SURVIVAL COURSE
Trojan nip Longhorns in 20T
Chase McGrath kicked a 43-yard field goal in the second overtime after hitting a tying 31-yarder on the final snap of regulation, and No. 4 Southern California rallied for a wild 27-24 victory over Texas on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Potential Jets target Sam Darnold passed for 397 yards and three touchdowns to help the Trojans (3-0) surge to their 12th consecutive victory.
Christian Rector forced a goal-line fumble by Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger in the second overtime before USC’s walk-on freshman kicker coolly ended it with the second field goal of his college career.
“We had to finish strong, and that’s what we did,” said USC receiver Deontay Burnett, who caught eight passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
After 55 minutes of defense-dominated football, both offenses erupted late to create a pretty decent sequel to these powerhouse programs’ last meeting in the landmark 2006 Rose Bowl.
Ehlinger passed for 298 yards and led a 91-yard, goahead TD drive late in regulation for the Longhorns (1-2). The freshman quarterback from Austin grew up, but Texas was narrowly denied a huge win early in coach Tom Herman’s debut season.
Ehlinger hit Armanti Foreman with a 17-yard touchdown pass with 45 seconds left, but McGrath tied it on the final snap of regulation after Darnold drove the Trojans 52 yards in about 30 seconds.
“The plays down the stretch by Sam and Deontay, I don’t know if I’ll ever forget in my life,” USC coach Clay Helton said. “You hope for perfect execution, and that’s what we got.”
Burnett caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Darnold on the first snap of overtime. Cade Brewer caught a short TD pass to cap Texas’ first OT possession.
Texas reached the goal line in the second OT before Rector ripped the ball out of Ehlinger’s hands while the freshman quarterback attempted to score. Ajene Harris recovered, but the Trojans’ offense stalled before McGrath came through again.
Memphis 48, UCLA 45
Josh Rosen keeps throwing touchdown passes for No. 25 UCLA. This time around, however, the Bruins quarterback — and potential Jets target — couldn’t summon his comeback magic.
Riley Ferguson threw for 398 yards and six touchdown passes, and Jacobi Francis broke up a fourthdown pass by Rosen in the closing seconds to lead Memphis over UCLA.
Francis’ breakup with 56 seconds left prevented another fourth-quarter comeback by Rosen, who finished the game with 463 yards on 34-of-56 throws and four TD passes.