UT handles No. 22 USC
Trailing 14-3 early on, UT reverses course with 34 points in row
AUSTIN — For those Texans wary of the seemingly endless influx of Californians to their state, Friday presented a brief vision of their imagined apocalypse.
That afternoon, cardinal-and-gold USC gear stained the lush lawn of the Capitol building while the Spirit of Troy marching band planted itself on the front steps. The invasion had begun — without a hint of opposition in sight.
Saturday night, those interlopers finally encountered the resistance. The Trojans found conquering Royal-Memorial Stadium wasn’t as easy as strolling onto defenseless property through open gates.
In arguably the most important — certainly the most shocking — triumph of the Tom Herman era, Texas defeated No. 22 USC 37-14 in front of a school-record 103,507 fans to close out the non-conference portion of its schedule.
It was a game thoroughly dominated by Texas (2-1), which scored 34 unanswered points after falling behind 14-3 in the first quarter.
“You never want to be in that position,” Herman said, “but we train on how to respond when you are in that position.”
Freshman quarterback JT Daniels steered the Trojans (1-2) to touchdowns on two of their first three drives despite an onslaught of pressure from the UT defense. Even with coordinator Todd Orlando dialing up blitzes, Daniels was able to create chunk plays and convert on third down to prolong possession.
A 29-yard completion to receiver Amon St. Brown on third-and-9 set up tailback Stephen Carr’s 23yard touchdown run on the game’s opening drive.
The highlight of USC’s third offensive outing was Daniels’ 40yard hookup with St. Brown. Tailback Vavae Malepeai scored on the next play when he shed Texas safety Brandon Jones and bounced outside to narrowly beat safety Caden Sterns to the goal line.
Those touchdowns sandwiched Cameron Dicker’s first career field-goal attempt and make, a 20-yarder on a 12-play drive that fizzled at the 3-yard line. Dicker also nailed a pair of 46-yard tries in the second quarter.
Herman has said before that momentum “is an illusion,” an intangible concept that has no real impact on a game’s outcome. It felt real for Texas on Saturday.
When receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey spun off a defender and sprinted 47 yards for a touchdown to cut USC’s lead to 14-10, Texas perked up. After Kris Boyd soared to wrestle away a ball from St. Brown in the second quarter, the stadium shook. And when speedy safety Brandon Jones tracked down USC running back Stephen Carr two yards shy of the goal line on fourth-and-goal, the Longhorns began to believe.
Even the officiating crew seemed to be swayed.
Late in the first half Sam Ehlinger appeared to be sacked for a safety in the end zone by linebacker Porter Gustin, but officials ruled the ball was across the goal line when the UT quarterback’s knee touched ground. Gustin, an All-American candidate and USC’s defensive totem, was disqualified early in the second half for a questionable targeting penalty.
USC did itself few favors after a scorching start. The Trojans committed nine penalties for 94 yards, including several that prolonged Texas drives at the most inopportune times.
Even without a slew of self-inflicted wounds, USC just looked outgunned.
The rout truly took form when wideout Joshua Moore burned his single defender and lunged for a 27-yard touchdown reception on the Longhorns’ opening secondhalf drive. By that point, Texas had reeled off 20 straight points to seize a 23-14 lead. For Texas, it only got better. About four minutes later, freshman safety Caden Sterns leapt through the Trojans line to block a long field-goal attempt. Linebacker Anthony Wheeler scooped the ball and rumbled 46 yards to put Texas ahead 30-14.
Ehlinger added one final score on a 4-yard touchdown scramble late in the third quarter.
“To go down 14-3, there was no hanging of heads, there was no discouragement or negativity on the sideline,” Herman said. “We started playing a little bit better, made a few adjustments offensively and defensively.”