They were beaten, they were bruised, they were soaking wet and covered in stereotypes.
They're not tough enough. They are not stable enough. They're not Big Ten enough.
Late in the second quarter on Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum USC a football team fighting to make the playoffs was overwhelmed by the nation's worst perceptions.
He withered under the weather and the weight of the Iowa team.
Then, with great hesitation, as a result of such deep resistance as few thought of, Lincoln Riley the team took over, everything changed.
It's raining victories, hallelujah.
Trailing 21-7, the Trojans became confused, angry, and turned into a typical Midwest game, winning the line of scrimmage, winning the battle of skills, and ultimately winning the game 26-21.
Yes, then it was Riley who danced in the rain.
“Cultural victory right here, man,” Riley said afterward. “If there ever was one, it was a cultural victory. The resilience of our team, the way they responded at halftime… we just keep coming, we've got this all year.”
And yes, USC is still in contention for the national championship, needing wins in its final two games at Oregon and against UCLA to qualify for College football playoffs.
“It's win or go home… it's not homecoming,” linebacker Eric Gentry said. “The whole team understands the culture…to fight until the last second.”
Few will believe they can beat seventh-ranked and one-loss Oregon in Eugene. But then again, few believed they would survive Iowa after the Hawkeyes jumped out to a lead in the second quarter.
Over the past 10 years, Iowa has had an 83-5 record, winning by eight points or more. In translation, this is a program that can protect the lead, but the Trojans seem to have been cooked.
But Riley said he saw something in their eyes. And after halftime, Iowa saw the same thing.
“We just ran out there… every time it looked like we were going to stop them… every time it looked like we were going to score,” Riley said.
USC coach Lincoln Riley celebrates with wide receiver Prince Strachan during the second half of a 26-21 comeback win over Iowa at the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Overcoming their biggest deficit of the season, that's pretty much what happened.
They scored 19 unanswered points. They scored five goals in a row.
“Everybody just believes in themselves,” Gentry said.
Makai Lemon made an impressive 153-yard catch, King Miller ran for 83 yards while killing the clock, Jakeem Stewart made the game-tying interception, Jayden Maiava carried the ball with a touchdown pass and no turnovers, and the game essentially ended the right way with USC simply flexing more muscle.
In the final minute, Kennedy Urlacher pushed Kaden Wetjen out of bounds with a fourth-down pass as he tried to take over Trojan territory.
No catch, game over, and in the end the Trojans were as buoyant as the portion of the fans who weathered the storm without their shirts on.
“Our students brought it all year, there was a constant energy there all year, our team feels it, they feel it,” Riley said.
The Trojans will be considered underdogs next weekend, but bet on Oregon at your own risk. This is a USC team that has the best wide receivers in the country, a starting quarterback, and for the third week in a row they held their opponents to three points or fewer in the second half.
“People are just trying to talk about us coming to the Big Ten and wondering what we'll be like,” Gentry said. “This team … sets the standard for the Big Ten … comes in and wins big games every week.”
USC defensive tackle Jide Abashiri holds the ball while celebrating with cornerback DeCarlos Nicholson during the second half of the Trojans' win over Iowa on Saturday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
The day began with groundsmen drying out the field with the help of leaf blowers and fans wearing umbrella hats. It was the first rainy game at the Coliseum in nine years.
But for USC under Riley, it started out like so many of his previous team's late-fall failures.
Last season, he blew five fourth-quarter leads. Two seasons ago, he lost four of his last five games. Three seasons ago, it failed in the Pac-12 championship game and made the playoffs.
Honestly, it looked like they were going to lose it all again.
Iowa took the opening drive and drove 69 yards in seven plays in a grueling drive punctuated by a two-yard fourth-down touchdown pass from Mark Gronowski to Dayton Howard in the back of the end zone.
Yes, the FBS team that ranks 133rd in passing offense (out of 136 teams) just scored on the pass.
And Iowa was just getting started, taking a 21-7 lead late in the second quarter. But it turns out that was the last time Hawkeyes could breathe.
After a pair of Rion Sayeri field goals narrowed the gap, USC's comeback was in full swing when another leaping tackle by Lemon – this time for 35 yards – resulted in a 12-yard touchdown pass between three defenders to Lemon. Maiava beat Lemon on the two-point conversion, but the Trojans weren't done yet.
On Iowa's next possession, with 1:52 left in the third period, Stewart intercepted a deflected pass and intercepted the ball to give the Trojans the ball at the Iowa 40-yard line.
From there, Maiava drove them 40 yards in six plays on the drive, aided by a pass interference penalty, and ultimately gave them a 26-21 lead on Brian Jackson's one-yard touchdown run.
“The whole team was ready to put it on the line today,” Riley said. “We had guys putting it on the line all over the place… when you have a whole team doing it, you end up with something pretty cool.”
Pretty wet, pretty nasty and actually pretty cool.
