USC scored a key victory Saturday night when the Trojans leaned on their defense to take down Washington.
USC’s defense has taken a public lashing by fans and media alike after its abysmal performance against Oregon on the national stage last week.
This time around, it was USC’s defense that was the critical piece in the Trojans’ 25-21 win over Washington Saturday at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The pivotal play in the game came late in the third quarter when Elijah Newby came around the edge and swatted the ball out of Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr.’s hand. USC defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart recovered the fumble and ran 48 yards for a touchdown to give USC a 22-21 lead.
Just two minutes earlier, the Trojans trailed 21-10 and the Coliseum crowd was getting impatient. There were audible boos any time USC had a negative play on offense or when the Trojans gave up big yardage on defense. “Fire Lincoln” chants echoed from the USC crowd during a week where coach Lincoln Riley’s job security was put on trial from the national media.
Trojans Secure Much-Needed Victory Over Washington
The crowd simmered down a bit when Jayden Maiava threw a 10-yard jump ball to Tanook Hines who came down with the ball for a touchdown to cut Washington’s lead to 21-16.
Stewart’s scoop-and-score came less than two minutes later and USC would never relinquish the lead.
Washington did have a shot at a game-winning drive at the end of the game. The Huskies had not converted a third down until Williams threw an 11-yard pass and later escaped pressure for a 43 yard pass on fourth-and-2.
But USC’s defense delivered at the end of the drive to save the game. On third-and-3, Kameryn Crawford came off the edge unblocked for a 6-yard sack to force a fourth down. The Trojans secondary deflected a fourth down pass in the end zone to finish the game.
Much Better Defensive Showing from the Trojans
USC (5-1, 2-1) surrendered 504 yards of total offense against Oregon last week which was the third most USC’s defense has allowed in the last three seasons. The Trojans allowed 10.5 yards per attempt through the air against an Oregon team that was playing its backup quarterback for the entire second half.
Despite a few glaring mistakes, USC’s defense was far better against Washington by the numbers. The Trojans allowed just 319 yards of total offense with 7.5 yards per pass attempt and 3.5 yards per rush. USC held Washington to 1 of 12 on third down attempts and had 5 sacks.
Christian Pierce led the Trojans with 9 tackles, all of which were solo tackles. Ta’mere Robinson, Luke Wafle, Alex Graham added sacks along with Newby and Crawford.
There was a negative defensive play that stood out and drew some criticism from NBC color commentator Todd Blackledge. Williams threw a short pass to tight end Decker Degraaf in the flat and two USC defenders, Kennedy Urlacher and Elbert “Rock” Hill IV missed tackles near the sidelines for a touchdown that gave Washington a 21-10 lead early in the second half.
A noticeable difference in USC’s defense was defensive coordinator Gary Patterson calling the defense from upstairs in the booth rather than from the sidelines.
Ball Control Key for Trojans’ Offense
USC’s average yards per play were nearly identical to Washington’s and the Trojans ran for one less yard despite two more attempts than Washington.
But USC’s ability to extend drives with late-down conversions led to the Trojans possessing the ball for 10 minutes longer than Washington. The Trojans converted five third downs compared to just one for the Huskies and scored on all four of its trips to the red zone.
Maiava completed 21 of 34 passes for 245 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Zacharyus Williams led the Trojans in receiving with 78 yards, most of which coming on a 40-yard catch.
King Miller ran for 83 yards on 18 carries and Waymond Jordan had a touchdown run.
The Trojans were playing without two of their top freshmen: Trent Mosley, who missed his third consecutive game, and Mark Bowman who missed his first game of the season. Freshman receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt had just one catch Saturday and was favoring his left leg during the game. Dixon-Wyatt did have a touchdown reception called back due to an illegal formation penalty.
Big Picture For USC
USC and Riley silenced some critics with the late defensive success Saturday and should buy a week free of major criticism from fans and media.
This is a game where nobody would have been surprised if Washington scored on that final drive and handed the Trojans their second consecutive loss at home. But USC dug deep and made the clutch defensive plays needed to get the crucial win.
USC’s road game against Penn State next week seems a little less scary on paper after the Nittany Lions suffered a loss to Northwestern on Friday. Fans and national media have a short memory. For all the talk about the Trojans being a disappointment, if USC heads into its next home game against Ohio State with a 6-1 record, it will be another marquee matchup with a lot of media converging on the Coliseum to see if the Trojans can crawl their way back into the playoff conversation.