GAME RECAP: USC Stuns No. 2 Ohio State 30-18 at the Coliseum on Halloween Night

By Justin Rosette

Coming into the Halloween matchup Saturday at the Coliseum between the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes and the USC Trojans, both teams had their own reasons to be frightened.

USC lost to Wisconsin last week, and a third loss would almost certainly end their chances at the playoff. Ohio State, now without star QB Julian Sayin indefinitely, suddenly didn’t appear so invincible.

By the time the clock struck zero in Los Angeles, Ohio State’s worst nightmare had come true. USC came out with a chip on its shoulder and put forth possibly its most inspired all-around performance of the season, fighting on to a 30-18 victory as the fans stormed the field.

The Trojans improved to 7-2 and 4-2 in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes fell to 6-2 and 4-1.

It was the Trojan defense that had the standout performance of the night, not giving the Buckeyes’ offense any breathing room from opening kickoff until the final whistle. They forced one turnover, many near turnovers, and held the Buckeyes to just four Connor Hawkins field goals before a late garbage-time touchdown.

With OSU not deciding until late in the week who would be their starting QB, USC Head Coach Lincoln Riley was presented with some unique challenges in game prep.

“We had to be careful about over-gameplanning,” said Riley. “The big thing for us was, the focus on this week was us. You can get too caught up into all that. We stayed focused on us and what we needed to do better as a team and what we needed to do better defensively.”

The USC offense did what the world knows it can, making highlight plays to its talented skill-position players all over the field. Jayden Maiava finished 15-of-22 for 222 passing yards and a touchdown, and WR Trent Mosley pitched in five catches for 101 yards and a score, his sixth this season in as many games.

With the big win, USC has put the entire FBS on notice and, most importantly, revamped its chances at making it into the College Football Playoff.

With 7:47 left in the third quarter, QB Jayden Maiava threw a 15 yard pass in the middle of the field to TE Mark Bowman. Bowman, in his first game in over a month, caught the pass in traffic, ran toward a Buckeye defender, hurdled clear over him, and sprinted another 55 yards down to the OSU three yard line.

This highlight reel worthy play symbolized tonight’s game perfectly. USC in control, but the second it looked like Ohio State was about to do something to slow them down, USC made a spectacular play to distance themselves.

The playmaking started early, as the Trojans nearly set the stadium ablaze in the first 30 seconds.

After Maiava completed a 6-yard pass to RB King Miller on the first play, his second pass was a screen to WR Trent Mosley, who caught it and sped 69 yards to the end zone, the crowd getting louder with each blazing step he took. Caden Chittenden converted.

Twenty-eight seconds in, USC had used its two biggest advantages — the offensive weapons and the raucous Trojan crowd — and taken a 7-0 lead against the No. 2 squad in the country.

They wouldn’t look back, never trailing in the contest.

It was true freshman QB and Southern California native Luke Fahey making his first career start in Sayin’s place. He did his thing against a game Trojan defense, finishing the game throwing 21-of-38 for 260 yards and a score.

Prior to his late TD pass to Heisman candidate WR Jeremiah Smith, the Buckeyes had only mustered four field goals. Even with a backup quarterback, keeping this explosive offense from the endzone, and limiting Smith to 63 yards (and one touchdown) is extremely impressive.

The TD came with 2:12 left, when Fahey hit Smith for a 1-yard score. The two-point try failed, and it was 27-18. Chittenden iced it with a 32-yard field goal with 1:46 left, and USC closed it out 30-18.

Ohio State QB Bo Jackson shined as well, running 21 times for 121 yards.

The Trojans’ run game recovered from last week’s negative-yardage showing, accumulating 126 yards and two touchdowns between King Miller (13 carries, 78 yards, one TD) and the returning Waymond Jordan (12 carries, 48 yards, one TD).

USC finished with 338 total yards to Ohio State’s 464, yet still won by 12.

This win takes USC into another bye week before it takes on Indiana on the road on November 14. The Trojans will be underdogs in that one like they were today, but with this performance all around, they have to be feeling good going to Bloomington.

After the post-game press conference concluded, Riley announced that he had a prepared statement to make, and he went on to address the media and conversations surrounding his job security this week.

“This program is built on internal joy, not external applause. I said before this game that I’m the right person for this job, and as long as all those people know that, that’s all I care about.”

Clearly feeling rejuvenated, Riley and his Trojans now go into another bye week before they head to Indiana on November 14th. They’ll be underdogs in that one like they were today, but with this performance all around, they have to be feeling good going to Bloomington.