A long, cold night for USC had been leading here, to the doorstep of the Washington goal line. For most of this slog of a football game, through the rain and the freezing lake wind, Lincoln Riley stuck stubbornly with his approach, throwing regularly into a driving rain, testing the nation’s No. 1 pass defense with his struggling quarterback.
But after climbing back in spite of those conditions, after taking the lead, then giving it back, USC’s coach turned back to the ground, grinding away at Washington’s defense until his Trojans were just a few feet away from stealing back a game.
Eleven runs on a single drive had led to this moment, on the one-yard-line. But by the time the ball made it to Woody Marks on that pivotal fourth down, he was stopped immediately in the backfield. And soon enough, Washington would slam the door for good, handing USC a 26-21 defeat, its fourth straight on the road.
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So often USC (4-5, 2-5) had been the team squandering a late advantage, losing all four of their games despite leading at the start of the fourth quarter. This time, it was the Trojans threatening to deal a devastating defeat to a Big Ten opponent.
After turning away the Trojans once at the goal line, Washington (5-4, 3-3) would make another stop to seal the deal. After driving most of the field in less than a minute, USC faced fourth down.
But as Miller Moss dropped back, the Huskies’ front broke through the USC line again, laying chase to the Trojan quarterback, who had to throw up a desperation heave as Washington’s pass rush dragged him to the ground, ending the comeback.
All night long, Riley had kept coming back to his quarterback, even as Moss struggled to move the offense. He threw 50 passes — the third time he’s met that threshold this season — but only managed to tally 293 yards, along with two interceptions, on all those attempts.
The pass-happy approach seemed destined to doom the Trojans until midway through the third quarter, when Moss dropped back on fourth and nine, in desperate need of a spark.
He found it in a streaking Makai Lemon, who caught a perfect pass in stride for a 37-yard score.
The touchdown would turn the game on its head, as USC’s defense forced an immediate punt, giving the ball back to Moss, who needed just three plays to move the length of the field before finding a wide-open Kyle Ford for a go-ahead score.
But that lead wouldn’t last. Not as Washington turned a Moss interception into the go-ahead scoring drive.
It’s not as if USC didn’t have chances.
The Trojans were given every opportunity to open fast Saturday, with two of their first three drives starting in Washington territory and the other opening on their 40-yard-line. But the Trojans moved just three yards on their opening possession, had a tipped ball intercepted on their second, then watched a 52-yard field-goal attempt hit the crossbar on the third possession.
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By the time they got the ball again, the Trojans were already in a 10-point hole.
Nothing came easy from there. With its back already against the wall, USC mounted a 12-play drive that required two third-and-long conversions, one of which came courtesy of a pass interference. Marks eventually punched in a one-yard touchdown, giving the Trojans some semblance of offense to build on.
USC would have to wait to actually harness that momentum. As rain continued to fall, Washington had little trouble scoring on four of its five drives in the first half, while just one of USC’s drives extended more than 34 yards.
All of that would change after half, with USC firing back into the game. But it ultimately wasn’t enough, as the Trojans once again return home with a loss in hand.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
