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- USC rallied from a 21-10 deficit to beat Washington 25-21 as Jahkeem Stewart returned a fumble 48 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
- The comeback quieted “Fire Lincoln!” chants aimed at embattled coach Lincoln Riley as USC leaned on a late defensive stand to seal the win.
- The Trojans’ offense struggled to find consistency, with Jayden Maiava passing for 245 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
The knives already were out. The boos already were ringing.
At the end of an already brutal week at USC, during which the nation was ready to dance on the graves of the Trojans and their coach, it seemed for much of Saturday that any last shreds of faith in coach Lincoln Riley might melt away in the beating Southern California sun. Not only had the aftermath of their Oregon loss gone as poorly as possible, but now the Trojans were tripping over themselves again, trailing Washington, a middling Big Ten team down to its fourth-string running back, and a chant began to rise above the fray in the Coliseum, from the USC student section.
“FIRE LINCOLN!” they roared.
Why has it been so hard for USC football to compete for a national title after setting the standard in college football during Pete Carroll’s tenure?
That refrain had been heard only in hushed tones until this past week. But Saturday, before the No. 18 Trojans pulled away with a 25-21 victory, it felt as if their embattled coach stood at the edge of a certain Rubicon, one he may not return from with one wrong step.
That tension still hung thick over the Coliseum until late in the third quarter, when linebacker Elijah Newby came roaring around the edge toward Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. Newby swatted the ball out of Williams’ right hand, and defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart scooped it up. He sprinted 48 yards on a sore foot for a go-ahead score — and joked afterward that he hit 22 mph on his scoring scamper.
Just two minutes earlier, the Trojans had been down 21-10, and it wasn’t hard to envision how their season could continue spiraling from there. One mistake, one missed opportunity, one penalty after another brought them to this point, despite the fact that the Huskies actually struggled to move the ball against USC’s defense.
For most of Saturday, it looked like that unit took a step forward after the previous two weeks, when both Rutgers and Oregon marched on the Trojans. Through one half, USC held Washington to 44 passing yards. Through three quarters, Washington was averaging fewer than six yards per play.
“The bounce back was huge for us,” freshman defensive end Luke Wafle said.
USC’s defense nearly came apart in the fourth quarter, though, at the worst possible time. Washington hadn’t converted a third down until its final drive, when Williams converted a third-and-11 pass, then hit a fourth-and-two bomb for 43 yards. The Huskies got as close as the USC 12-yard line before the Trojans finally shut the door.
“We had to dig deep for this one,” Riley said. “Especially as sloppy as we played.”
USC (5-1, 2-1) did try something a little different on defense, with coordinator Gary Patterson calling the game from the press box instead of the sideline. Riley said the decision was akin to “trying to just move the chess pieces to get everyone in the right position.” He also added that Patterson’s former staff at Texas Christian had a lot more familiarity with his scheme, and thus he handled things differently with that staff.
But the communication issues of past weeks appeared less of a problem on defense. The real concerns came on offense, where the Trojans uncharacteristically sputtered. Jayden Maiava was 21 for 34 for 245 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Judging by the box score alone, you’d be hard-pressed to understand how USC could nearly have squandered a game in which it piled up more yards (360 to 319) and had the ball for far longer (34:58 to 25:02) and dominated on third down.
“We’re gonna fix it,” Stewart said. “No team comes out perfect. It takes time.”
After a disappointing few weeks on the defensive end, USC actually opened the game by forcing Washington (3-2, 0-2) into back-to-back three-and-outs.
But the Trojans managed a measly three points from those stops. Their first drive stalled in the red zone. The next one started from the one-yard line after wideout Terrell Anderson muffed a punt.
Washington took advantage of the field position on its next drive. Faced with fourth and seven in USC territory, Williams slipped past pressure and scampered to a first down. It was the first sign of life from the Huskies’ offense, which found the end zone on a trick play four plays later.
Then, USC gave the ball right back. On the run, Maiava launched a pass off his back foot under heavy pressure. It fell well short of its target and was picked off.
USC’s defense held strong, forcing a third three-and-out in the Huskies’ first four drives. And its offense finally held up its end of the bargain, with Waymond Jordan punching in an eight-yard touchdown.
Washington continued to struggle moving the ball, but mistakes from USC helped its cause. An illegal formation penalty wiped away a deep Trojans touchdown pass to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt. Then on the ensuing possession, Wafle grabbed Williams’ face mask as he pulled him down for a sack.
USC had more penalty yards (50) than Washington had passing yards (44) in the first half. And those penalties gave the Huskies life at the end of the half, as they drove the length of the field and scored again on a one-yard run.
“We felt like we were outplaying them,” Riley said. “We just couldn’t get out of our own way a little bit. That’s probably going to be a defining thing for this team going forward, how much we can do that.”
With a chance to regroup, the Trojans tripped over themselves coming out of halftime too. An unsportsmanlike penalty killed their opening drive. Then, Washington tight end Decker DeGraaf caught a pass and took off down the sideline, the former Glendora High standout running through two feeble-arm tackles on the way to an inexplicable 42-yard touchdown.
After that, the chants to fire Riley rang out from the student section. But the Trojans’ offense mounted a 13-play scoring drive in response. Tanook Hines tore the ball away from a Washington defender in the end zone for a 10-yard score.
Less than two minutes later, Stewart scooped up the fumble and took off. His 48-yard return completed a 12-point swing for the Trojans.
“To overcome all that and still win shows me some of the guts and toughness and culture in this room right here,” Riley said. “We could’ve folded.”
Still, USC couldn’t put Washington away. Down to their last drive, the Huskies converted on third and 11 and two fourth downs to drive deep into Trojans territory late.
But Kameryn Crawford pulled Williams down for a sack — the Trojans’ fifth of the game — and the defense held. And USC, at the end of a long, brutal week, could breathe a sigh of relief.
