Ryan Kartje (LA Times)  —  WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Three long hours after his team evacuated the field for a lightning delay, coach Lincoln Riley finally emerged from the tunnel at Ross-Ade Stadium, knowing any hope of a seamless start to USC’s road slate had likely washed away with the rain.

Nothing about USC’s first tour through Big Ten country last season had gone smoothly, as the Trojans bafflingly blew fourth-quarter leads in all four of their conference road tilts. So before their second foray into the conference, Riley and his staff had set out to make the season’s slate of trips as seamless as possible.

But Mother Nature had brushed aside those plans before USC’s first road game even began. Instead, rain came down in sheets and lightning loomed in the area, leaving the Trojans lying around the tiny visiting locker room at Ross-Ade Stadium for hours before kickoff, doing whatever they could to stay loose and stay fed.

An extended delay can sometimes cause concern for teams, especially those who had to travel as far as the Trojans did. Riley didn’t seem to see that concern with his squad. “They were so pumped and ready to play, we actually had to calm them down.”

It was hardly the circumstances Riley had hoped for, but after falling short so often on the road a season ago, his Trojans rode out the rain, overcame the elements and held strong in the fourth quarter to beat Purdue 33-17.

USC would have to outlast not only Purdue, but its own inner demons. It marked the first win outside of the West since 2012 for USC, which had lost 14 straight games in the Eastern and Central time zones. (That win, against Syracuse in New Jersey, was also, oddly enough, the Trojans’ last recorded weather delay.)

Their first trip through the Big Ten had left them with even weightier baggage to carry. Their four conference road losses a year ago had come in increasingly heartbreaking fashion, from a blocked field goal at Maryland to a failed goal-line stand in Minnesota to a long run that set up a touchdown against Michigan. So when Ryon Sayeri missed a fourth-quarter field goal off the upright that would’ve put Purdue away, the Trojan faithful understandably held their breath.

It was the sort of scenario that might have sent the Trojans spiraling a season ago. Purdue hit one big pass, then another. USC was called for an offside penalty, then it was flagged for roughing the passer, its ninth and 10th penalties of the night.

USC QB Jayden Maiava throws upfield against Purdue in the second half of a 33-17 Trojans win. (Michael Conroy / AP)

Purdue would make it as far as USC’s 14-yard line, with a chance to cut the Trojans’ lead to a single score. But while those watching might have gotten flashbacks, Riley said he was confident that his team was “ready for the moment.”

“They didn’t flinch,” he said. “We just kind of mentally stayed into it. I never felt like we panicked or got upset. I felt like our guys stayed in the moment. I felt like they were physically ready the entire way.”

“I fell back on my training,” Fitzgerald said, “and I let the play come to me.” The safety found himself able to trust his instincts and make the clutch plays needed to seal a road win. “It helps trusting my first read knowing if you bring pressure and the quarterback looks one way, he’s probably going to go that way,” Fitzgerald said postgame.

The pick, one of three on the night for USC, put the Boilermakers away for good. But it was the Trojans’ second interception that truly turned the game on its head. Purdue had driven into similar territory late in the third quarter, down 23-10, when USC defensive tackle Devan Thompkins tipped a pass at the line from Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne.

It fell unexpectedly into the outstretched arms of 360-pound nose tackle Jamaal Jarrett, who took off rumbling in the opposite direction. He didn’t stop running for 70 yards, until he hit paydirt.

“I don’t even remember how the play happened,” Jarrett said after. “I just saw the ball fall and said, ‘Oh snap, man.’”

The two plays would make all the difference for USC, on a day when its offense went stagnant in stretches. Quarterback Jayden Maiava finished with 282 yards passing to go with a rushing touchdown, but 222 of those yards came on seven explosive plays from the Trojans’ passing attack. He completed just 10 of his other 21 throws for 60 yards.

The run game was slow to get started too. But eventually Waymond Jordan and Eli Sanders would find room, finishing with a combined 152 yards rushing.

“I felt like we were in complete control of the game the entire time and never gave that up,” Riley said. “Which I think was a really good first step.”

For a while Saturday, it wasn’t clear when the game would start at all. USC and Purdue had come out for warm-ups before lightning strikes in the area delayed the game. The players spent the next three hours killing time, while the coaches tried to keep them calm and remind them to stay off their feet.

“Mentally,” Riley said, “they really stayed into it the whole time.”

It seemed that way out of the gate. Maiava fired his very first pass deep down the field, hitting Ja’Kobi Lane in perfect stride for a 59-yard gain. Two plays later, he hit Makai Lemon on the run for another explosive play of 21 yards.

USC WR Ja’Kobi Lane makes a catch in front of Purdue DB Hudauri Hines during the second half Saturday. (Michael Conroy / AP)

The Trojans settled for a field goal on that first drive, but Maiava hit three more pass plays of 20-plus yards before punching in a touchdown himself on their next possession. By the end of the first quarter, he already had 147 yards passing.

The confidence that young quarterback Maiava showed tonight was prominent, and his teammates took notice. He looked more comfortable and confident. Tight end Lake McRee has touched on the increased confidence Maiava has found this year.

“Week in and week out, you really see his confidence growing and really becoming one of the big leaders on our team,” McRee said.

It strung together four big plays to reach the red zone in the first quarter, only for Fitzgerald to intercept a pass in the end zone. Though, it took a fluky sequence for the Boilermakers to finally punch it in. A throwback pass from former Trojan wideout Michael Jackson III was tipped by USC linebacker Eric Gentry, but because it was thrown backward, Browne was able to pick it up and sprint 26 yards for the score.

It was a particularly strange sequence, in the midst of a particularly unusual afternoon. But in whatever way it happened, USC left West Lafayette with a road win in the Big Ten, which by any measure was worth the wait.

The Trojans return home to host Michigan State next week.

latimes.com

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