USC
8-2 , 6-1
Arizona
6-3 , 4-2
Team Stats
ARIZ 0, USC 7
USC - Greene, Jalen 11 yd blocked punt return (McGrath, Chase kick)
ARIZ 3, USC 7
ARIZ - Havrisik, L. 45 yd field goal 11 plays, 53 yards, TOP 4:03
ARIZ 3, USC 14
USC - Vaughns, Tyler 22 yd pass from Darnold, Sam (McGrath, Chase kick) 11 plays, 67 yards, TOP 5:21
ARIZ 3, USC 21
USC - Mitchell, Steve 27 yd pass from Darnold, Sam (McGrath, Chase kick) 4 plays, 48 yards, TOP 1:33
ARIZ 6, USC 21
ARIZ - Havrisik, L. 43 yd field goal 10 plays, 38 yards, TOP 3:44
ARIZ 6, USC 28
USC - Jones, Ronald 5 yd run (McGrath, Chase kick), 2 plays, 46 yards, TOP 0:21
ARIZ 13, USC 28
ARIZ - Tate, K. 32 yd run (Pollack, J. kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:34
ARIZ 20, USC 28
ARIZ - Brown, S. 30 yd pass from Tate, K. (Pollack, J. kick) 5 plays, 57 yards, TOP 0:59
ARIZ 20, USC 35
USC - Ware, Aca'Cedri 42 yd run (McGrath, Chase kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:21
ARIZ 27, USC 35
ARIZ - Taylor, JJ 16 yd pass from Tate, K. (Pollack, J. kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:37
ARIZ 35, USC 35
ARIZ - Green, Z. 3 yd run (Ellison, T. pass), 6 plays, 47 yards, TOP 2:19
ARIZ 35, USC 42
USC - Jones, Ronald 1 yd run (McGrath, Chase kick), 7 plays, 72 yards, TOP 2:41
ARIZ 35, USC 49
USC - Jones, Ronald 1 yd run (McGrath, Chase kick), 5 plays, 69 yards, TOP 2:14
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Jones Runs Wild Late, No. 17 USC Beats No. 22 Arizona, 49-35
November 04, 2017 | Football, Features
USC's offensive stars got it done in a victory that put the Trojans in charge of the Pac-12 South.
Jones rushed for 194 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 17 USC overcame Tate's big second-half rally for a 49-35 victory over 22rd-ranked Arizona on Saturday night.
Darnold passed for 311 yards and two TDs for the Trojans (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12), who led 28-6 midway through the third quarter before Tate finally got the Wildcats (6-3, 4-2) rolling. Arizona evened it at 35 on Zach Green's TD run and a 2-point conversion with 8:23 remaining.
But Jones ran wild in the fourth quarter, racking up 96 yards while scoring the tiebreaking touchdown with 5:37 to play and adding another score with 3:09 left as the Trojans pulled away.
"We knew we had to win this game," said Jones, who also had a 98-yard TD run erased by a penalty. "We want a championship bad, and we're going to do anything we have to."
USC is alone atop the Pac-12 South after its 15th consecutive victory at the Coliseum. One victory in the Trojans' final two games against Colorado and UCLA will put them in the conference title game next month.
Tate, an Inglewood native and high school classmate of several Trojans, rushed for 161 yards and passed for 146 yards and two TDs. After being bottled up in the first half, he rushed for a 32-yard TD and threw a 30-yard scoring pass in the third quarter.
"We got a little momentum going, and our guys made some tremendous plays in the second half," Arizona coach Rich_Rodriguez said. "It'll hurt for 24 hours, but we'll come back with a better plan."
Tate was sacked five times, and he threw two fourth-quarter interceptions to USC's Ajene Harris and John Houston as the Wildcats' four-game winning streak ended.
"I wasn't sharp on my reads," Tate said. "I was off on a lot of my coverages. ... We didn't make a lot of adjustments (in the second half). We just saw some tendencies in their defense that we needed to exploit."
Jalen Greene returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in the first quarter for the Trojans. Tyler Vaughns and Steven Mitchell caught TD passes for USC, and Aca'Cedric Ware rushed for 122 yards and another score.
THE TAKEAWAY
USC: The Trojans could wrap up the Pac-12 South title next week. If they earn a spot in the conference title game, they'll play it coming off a bye week, since USC doesn't play on Thanksgiving weekend. The Trojans' first conference title since 2008 has never been closer.
HISTORIC RUNS
Jones broke a 52-yard run during the Trojans' final TD drive and became the first USC tailback with consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons since LenDale White in 2004 and 2005.
UP NEXT
USC: At Colorado on Saturday for the final road game of the regular season.
