USC receiver Kyle Ford said the emotions of an up-and-down career hit him after he caught the game-winning touchdown against Texas A&M during the Las Vegas Bowl Friday night. (David Becker / Getty Images)
It was less than four months ago, at the start of his third and most consequential season yet as USC’s coach, that Lincoln Riley walked off this same field at Allegiant Stadium, brimming with belief. His new quarterback had come through. His rebuilt defense had delivered. The statement he’d been searching for finally seemed to arrive in a season-opening win over Louisiana State.
“We know what we’ve been building,” Riley said that night. “I know we’re making progress.”
By late December, any signs of that progress disappeared, and any confidence in Riley faded along with it, lost during a frustrating season that ended Friday night right back where it began. But after a campaign filled with painful fourth-quarter collapses, the Trojans were able to return, for one night at least, to the form they found that night in September, beating Texas A&M 35-31 in the Las Vegas Bowl.
After the year they’d been through, with five fourth-quarter leads blown during six losses, the fact that they were able to battle back Friday to finish 7-6 was progress enough for Riley. Even if his record this season would go down as the worst in his head coaching career.
USC linebacker Mason Cobb, left, and defensive end Braylan Shelby celebrate in the first half Friday. (David Becker / Getty Images)
“There’s a toughness and a hardness that’s developing within this program,” Riley said. “We didn’t flinch. We’re a pretty battle-tested group. We’ve been through a lot this year. We’ve been in a lot of big games.”
The Las Vegas Bowl would bear a striking resemblance to its bookend back in September, down to the breathtaking finish, as USC once again fought through a fourth-quarter deficit to earn a statement-making win. Even if this statement didn’t ring quite in the same way it did in September.
“I think the mentality has been on display all year,” Riley said, “and it was important to finish that way.”
The finish, Riley noted, felt especially “poetic,” considering the journey USC took to get there. It required timely stops from a defense that had a reputation for giving up big plays last season. It would require a heroic showcase from a pass catcher whose playing time was cut in the final month, and a final touchdown from a receiver in his swan song, who spoke openly of his frustration this season.
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But first, it required USC’s quarterback to dig his way out of a deep hole.
Where Miller Moss put on a show throughout the season opener, his replacement, Jayden Maiava, struggled to move USC’s offense at all at the start of a mistake-filled finale. The Trojans first three drives moved just 16 total yards, while Maiava completed only three of his first nine passes.
Worse yet, he threw three head-scratching interceptions, each of which threatened to derail a Trojan offense that seemed to be hanging by a thread. After the second of those picks, a discouraged Maiava came back to the sideline and apologized to his receivers. They assured him to brush it off.
“He’s just so hard on himself,” Ford said. “That’s why he’s so great. But sometimes, he needs a pick-me-up here and there.”
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava looks to pass under pressure from Texas A&M defensive lineman Cashius Howell during the Las Vegas Bowl on Friday. (David Becker / Getty Images)
Help arrived just before the questions about USC’s quarterback future could be posed, as Maiava regained his confidence late in the third quarter, moving the Trojans down the field on one scoring drive … then another … then another. He hit Makai Lemon for two big plays downfield, then found Ja’Kobi Lane for his second and third touchdowns of the evening. In quick succession, USC erased a three-score lead behind its quarterback’s cannon right arm.
Maiava ultimately finish 22 of 39 passing for 295 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.
“He didn’t play his best there for a while, missed a few things he doesn’t normally miss,” Riley said of Maiava, “but he stuck with it. That’s what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to keep fighting.”
The Trojans’ top two receivers did their part, too, as Lane caught seven passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns, while Lemon had six catches for 99 yards. But Ford delivered the most important moment of all.
Texas A&M had just stolen back the lead as quarterback Marcel Reed darted through USC’s defense, weaving his way toward the end zone on a 19-yard touchdown scamper with less than two minutes on the clock.
On the ensuing drive, only 27 seconds remained when Maiava dropped back on third-and-13 near midfield with USC’s bowl fate hanging in the balance. He spotted Lane and fired a dart downfield, finding his top receiver for a 33-yard gain. Then, he hit Lane again, leaving just 12 ticks on the clock.
Ford knew, as he took his place for the following play, that the next pass was coming to him.
“I was like, ‘Jayden better throw this damn ball,’ ” Ford said with a smile.
As he cut inward on a slant route, Ford could feel it coming. But as he reeled it the game-winning score, all the emotions from his up-and-down tenure as a Trojan came rushing to the surface. The ACL injuries. The frustration with his role. His transfer to UCLA, then return home to USC. As the crowd roared, Ford fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the moment.
“My journey hasn’t been exactly easy,” he said. “This is just a testament to just how hard I worked and persevered through it. It all hit me at once.”
It was, for USC, a fitting picture on which to end a season marked by frustration, a high note from which hope for the future could very well grow.
“You just kind of feel it within the locker room right now,” Riley said. “A confidence that we’re going to be in every fight, that we’re not going to go away.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.