USC
2-2 , 1-1
Washington State
3-1 , 0-1
Team Stats
WSU 0, USC 7
USC - Malepeai, Vavae 3 yd run (Brown, Michael kick), 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:04
WSU 3, USC 7
WSU - Mazza, Blake 50 yd field goal 4 plays, 7 yards, TOP 1:33
WSU 10, USC 7
WSU - Williams, James 4 yd run (Mazza, Blake kick), 14 plays, 59 yards, TOP 7:01
WSU 10, USC 14
USC - Vaughns, Tyler 9 yd pass from Daniels, JT (Brown, Michael kick) 3 plays, 74 yards, TOP 1:00
WSU 17, USC 14
WSU - Winston, Easop 28 yd pass from Minshew,Gardner (Mazza, Blake kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:28
WSU 24, USC 14
WSU - Patmon, Dezmon 7 yd pass from Minshew,Gardner (Mazza, Blake kick) 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:24
WSU 24, USC 17
USC - Brown, Michael 26 yd field goal 12 plays, 66 yards, TOP 1:31
WSU 30, USC 17
WSU - Borghi, Max 13 yd run (TEAM rushfumbled), 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:39
WSU 30, USC 24
USC - Pittman, Michae 50 yd pass from Daniels, JT (Brown, Michael kick) 3 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:07
WSU 30, USC 31
USC - St. Brown, Amon 30 yd pass from Daniels, JT (Brown, Michael kick) 9 plays, 64 yards, TOP 3:47
WSU 36, USC 31
WSU - Winston, Easop 4 yd pass from Minshew,Gardner (Minshew,Gardner passfailed) 7 plays, 76 yards, TOP 4:08
WSU 36, USC 39
USC - Malepeai, Vavae 2 yd run (Vaughns, Tyler pass), 5 plays, 56 yards, TOP 2:02
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
USC Rallies in Second Half to Overcome Washington State, 39-36
September 21, 2018 | Football, Features
Vavae Malepeai rushed for his second touchdown with 8:03 to play, helping the Trojans (2-2, 1-1 Pac-12) remain unbeaten at the Coliseum under coach Clay Helton.
After back-to-back road losses to Stanford and Texas put the Trojans in dire September straits, USC rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half and eventually held off the Cougars (3-1, 0-1).
"I've always thought that adversity kind of defines who you are," Helton said. "Being in that second half down two scores, a bunch of great kids defined who they are as men, and I can't tell you how proud I am of them."
Gardner Minshew passed for 344 yards and three touchdowns in the new quarterback's latest strong performance for Washington State, while James Williams and Max Borghi rushed for scores.
But one year after the Trojans took their first loss of last season in a Friday night game in Pullman, USC showed resilience and fourth-quarter tenacity while avoiding a disastrous start to the season.
After Malepeai's go-ahead TD and Daniels' pinpoint 2-point conversion pass to Tyler Vaughns, Washington State drove into field goal range in the waning minutes, but Tufele swatted down Blake Mazza's 38-yard attempt with relative ease.
"Looked like they got a pretty good push, and it looked like we struck it low," Washington State coach Mike Leach said. "I thought we played pretty good. We played pretty hard across the board. I think our effort is great. We've got to become a more consistent team."
The Trojans' special teams have made several significant mistakes this season, but the unit executed perfectly at the biggest moment. Tufele, the freshman defensive lineman, came through with the big play.
"The kids knew exactly what to do," Helton said. "Our last team meeting, we showed it. We showed the gap that would be open. It was the absolute perfect call at the right time."
Tyler Vaughns and Michael Pittman Jr. caught early TD passes from Daniels before the precocious freshman found his high school teammate, Amon-Ra St. Brown, for a beautiful 30-yard TD pass with 14:31 to play.
Easop Winston caught his second TD pass from Minshew with 10:15 to go, but the Trojans responded with a 56-yard scoring drive.
"We left too many drives out there," said Minshew, who went 37 for 52 without an interception. "That was all on me."
USC had no trouble moving the ball on its opening drive, going 80 yards on five rushing plays culminating in Malepeai's TD run. Not much went well after that in the first half for the Trojans, and Dezmon Patmon's TD catch eventually sent the Cougars into halftime up 24-17.
Washington State then opened the second half with a 75-yard drive capped by Borghi's 13-yard TD run, but the Trojans finally responded.
Pittman, whose exceptional catch shortly before halftime was ruled just out of bounds, took a 50-yard pass to the house. USC's defense stiffened and forced two punts before St. Brown's gorgeous TD catch and the extra point put the Trojans up 31-30.
But Winston immediately caught a 59-yard pass down the middle and followed it up with a 4-yard TD catch. Washington State's 2-point conversion attempt failed, and USC drove for Malepeai's TD run and Vaughns' 2-point conversion catch, putting the Trojans up 39-36 with 8:03 left.
THE TAKEAWAY
USC: The Trojans responded to a major gut check with a series of big second-half plays.
UP NEXT
USC: At Arizona next Saturday, Sept. 29.
