USC overcomes Texas in a tough, low-scoring defensive battle in overtime. Here are three key takeaways from this Saturday night matchup.
11 years after the infamous Rose Bowl between USC and Texas, the two teams met again at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum in Southern California. Obviously, the two programs are at different places this season. Texas is trying to find an identity an re-establish its place in the Big-12 conference, while USC is vying for a National Championship. What was expected to be a high-scoring affair between the two teams, ended up being anything but
After defeating San Jose State, 56-0, the Texas defense must have found some mojo, because they were absolutely rolling tonight against Sam Darnold and USC. The Trojans were running the ball extremely well coming into this game but struggled to sustain a consistent running attack at any point.
Outside of that, the game featured a lot of penalties, turnovers and punts. I expected both teams to battle in a shootout, but instead it was a gritty, defensive matchup. As expected, the better Trojan team won 27-24 and will leave tonight 3-0. What wasn’t anticipated, was freshman Sam Ehlinger leading Texas on a late-game drive to take the lead. While Texas dropped this game, Tom Herman should be proud of his team’s effort in Los Angeles against a better squad. Here are my three takeaways from this matchup tonight.
3 Takeaways from USC’s 27-24 2OT win over Texas
1. The Texas defense came to play and had USC’s number all night
Who would have thought that USC would only have 27 points? For a team that averages over 40 points per game through the season, nobody would have predicted that the Longhorns’ defense would slow them down.
Starting with the running game, Texas held the Trojans to only 70 yards rushing. RB Ronald Jones II has been an absolute monster this season, but he only rushed for 46 yards on 17 carries. Stephen Carr didn’t make much noise either.
The Longhorns’ front seven was absolutely dominant, routinely forcing their way into the backfield and stopping the run. As a result, it also began to affect QB Sam Darnold’s play. Texas continued to bring pressure, leading to two Darnold interceptions.
The defense was sensational, if there was some semblance of good quarterback play from Texas, they might have pulled off the upset.
2. USC hasn’t seemed like a National Championship contender thus far
USC had high hopes for this season and while they walk out of this game at 3-0, they still seem more like a pretender, than a contender. In their opener against Western Michigan, it took Darnold and Jones to create some magic in the fourth quarter to pull off the win.
The win against Stanford seemed convincing and had the Trojans moving in the right direction, but they took a step backward tonight. Against a young Texas team at home, USC was expected to have a big win.
Instead, their offense was held to 27 points. They couldn’t find any rhythm all night and they didn’t look close to the contender that many hoped they would. Darnold had his moments but was up and down a lot. Their running game couldn’t get on track and looked lost at times.
They’re going to need to bounce back and have a better performance in order to convince the fans that they can win a National Championship.
3. Tom Herman has already changed the culture in Texas after three games.
After an ugly Week 1 loss against Maryland, it seemed like the sky was falling in Tom Herman’s start with Texas. But they recovered against San Jose State in Week 2, but many dismissed the victory due to the quality of the opponent.
This was the big test for Texas, a Week 3 matchup on the road against USC. Regardless of the outcome, if Texas could hang in the game, play solid defense and compete, it would be a moral victory for Herman and the entire program.
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Last year they wouldn’t have hung around in this game, but it’s a totally different story this season. They fought USC till the very end in overtime and there’s nothing to be ashamed of in this loss for Herman. Texas fans should be happy with their head coach and look for a bright future in their program.
The Saturday night matchup on FOX proved to be everything the fans could ask for at the end. An overtime game, with late heroics from both teams. But USC’s quarterback proved to be too much for the opponent.