8%). He has thrown nine passing touchdowns, plus added four on the ground, and has yet to turn the ball over after throwing nine picks during the same number of starts in 2024.

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Granted, during the Trojans’ 4-0 start, Maiava has yet to face a pass defense that ranks inside the top 100 in passing yards allowed per attempt. Nor has he or anyone on USC’s offense faced much in the way of adversity. The Trojans have scored more than 52 points per game and won their first four by an average margin of 32.

But the level of competition ratchets up this week. Each of USC’s next three opponents are ranked in the top 25, while three of its next four games come on the road, beginning Saturday with No. 23 Illinois, which was ranked in the top 10 before it was trounced by Indiana last weekend.

If USC has any hope of making the College Football Playoff, it’ll need Maiava to prove his fast start in September wasn’t a fluke. USC coach Lincoln Riley doesn’t want Maiava to change much from his first four weeks.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Riley said.