PISCATAWAY, N.J. — After eight tumultuous trips into Big Ten country over two seasons, Lincoln Riley figured ahead of his third that he had learned something about how rough the road could be. Just twice in those eight tries had USC left L.A. and managed to return home with a conference win.
So at the start of a third Big Ten road slate, Riley resolved to have his Trojans better prepared. They had experience to build on now, after all. They even borrowed a plane from the Arizona Cardinals, with special lie-down seats for added comfort. All of this in anticipation of a team that lost its first two games to Boston College and Massachusetts.
And yet, in spite of all that, Riley and the Trojans still found themselves right back in the same precarious position Saturday, bogged down by bad football on both sides and fighting for their life on the road against one of the worst teams in the Big Ten.
No. 12 USC ultimately managed to escape Rutgers with a 42-35 win. But no part of Saturday’s road effort felt satisfying while it was happening.
“Listen, we’re not going to take road wins for granted in this league,” Riley said. “They’re all hard.”
USC certainly made things look difficult on defense, where the Trojans appeared to have improved through three games under new coordinator Gary Patterson. USC was trampled throughout by a Rutgers offense which, heading into Saturday, had an interception on more than 10% of its passes. Against USC, though, the Scarlet Knights had little trouble moving up and down the field, piling up 460 yards along the way.
Riley said he was “not pleased at all” with the way USC’s defense played. Particularly the fact that it gave up 10 explosive plays.
If not for a few major missed opportunities, Rutgers (0-3) might have actually been in the driver’s seat down the stretch. Rutgers was on the doorstep of the end zone, down six points early in the third quarter, when USC safety Prophet Brown stepped in front of a pass and took the interception 99 yards for a touchdown. The pick-six gave USC a two-score cushion … which it promptly gave up in a span of two minutes.
Another time, deep in Rutgers territory, Riley passed up on a fourth-quarter field goal on fourth down, only for USC’s fourth-down pass to come up short.
Riley admitted that he bucked conventional wisdom to go for it, but he believed it was “a 50/50 call.”
Fortunately for Riley, with a chance to tie it, Rutgers proceeded to go three-and-out.
Still, USC (4-0) couldn’t manage to put those watching the game out of their misery until the final minutes.
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava passes during the first half against Rutgers on Saturday.
(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)
It wasn’t just the defense that let the Trojans down. Penalties were a huge problem in the first half — and part of why Rutgers managed to stay in the game. USC’s high-powered offense also stalled throughout, in part because quarterback Jayden Maiava was nowhere near as sharp as he had been to start the season.
Maiava completed 20 of 32 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns but missed several open receivers.
“There’s always room for improvement,” said freshman receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, who led USC with 77 receiving yards. “We’ll just practice, and mentally, everything is going to fall in line.”
USC looked like a team that took a long, cross-country trip. The Trojans managed a clunky 12-play opening drive, with King Miller doing most of the heavy lifting, but were forced to settle for a field goal. The 35-yard kick from Caden Chittenden was actually USC’s first in four games this season.
The Trojans wouldn’t have to wait long, though, to get in the end zone. The first pass of the afternoon from Rutgers quarterback Dylan Lonergan sailed past his receiver and directly to USC safety Christian Pierce, who returned the ball to the Scarlet Knights’ 24-yard line.
Two bruising runs from Miller later, and USC was up 10-0. Miller would ultimately lead the Trojans with 102 yards and a touchdown.
USC coach Lincoln Riley reacts during the second half of the Trojans’ 42-35 win over Rutgers on Saturday.
(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)
Rutgers, with just a single yard of total offense to that point, woke up, marching 75 yards in response. And on third down, Lonergan lofted a pass to star receiver KJ Duff, who caught it over cornerback Jontez Williams and still managed to get a foot down for an 11-yard score.
USC nearly gave the ball right back, after a penalty and a sack of Maiava gave the Trojans a third and 14. But Maiava uncorked a deep pass to Corey Simms, who leaped in front of a Rutgers cornerback to catch it, then sprinted for an unexpectedly easy 52-yard touchdown.
Rutgers still had more to pull out of its sleeve. Deep in its territory, just before the half, it stunned USC by turning an improbable fake punt into a 44-yard gain. Four plays later, Rutgers scored, cutting USC’s lead to three.
“The fake punt really changed the momentum of the game, as they normally do,” Riley said. “It was a gutsy call on their part.”
USC added a field goal before halftime to push its lead to six. But after Rutgers marched down the field, ready to take the lead with a touchdown, Brown stepped in front of Lonergan’s pass for a pick-six that Riley deemed “massive.”
Rutgers wide receiver KJ Duff catches a touchdown pass in front of USC cornerback Jontez Williams during the first quarter Saturday.
(Bill Streicher / Getty Images)
The 99-yard return looked like it might turn the tide for the Trojans, until, on the next drive, Rutgers busted a 49-yard run into the red zone. It scored a play later, to cut the lead to seven.
Back and forth they went, with one response from USC inevitably leading to another from Rutgers.
The Trojans got another break late in the third quarter. After Tanook Hines dropped a third-down pass, USC lined up to draw Rutgers offside, and it worked. Maiava used the chance to throw downfield to Dixon-Wyatt.
But USC couldn’t take advantage. Riley opted to go for it on fourth down, deep in Rutgers territory, instead of kicking a field goal that would’ve put USC up by 10.
It would be a while after that before the Trojans could finally breathe easy. Even the final kneel wouldn’t go smoothly, as Maiava fumbled the snap.
But USC recovered. And it got out of Piscataway as fast as possible after that.
