-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
- Jayden Maiava throws three interceptions as USC fails to capitalize on scoring chances in a 27-13 road loss to Indiana that crushes the Trojans’ playoff hopes.
It was last December, after another season at USC fell short of the College Football Playoff, that coach Lincoln Riley promised his Trojans wouldn’t be waiting much longer to compete for a title.
“I really believe a window here has opened up,” he said.
Less than a year later, on a chilly night in Bloomington, Ind., that window basically was begging USC to burst through it. The Trojans’ playoff hopes, with three games remaining, still were in their hands. And Indiana, the defending national champion, gave No. 18 USC every opportunity to seize it on Saturday.
There were red-zone trips, dropped picks, rampant penalties and special teams problems for USC, any number of which, had they gone right, might have turned the tide for the Trojans. There was even a fourth-quarter, potential score-tying drive given away by a goal-line interception. And with it, any hope for USC’s season was extinguished in a 27-13 loss to No. 9 Indiana, leaving Riley to defend another failed pursuit of a playoff bid.
USC has failed to reach the playoffs in five years under coach Lincoln Riley. Even if the Trojans beat UCLA, it’s too late for Riley to save his job.
“We’ve definitely come a long way as a program,” Riley said. “But we still have a ways to go. Closing out games like that are what you have to do to be the best. We were right there close tonight. This game came down to a couple of plays. We did a good job of putting ourselves there, but we have to go shut the door, and we understand that.”
A couple of key plays aside, recent history hasn’t been kind to Riley on the road. He came into the game having lost six of seven against ranked opponents. But the Trojans were coming off their biggest victory of Riley’s USC tenure, an upset of No. 2 Ohio State, and had just spent the bye week focused entirely on Indiana (9-1, 6-1).
They went into the bye hoping to run the table and sneak into the playoff field. But the Trojans’ third loss almost certainly eliminates them from playoff contention and, barring some unforeseen circumstances, the Big Ten championship game.
The stakes weren’t the only reason Saturday’s result proved particularly excruciating.
“We had some real opportunities to go win this game,” Riley said. “We had too many mistakes.”
It’s true: all game long, the Trojans were well within striking distance. Their defense made timely stops and held Indiana to a modest 181 yards in the first half. But the much-maligned unit also gave up nine plays of 15 yards or more. Indiana’s other 53 plays went for an average of just three yards.
“They had a great game plan for us,” defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren said. “Just a few plays we need back.”
The same could certainly be said of USC’s offense. The Trojans racked up 409 yards, more than any other team against Indiana this season, and five of its drives made it to at least the Indiana 12-yard line. But the Trojans, who came into the game 95th nationally in red-zone conversions, came away with just two field goals and a touchdown.
Their last failed red-zone attempt is sure to haunt the Trojans for the rest of the season — and possibly beyond. Trailing 20-13 early in the fourth quarter, USC (7-3, 4-3) drove to Indiana’s six-yard line without having faced a third down. But as quarterback Jayden Maiava threw for the end zone, Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones stepped in front of the pass and picked it off.
It was Maiava’s second of three interceptions in the game, and by far his most backbreaking of the season. Overall, it proved to be a difficult day for the senior quarterback, who threw for 311 yards but had just one touchdown pass.
“It was a great defense,” Maiava said. “We’ve got a really good offense as well. Just have to be better at quarterback.”
Star freshman wideout Trent Mosley did his part, with nine catches for 130 yards. But USC’s rushing attack was lacking once again, with King Miller and Waymond Jordan combining for just 98 yards in 25 carries, their second-lowest total of the season.
USC actually had no trouble moving the ball on Indiana’s vaunted defense early . But ill-timed penalties stalled its first two drives deep in Hoosiers territory, and USC only came away with three points.
Meanwhile, Indiana — with backup quarterback Grant Wilson under center — hit a 47-yard pass on its first third down and scored a few plays later.
Both defenses settled in from there. The Trojans’ offense didn’t convert a third down until midway through the third quarter. After an early field goal, they managed just a single first down over their next four drives.
One of those drives ended with an interception from Maiava, opening the door for Indiana. But USC’s defense held deep in its own territory, and Indiana was forced to settle for a field goal.
USC made the Hoosiers pay on their next possession, turning the game on its head. With 44 seconds left in the half, a tipped Indiana pass found its way into the hands of USC linebacker Deven Bryant. On the next play, Maiava hit Kayden Dixon-Wyatt deep for a 51-yard gain. USC capitalized soon after that, Maiava hitting Zacharyus Williams for a seven-yard touchdown and tying the score 10-10.
The College Football Playoff will expand to 24 teams next year, ending a three-decade era of conference title games
The two Big Ten contenders kept trading punches in the second half. USC’s defense held once again early in the third quarter, halting an 11-play Indiana drive at the Trojans’ eight-yard line. And when the Trojans marched on their own long drive, the Hoosiers held as well.
The stalemate broke late in the third quarter, as Indiana broke a pair of big plays on USC’s defense and took the lead on Khobie Martin’s one-yard run. The Trojans responded with a nine-play, 65-yard drive, but Caden Chittenden missed a 27-yard field goal. USC’s defense held and forced a punt, but another long drive ended with Maiava’s goal-line pick midway through the fourth.
The Hoosiers made the Trojans pay, Wilson hitting Charlie Becker with a 42-yard touchdown. The Trojans would have no response from there. Twice they drove into the red zone, only to be turned away. And when Maiava threw his pick at the goal-line, Riley threw up his hands.
There’d be no recovery after that, as the Trojans were left instead to pick up the pieces of another playoff-less campaign.
