The USC Trojans football team committed a late rally to defeat the UCLA Bruins 19-13. The highly defensive matchup only saw two touchdowns: one by each team.
“Defensively, the defense came out and played a great game. We stopped them plenty of times. We held them to a lot of field goals,” said UCLA football head coach DeShaun Foster. “Offensively, they just didn’t do their part in the game. It’s a team sport. I just need our offense to be at their best when their best is needed.”
Despite being sacked three times, Ethan Garbers amassed 265 passing yards. He had five more yards than the combined effort of USC signal callers Jayden Joyner and Makai Lemon.
Junior wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant had 117 receptions and junior running back T.J. Harden had 98 rushing yards. However, the offensive drives the Bruins made rarely went deep into Trojan territory.
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USC created first-and-goal situations only for the Bruin defense to deny them the endzone. Successful field goal kicks by senior kicker Michael Lantz anchored the Trojan offense.
“We didn’t play very good in the red zone but got the one there at the end,” USC football coach Lincoln Riley. “These wins are special. We know how much this means to the city, how much it means to the university.”
The Trojans persevered through challenges the week prior to the game. Several players and coaches battled through the flu.
“We practiced Tuesday with 27 players out and it ran through over half the staff,” Riley said. “Guys battled, maybe a lot of guys didn’t feel very good even here at the end of the week.”
USC junior wide receiver Kyron Hudson made six catches for 79 yards and senior running back Woody Marks had 18 carries for 78 yards.
The Bruins entered the fourth quarter with a 13-9 lead. In his only throw of the game, sophomore wide receiver Makai Lemon sent a deep pass to Hudson for 39 yards. This gave the Trojans another first-and-goal scenario. On the next play, USC sophomore quarterback Jayden Maiava made a touchdown pass to sophomore wideout Ja’Kobi Lane from four yards out.
“That would have been a big stop for us,” said UCLA senior linebacker Kain Medrano. “Being able to control your emotions after that touchdown happened and go back out there again and do the same thing, and shut them out again. That’s kind of what our mindset was, what our focus was.”
Both teams play their final game of the season November 30 at 12:30P.M. USC will host Notre Dame and UCLA will host Fresno State.
