Woody Marks ran for three touchdowns, Miller Moss had two scoring passes and a touchdown run, and Southern California snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Rutgers 42-20 on Friday night.
The Trojans (4-4, 2-4 Big Ten) scored on all four offensive possessions in the first half, while their injury-depleted defense — missing four starters in the secondary — came up with some timely stops.
“I don’t know if it’s relief as just much affirmation of who we are, what we believe in,” said Moss, who was 20-of-28 passing for 308 yards. “I give a ton of credit to the guys in that locker room, the staff, really the whole program on how they seem to come together and fight through adversity. And, yeah, it’s great to close one out, and hopefully we get on a run here in the back half of the season.”
Marks had 142 yards from scrimmage. Makai Lemon had 134 yards receiving on four grabs with a touchdown, plus an 80-yard kick return in the first quarter that set up Marks’ second TD run.
Athan Kaliakmanis threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Christian Dremel and Antwan Raymond ran for a touchdown, but the Scarlet Knights (4-4, 1-4) dropped their fourth straight game.
Showing a consistency in moving the ball that looked more like the previous two seasons in the Pac-12 with Caleb Williams at quarterback, USC went up and down the field in the first half. The passing game accounted for 172 of the offense’s 244 total yards through two quarters, with Moss hitting on 14 of 16 attempts and finding Kyle Ford for an 11-yard touchdown.
Rutgers cut it to 28-20 early in the third quarter when Kaliakmanis covered 70 yards in consecutive plays with throws to Dymere Miller and Dremel, followed by a 2-point pass to the quarterback from Chris Long on a trick play.
But Lemon ripped off a 70-yard catch-and-run on the first play of the ensuing drive, and Moss strolled into the end zone on a 7-yard keeper to put USC back up by two possessions.
“We didn’t make some of the same mistakes that have plagued us,” Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley said. “I know it kind of sounds simple, but we did, we just played better.”
Kaliakmanis ended up with 313 yards passing, and Kyle Monangai had 86 yards on 18 carries.
Pass rush perks up
Getting to the quarterback is what made defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s one season at UCLA such a success, but the start of his USC tenure had been defined by a staggering inability to create sacks. That turned around against Rutgers, with the Trojans recording a season-high four takedowns of Kaliakmanis.
“I thought today was just a good representation of the true identity of our defense, playing physical for four straight quarters,” linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold said.
The takeaway
Rutgers: The defense has fallen apart over the past three games, giving up 119 points to Wisconsin, UCLA and USC. The Trojans gashed them for 8.7 yards per play, while the Scarlet Knights did not record a sack and had one tackle for loss.
USC: The offense has been searching for a lead receiver, and Lemon might be that difference maker. His smooth 40-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown late in the third quarter to put the game away was the kind of explosive play that the Trojans were noticeably lacking during their recent skid.
Up next
Rutgers: Hosts Minnesota on Nov. 9.
USC: Visits Washington on Nov. 2.
