The No. 7 USC Trojans scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat the Oregon State Beavers 17-14 on Saturday night in Corvallis, Ore.
USC leaned on its defense all night as the opportunistic Trojans recorded four interceptions for the second time this season. Redshirt senior running back Travis Dye led the Trojans with 19 carries and 133 yards including a touchdown. Dye has now rushed for over 100 yards in three straight games.
“We found a way,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said after the game, “and it feels damn good.”
The Trojans were on their heels all night. An offense that was averaging over 50 points per game scored just three points through the first three quarters. USC nearly recorded its first turnover of the season as Travis Dye fumbled at the one-yard line. When things mattered, the Trojans turned it on.
“You can only win the game in the fourth quarter and that’s where we finished at,” junior wide receiver Jordan Addison said.
Sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams led the Trojans on an 11-play, 84-yard drive ending in an Addison 21-yard touchdown catch. Addison’s touchdown reception was just his second catch of the night but it had the highest stakes of any catch that night as he waved goodbye to the Beaver faithful in the endzone.
“It was a perfect ball, right at my chest,” Addison said. “Touchdown. Ballgame.”
The Trojans’ biggest play may have come from their offensive lineman. Williams’ quarterback keeper, with the game on the line, on fourth-and-six appeared short. But at the last second, redshirt senior center Brett Neilon came to the rescue and pushed Williams across the first-down line in what has been coined the “Neilon Nudge,” a nod to the “Bush Push” from 2005.
The Beavers’ ensuing drive was off to a strong start but a third-and-10 throw by redshirt junior quarterback Chance Nolan with 35 seconds remaining fluttered over the middle and bounced off the hands of sophomore linebacker Eric Gentry and into the lap of redshirt junior safety Max Williams, inevitably securing the win.
Oregon State looked in command after scoring on an 18-yard touchdown run by redshirt sophomore Jam Griffin with 4:41 left on the clock. The Oregon State crowd erupted thinking the Beavers were on their way to back-to-back wins over USC for the first time since 1914 and 1916.
USC’s turnover margin now sits at +14, which leads the country, with the defense forcing four turnovers in three of its four games this season. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s defense held the 13th best scoring offense in the country to just two touchdowns all night.
“You cannot say enough about how we played defensively,” Riley said. “You just can’t. A lot of guys stepped up, played through a lot of things. It was a gutsy performance.”
The first half was a slow slug for the Trojans’ offense. Major clock issues and communication problems forced USC to burn early timeouts throughout the first half.
“I thought there were some things operationally from us that we’ve got to be more efficient with,” said Riley. “We wasted some unnecessary seconds there that have got to be coached and executed better. Definitely the noise was a factor.”
Reser Stadium has been known to be a place where USC’s great football seasons go to die. USC’s record at Reser Stadium was just 3-4 since 2000, including two losses where the Trojans were top-10 teams. Tonight, the Trojans under Lincoln Riley found a way to survive what has been a dangerous place to play for USC.
“Probably more proud of this one than the previous three,” said Riley of the games he’s most proud of so far this season.
The Trojans will head home to take on Arizona State on Saturday night as USC looks to improve to 5-0.