USC finds reason for encouragement after comeback falls short against No. 13 BYU

Trojans come back to take the lead in the fourth quarter before BYU recovers and makes a big stop on fourth down

Adam Grosbard (OC Register)  —  LOS ANGELES — With few exceptions, the story of the 2021 USC football season has been one of the Trojans being faced with adversity and fading away from the challenge. That’s what made USC’s 35-31 loss to No. 13 BYU so heart-wrenching for the team.

When BYU took a 15-point lead on the opening possession of the third quarter, USC responded with an 18-0 run, with quarterback Jaxson Dart finding Gary Bryant Jr. (1) on an inside slant for the go-ahead score and Lake McRee for the two-point conversion.

And it wasn’t enough.

When BYU retook the lead on a seven-yard run by Jackson McChesney with 3:57 to play, the Trojans marched back down the field and into the red zone. On fourth-and-six, Bryant ran the same route as on the go-ahead score and made the catch.

And it wasn’t enough, with Bryant being taken down a yard short of the marker with 38 seconds remaining, eliminating USC (4-7, 3-5 in Pac-12) from bowl eligibility with one game left to play.

“I’m happy at the way the guys fought,” Donte Williams said, dejection thick in the interim head coach’s voice. “I hurt for them tonight. Some losses, you don’t really hurt. Tonight, I wish I could have did maybe one thing more than what I did.”

A lot of breaks didn’t go USC’s way. There was a questionable pass interference call on Drake Jackson that erased a Chris Steele interception and allowed BYU (10-2) a 41-yard touchdown pass to Keanu Hill to open the second half, a 14-point swing in Williams’ estimation.

There was the BYU fumble on its go-ahead drive that was picked up by Cougar tight end Dallin Holker and returned an extra 22 yards.

But USC didn’t let those plays stop them from competing. It was the first close game the Trojans found themselves in all season, and the players felt a positive energy on the sideline, from the celebrations of big plays to Dart encouraging the defense ahead of drives.

There were the upperclassmen who set the example on senior day, like sixth-year running back Vavae Malepeai rushing for 99 yards and a touchdown in his last game at the Coliseum. And there were freshmen who grabbed the baton, like safety Calen Bullock and his end-zone interception in the fourth quarter as USC held onto its lead.

“We got a lot of younger guys that are stepping up,” Williams said. “The future is bright here.”

It wasn’t a perfect performance by any measure. Bryant returned the opening kickoff for 62 yards, but USC stalled in the red zone and settled for a field goal. USC only scored touchdowns on three of seven trips inside the BYU 20, while the Cougars went 3-for-3 in similar opportunities.

On one first-half drive, the USC defense hit dysfunctional bingo with a Steele pass interference, a big run off a misdirection, a big pass off broken coverage, an illegal substitution penalty on first-and-goal and two broken tackles on a TD run by Tyler Allgeier.

And then USC mirrored one of its critical mistakes from the Week 2 loss to Stanford, with an off-sides penalty on a made field goal tempting BYU to take three points off the board and allow Allgeier to rush into the end zone for six and an extra point.

But there were the signs of improvement, too, like how after allowing BYU to convert on six of its first nine third-down attempts, the USC defense held the Cougars to 1-for-5 the rest of the way.

“I think there was a sense of accountability to one another,” Figueroa said. “I don’t know if it was because it was senior night, but it just felt like the entire team was there to pick each other up when mistakes were made.”

Like when Dart avoided two potential safeties and turned a broken play into a 19-yard pass to McRee. Or when a bad snap came Dart’s way on the goal line and he picked it up, broke a tackle and ran it into the end zone to cut BYU’s second-half lead to one possession.

It wasn’t the type of football that USC has been accustomed to over the years. But after a 2021 in which the Trojans were more likely to fold than fight, there was a sense of encouragement.

“I’m super proud of our team. I thought we battled all game,” Dart said. “It just sucks to come up a little bit short.”

ocregister.com

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