USC’s first Big Ten road trip turned into a lot more than a routine early-season test. The No. 12 Trojans went nearly 3,000 miles from Los Angeles to face Rutgers, and what looked on paper like a 21.5-point spread from DraftKings turned into a game that stayed tight, tense, and messy right through the middle stages.
The Trojans and Scarlet Knights played at a pace that felt almost like a track meet. USC would hit a big play or punch in a score, and Rutgers kept answering. The home side never let the Trojans stretch the margin and turn the afternoon into a runaway.
Then came the third quarter sequence that had everyone on edge.
USC faced third-and-7, and Jayden Maiava completed a pass that appeared to move the chains. It looked like a fresh set of downs and a chance to keep the drive rolling.
Instead, an inadvertent whistle blew the play dead. That wiped out the gain and forced the down to be replayed.
Rutgers then drew an illegal substitution penalty, which gave USC five yards and set up third-and-2. Lincoln Riley was frustrated, and Greg Schiano was just as animated on the other sideline, with Rutgers staff members holding him back by his shirt.
The rerun of third down didn’t solve anything for USC. Maiava’s throw to sophomore receiver Tanook Hines fell incomplete, and a sequence that had started with what looked like a conversion suddenly became fourth-and-2.
Riley stayed aggressive and kept the offense on the field. It was a gamble, but with the way the game was going, it fit. USC’s defense hadn’t been giving the offense much cushion, and punting could have handed Rutgers another chance to seize control.
Rutgers then made its own mistake, jumping offsides and giving USC a free play. Maiava took advantage, uncorking a deep ball to freshman wideout Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, who hauled in a contested 32-yard catch to the Rutgers 35-yard line.
Maiava added a 12-yard scramble on the final play of the third quarter, and USC reached the Rutgers 23 as the period ended.
That bizarre stretch may never be pinned down as the single moment that decided the game, but it had the feel of a swing sequence. If Rutgers doesn’t jump offsides, USC is staring at a very different fourth-down decision, maybe even a punt back to an offense that had already proven it could keep pace.
In the end, the Trojans survived and left the East Coast at 4-0. But the bigger concern came from the other side of the ball. Outside of the Week 1 shutout of Fresno State, USC’s defense has been hinting at trouble, and it showed again here.
Gary Patterson’s unit gave up a season-high 35 points and more than 370 total yards. Rutgers, which came in averaging 21.0 points per game, moved the ball with surprising ease, posting 7.1 yards per play and 5.4 yards per carry even though it had been averaging under 3.0 yards per carry on the ground.
Antwan Raymond was a major problem for USC, finishing with 149 all-purpose yards and a touchdown.
USC’s offense did enough to get the win, but this was the kind of game that leaves no margin for slip-ups. The Trojans got through it, and they got the result they needed. Still, the bigger lesson is obvious: if USC wants to keep surviving games like this, its defense has to start making life easier on the offense.
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The result will count, but it also left a familiar concern hanging over the Trojans. USC leaned heavily on individual playmakers, and the offense still had stretches defined by penalties and uneven passing, the kind of issues that can make even a win feel like a warning sign. Rutgers kept forcing USC to answer, and the bigger question now is whether the Trojans can clean up the rough edges before a tougher spot in the schedule turns those flaws into something more costly. [Read more 🡒]
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Rileys reaction afterward fit the shape of the afternoon. He praised the result, but he was clear-eyed about the defense giving up too many big plays and too many penalties, and he pointed to Rutgers fake punt as one of the moments that changed the feel of the game. For USC, the victory counts, especially in a Big Ten opener on the road, but the coachs tone suggested the more important question is whether the Trojans can clean up the sloppiness before it catches up with them. [Read more 🡒]