USC rallies from two-touchdown deficit to defeat Iowa in rain

No. 17 USC 26, No. 21 Iowa 21, end of fourth quarter

USC stared on its 29.

King Miller ran for two yards. Iowa called timeout to stop the clock at 1:55. Jayden Maiava passed to Makai Lemon for nine yards. Iowa was called offsides on the Lemon catch play, but USC declined the penalty.

Iowa called timeout with 1:42 left on the clock.

Miller ran for three yards and Iowa called its final timeout with 1:36 left on the clock. On second-and-seven, Miller ran for two yards. Iowa was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for a loss of 15 yards and 10 second runoff.

On first down at the Iowa 40. USC took a knee for a one-yard loss. On second-and-11, USC took another knee to run out the clock.

No. 17 USC 26, No. 21 Iowa 21, 1:59 left in the fourth quarter

Iowa started on its 10 after the USC punt.

Mark Gronowski passed for four yards before he was sacked by Anthony Lucas for a loss of three yards. Kamari Moulton ran for seven yards.

On fourth-and-two, Gronowski passed for four yards. Kaden Wetjen ran for 21 yards to the Iowa 43.

Moulton ran for five yards. Gronowski ran for 19 yards. Jaziun Patterson ran for no gain and then one yard to the USC one yard. On third-and-nine at the USC 32, Xavier Williams ran for three yards. On fourth-and-six at the USC 29, Gronowski’s pass to Kaden Wetjen was caught narrowly out of bounds and the two-minute warning was triggered. The play was reviewed and upheld.

No. 17 USC 26, No. 21 Iowa 21, 8:33 left in the fourth quarter

USC started on its 26.

King Miller ran for two yards. Jayden Maiava tossed a deep pass intended for Ja’Kobi Lane that fell incomplete. On third-and-eight, Maiava tossed a deep pass intended for Makai Lemon that fell incomplete, but Iowa was called for pass interference.

On first down at the USC 43, Bryan Jackson ran for three yards. Maiava was sacked for a six-yard loss and the ball tumbled out of bounds. Maiava tossed to Lemon for five yards.

On fourth-and-eight, USC punted to the Iowa 10.

No. 17 USC 26, No. 21 Iowa 21, 11:26 left in the fourth quarter

Iowa started on its 28 after the kickoff.

Kamari Moulton ran for no gain. Mark Gronowski passed for three yards. Gronowski’s next pass was incomplete. Iowa punted to the USC 21.

No. 17 USC 26, No. 21 Iowa 21, 13:37 left in the fourth quarter

USC started on the Iowa 40 after an interception.

Jayden Maiava ran for one yard before passing to Ja’Kobi Lane for 10 yards. Maiava tossed an incomplete pass to Tanook Hines, but Iowa was called for pass interference.

On first-and-10 at the Iowa 14, Maiava passed to Lake McRee for seven yard as tie expired in the third quarter.

King Miller ran for two yards. On third-and-one on the Iowa 5, Maiava passed to McRee for four yards. Bryan Jackson ran for a one-yard touchdown.

Ryon Sayeri hit the extra point.

No. 21 Iowa 21, No. 17 USC 19, 1:51 left in the third quarter

Iowa started on its 25 after the touchback.

Kamari Moulton ran for 13 yards. Mark Gronowski tossed an incomplete pass. Moulton ran for six yards. On third-and-four, Gronowski’s pass bounced off an Iowa player after it was broken up by Marcelles Williams and USC’s Jakeem Stewart caught the deflection for an interception. The play was reviewed and the pick was upheld, giving USC the ball on the Iowa 40.

No. 21 Iowa 21, No. 17 USC 19, 3:40 left in the third quarter

USC started on its 18 after the Iowa punt.

Makai Lemon ran for one yard. Jayden Maiava passed to Lemon for 35 yards. King Miller ran for eight yards, fumbled and the ball was recovered by Lemon.

On second-and-two, Miller ran for no gain. Bryan Jackson ran for nine yards.

Maiava tossed an incomplete pass, then ran for three yards to the Iowa 26. On third-and-seven, Maiava passed to Ja’Kobi Lane for 14 yards. Maiava passed to Lemon for a 12-yard touchdown.

Maiava’s pass intended to Lemon was incomplete and USC failed to complete the two-point conversion.

No. 21 Iowa 21, No. 17 USC 13, 7:49 left in the third quarter

Kamari Moulton runs for four yards. Mark Gronowski passed for 14 yards. Moulton ran for five yards and then two yards. On third-and-three, Gronowski ran for no gain. On fourth down, Rhys Dakin punted for 32 yards to the USC 18.

