San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TROJANS RALLY TO BEAT BRUINS
38 UCLA USC had Pac-12 title game clinched before comeback 43 No. 15 USC
Kedon Slovis and No. 15 USC continue to be kings of the fourth-quarter comeback.
Slovis completed his third game-winning drive of the season, finding Amon-ra St. Brown for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left to lift the Trojans over UCLA 43-38 on Saturday night after trailing by 18 in the third quarter.
UCLA took a 38-36 lead with 52 seconds remaining on Nicholas Barr-mira’s 43-yard field goal, but USC coach Clay Helton said he wasn’t fazed considering what he saw his team do earlier in the season.
“I knew if we just had one more opportunity that they
would make something happen. That’s just who this team is,” he said. “I’ve always felt great quarterbacks shine when the game is on the line, and I’ve watched No. 9 in three situations just do what championship quarterbacks do. And he’s done it against this league now his whole career.”
Gary Bryant returned the kickoff 63 yards to the Bruins 43, and Slovis connected with Tyler Vaughns on a 35-yard reception despite great coverage by UCLA’S Mo Osling III. St. Brown the caught his second TD of the game on the next play.
“I overthrew Tyler earlier in the game, so I just wanted to give him a chance to make a spectacular catch,” said Slovis, who is the first USC quarterback since Sam Darnold to have five passing TDS in two straight games. “Then, on the goal line, we saw man again. We had a run called but I checked it over to Amon-ra, and that worked out for us. Probably gave coach Helton a bit of a tough time, but it worked out for us.”
The Trojans clinched the Pac-12 South title earlier in the day when Utah beat Colorado.
The victory over UCLA completes a trifecta of comebacks for the Trojans (5-0). They trailed by 13 in the Nov. 7 opener to Arizona State before Slovis threw two TD passes in the final 3 minutes for a 28-27 victory. USC then won 34-30 the following week at Arizona on Vavae Malepeai’s TD run with 25 seconds to play.
St. Brown and Drake London each had two touchdown receptions, Vaughns caught eight passes for 110 yards and Malepeai ran for 110 yards in the 90th Crosstown Showdown.
USC trailed 28-10 early in the third quarter before scoring touchdowns on five of its seven second-half drives. USC was still down 35-23 at the start of the fourth quarter before Malapei’s 10-yard run, and London scored his second TD on a 9-yard reception. USC went for two after London’s score but couldn’t convert.
USC was able to rally due to UCLA mistakes. The Bruins (3-3) twice turned it over on downs, fumbled on a fake punt and Dorian Thompson-robinson was picked off.
“Slovis is one of the top QBS in the nation, so they were going to adjust,” UCLA coach Chip Kelly said. “It was kind of like a heavyweight fight where both sides were hitting blows. We had a shot at the end but didn’t convert.”
Thompson-robinson was 30 of 36 for 364 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Utah 38, No. 21 Colorado 21: Ty Jordan scored twice, including a game-sealing 66yard TD burst, and Utah’s revamped defense forced three turnovers to help the visiting Utes rally past Colorado on a snowy Saturday to thwart the Buffaloes’ Pac-12 title hopes.
The soon-to-be-unseated Pac-12 South champion Utes (2-2, 2-2 Pac-12) found their footing on the frozen field in the second half, turning around 21-10 deficit by scoring 28 unanswered points.
Colorado freshman receiver/returner Brenden Rice, the son of Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice, showed off his speed by scoring twice — on an 81-yard punt return and on a 61-yard catch off a bubble screen. But it wasn’t enough as the Buffaloes (4-1, 3-1, No. 21 CFP) suffered their first loss under new coach Karl Dorrell during the earliest kickoff (10:05 a.m. local time) in Folsom Field history.
Cal-washington State, ppd: California’s game at Washington State was canceled less than two hours before kickoff on Saturday because of a case of COVID-19 on the Cal team, the Pac-12 said.