No. 21 Iowa 21, No. 17 USC 13, 11:15 left in the third quarter

USC started on its 19 after a kickoff return.

King Miller ran for nine yards. Jayden Maiava passed to Ja’Kobi Lane for 12 yards. Maiava passed to Makai Lemon for 24 yards. Miller ran for 24 yards, but USC was called for holding. Maiava passed to Lemon for 26 yards. Miller ran for three yards. Maiava then tossed two incomplete passes intended for Lake McRee and Lane.

On fourth-and-seven at the Iowa 11, Ryon Sayeri hit a 28-yard field goal.

No. 21 Iowa 21, No. 17 USC 10, end of second quarter

Iowa started on its 27 after a kickoff return.

Mark Gronowski passed to for 10 yards, Jaziun Patterson ran for 10 yards, Gronowski ran for three yards and Patterson ran for 10 yards to the Iowa 47 as time expired in the second quarter.

USC will receive the kickoff to open the third quarter.

No. 21 Iowa 21, No. 17 USC 10, 39 seconds left in second quarter

USC started on its 25.

Jayden Maiava passed to Lake McRee for eight yards. King Miller ran for 17 yards and another two yards. Iowa called timeout with two minutes left.

Maiava passed to Makai Lemon for 28 yards and to Ja’Kobi Lane for two yards. His next pass intended for McRee was incomplete. Maiava passed intended for Lemon was called off because of an ineligible player downfield.

On third-and-13 on the Iowa 23, Maiava tossed an incomplete pass intended for Miller.

Ryon Sayeri hit a 40-yard field goal.

No. 21 Iowa 21, No. 17 USC 7, 3:24 left in second quarter

Iowa started on its 25.

Jaziun Patterson ran for one yard. Mark Gronowski ran for four yards. Gronowski passed for 32 yards to the USC 38.

Iowa was called for a false start and moved back to the USC 43.

Kamari Moulton ran for 16 yards, 11 yards and three yards.

Patterson ran for five yards. Gronowski ran for three yards. And Reece Vander Zee completed a trick play, passing to Gronowski for a five-yard touchdown.

Iowa hit the extra point.

No. 21 Iowa 14, No. 17 USC 7, 9:19 left in second quarter

USC started on its 25 after the touchback.

King Miller ran for three yards. Jayden Maiava tossed an incomplete pass intended for Tanook Hines. Maiava tossed an incomplete pass intended for Ja’Kobi Lane, but Iowa was called for holding.

Miller ran for eight yards and one yard before Maiava scrambled for 20 yards.

Maiava tossed an incomplete pass intended for Makai Lemon. Miller ran for six yards. On third-and-four at the Iowa 27, Maiava tossed a screen pass to Walker Lyons for nine yards. Maiava then passed to Lane for 16 yards to the Iowa 2. Maiava passed to Lyons for one yard before Bryan Jackson ran for a one-yard touchdown. Ryon Sayeri hit the extra point.

No. 21 Iowa 14, No. 17 USC 0, 14:17 left in second quarter

Iowa started on the USC 45 after a turnover on downs.

Kamari Moulton ran for four yards and then eight yards.

Jaziun Patterson ran for four yards to the USC 29. Mark Gronowski passed for one yard. Gronowski tossed a deep incomplete pass, but USC was called for pass interference.

On first down at the USC 13, Gronowski ran for four yards. Gronowski passed for one yard. On third-and-five at the USC 8, Patterson ran for six yards and time expired in the first quarter.

Gronowski ran for one yard and then ran for a one-yard touchdown.

Iowa hit the extra point.

No. 21 Iowa 7, No. 17 USC 0, 5:03 left in first quarter

USC started on its 13 after the Iowa punt.

Jayden Maiava passed to Ja’Kobi Lane for five yards and King Miller ran for six yards. Maiava passed to Lane for eight yards and Makai Lemon for four yards.

On first down at the USC 36, Maiava was sacked for a seven-yard loss. He then passed to Tanook Hines for five yards and Lemon for 11 yards.

On fourth-and-one at the USC 45, Miller ran for no gain and the Trojans turned the ball over on downs.

No. 21 Iowa 7, No. 17 USC 0, 9:05 left in first quarter

Iowa started on the USC 46 after the Trojans’ shanked punt.

Mark Gronowski tossed a incomplete pass intended for Kaden Wetjen in the end zone. Kamari Moulton ran for three yards. Gronowski tossed another incomplete pass.

Iowa punted to the USC 13.

No. 21 Iowa 7, No. 17 USC 0, 10:09 left in first quarter

USC started on its 25 after the touchback.

King Miller ran for three yards. Jayden Maiava passed to Makai Lemon for a one-yard loss. On third-and-eight, Maiava’s pass intended for Ja’kobi Lane was incomplete.

USC’s Sam Johnson shanked his punt and it bounced out of bounds at the USC 46-yard line.

No. 21 Iowa 7, No. 17 USC 0, 11:26 left in first quarter

Surprise! Despite the steady rain and Iowa’s run-heavy attack, the Hawkeyes’ first scoring drive was fueled by pass plays.

Iowa started on its 31 after a kickoff return.

Mark Gronowski passed for 14 yards, tossed an incomplete pass and hit another pass for 44 yards. Kamari Moulton ran for six yards before passed for three yards and ran for no gain.

On fourth-and-one on the USC 2, Iowa called timeout before Gronowski passed to Dayton Howard for a touchdown. USC was called offsides on the play, but Iowa declined the penalty.

Iowa hit the extra point to take an early lead.

No. 17 USC 0, No. 21 Iowa 0, start of first quarter

Rain has been unrelenting all day at the Coliseum.

Iowa won the coin toss and received the opening kickoff.

The drill is simple. Just a basic throw-and-catch warm-up, called “Pat-and-Go,” that USC and many other football programs do virtually every day. Quarterbacks loosen their arms, while pass catchers get their legs warm, running routes on air. It’s the sort of drill where it’s easy enough to slough off a rep or two. Or to get a little casual, like playing catch in the yard.

But when Makai Lemon lines up during Pat-and-Go, there is nothing casual about what comes next. Every rep is taken seriously, every reception reeled in with intention. The junior has taken thousands of these reps, caught thousands of these passes over three seasons at USC, each filed away as a data point for Lemon to later access.

It was two years ago this month, with USC’s defense at an unthinkable nadir, that Lincoln Riley finally decided to fire Alex Grinch, his first defensive coordinator.

“I am that committed, and we are all that committed to playing great defense here,” Riley said in 2023. “Whatever it takes to get that done, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Not everyone took Riley’s comments seriously at the time.

“There’s a school on the West Coast right now that’s going to re-commit to defense,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said a month later. “You give up [46] to Tulane last year in a bowl game — at a place where Ronnie Lott played. Now they’re going to think about defense. That was the first thing we thought about 25 years ago.”

Lincoln Riley isn’t backing down from his belief that the fake punt ploy USC pulled last Friday in its win over Northwestern was perfectly within NCAA rules.

“The fake punt was entirely legal,” Riley said on Tuesday. “Our guys did a fantastic job of executing it. And there’s not really a whole lot else to say.”

The play in question from Friday’s game appeared to be a normal fake punt, with USC and Northwestern locked at 7 apiece, early in the second quarter. But unbeknownst to Northwestern, USC third-string quarterback Sam Huard lined up as the punter, wearing the same uniform number as Sam Johnson, the Trojans’ usual starting punter. Huard, who quietly changed to No. 80 weeks earlier, hit freshman receiver Tanook Hines for a first down, and USC went on to score.

His pass had just been picked off, a most unfortunate turn at a most unfortunate time for USC, when Jayden Maiava took off sprinting toward the pylon.

The past month to that point hadn’t been one to remember for the Trojans quarterback. The week before, at Nebraska, Maiava completed just nine passes. Two weeks before that, he struggled through a rain-soaked loss in South Bend, Ind. This interception was his sixth in five weeks — and a pass he surely preferred to have back.

But as Northwestern’s Najee Story rumbled toward that same pylon with ball in hand, USC’s quarterback closed in, lowered his shoulder and catapulted his entire body toward the 288-pound defensive tackle. On a Friday night filled with strange twists for the Trojans, who walked away with an 38-17 win over Northwestern, none was more consequential than that moment, as Maiava’s hit jostled the ball loose and it bounced in the end zone and out of bounds.

With just three weeks left in the college football season, Lincoln Riley finds himself in a place he hasn’t been since his first year at USC. His Trojans are still within reach of the College Football Playoff in mid-November. Their fate is still in their hands: Win out from here, and USC should be in the CFP for the first time.

The stakes are incredibly high. And Riley isn’t hiding that fact from his team as it prepares to face No. 21 Iowa Saturday. In fact, he says, he wants them to “embrace” the opportunity at hand.

“This game coming up this weekend, it’s not the same. It’s just not,” Riley said. “The more you win, the more important these become and the bigger the opportunities become. So our team is very well aware of that.”