USC’s two Drakes – Jackson and London – way too much for lowly Colorado

Jackson gets two sacks and a fumble recovery and London (15) catches nine passes for 130 yards and a TD in a 37-14 win

Michael Kelly (OC Register)  —  BOULDER, Colo. — After an uneven start to the season, USC stayed perfect against the Colorado Buffaloes. The Trojans overcame mistakes, including 12 penalties for 115 yards, to beat the Buffaloes, 37-14, on Saturday and bounce back from an embarrassing home loss to Oregon State the week before.

“A culmination of the first four games kind of motivated us,” quarterback Kedon Slovis said. “You might not have seen it, but we were building toward this.”

The Trojans (3-2, 2-2 Pac-12) improved to 15-0 all-time against Colorado behind a big game from linebacker Drake Jackson (99).

The junior had two of the team’s five sacks and a fumble recovery and harassed Colorado quarterback Brendon Lewis all afternoon.

The offense wasn’t always crisp but found ways to slice up the Buffaloes’ defense. Slovis was 19-for-29 passing for 276 yards and two scores, Drake London had nine catches for 130 yards and a touchdown and freshman Michael Trigg had two receptions, including a 46-yard TD grab in the first half.

London had seven catches – one for a touchdown – in the first half and outgained Colorado on his own 109-88.

“I try not to throw the ball too perfect because I don’t want to miss him,” Slovis said. “I just want to give him a chance and throw it up there for him. If I overthrow him, I’m making a bad play, so it’s really nice to know I just need to give him a chance and he’ll come down with it.”

The Trojans got their ground game going too. Keaontay Ingram had 14 carries for 124 yards rushing and Vavae Malepeai ran for a score.

“I feel like we played complementary football,” Ingram said. “When the run was there, it was there; when the pass was there, we were there. Complementary football showed in the points today.”

USC committed mistakes to keep the game within reach into the third quarter. A fumble by Ingram late in the first half led to a Colorado touchdown. In the third quarter, USC linebacker Ralen Goforth was ejected for targeting and fellow linebacker Raymond Scott’s late hit kept a Buffaloes drive alive.

“I’m not happy with all the penalties, I’m not happy with all the explosive plays,” Trojans interim head coach Donte Williams said. “I am glad the way we controlled the line of scrimmage. We expect our big-time players to step up in big-time games, and our big-time players stepped up today.”

Each time the Trojans defense responded. Tuli Tuipulotu had a strip sack of Lewis after the targeting call, Jackson recovered it in the air and rumbled to the Colorado 31 to set up a field goal. Later the defense had a stop on a fourth-and-one after the late hit.

“There were questions, not on this team, but the outside world maybe, ‘Can they stop the run?’ They proved they can,” Williams said of the defense. “We went out there and won the game. That’s what we should do, that’s what we expect to do.”

Ingram broke off a 53-yard run to set up Malepeai’s two-yard touchdown run, but Colorado threatened to make it a game with a touchdown late in the third quarter.

The Buffaloes were driving again when Joshua Jackson Jr. intercepted Lewis’ tipped pass at the Colorado 35. USC overcame a holding penalty that wiped out Ingram’s touchdown run to make it a 23-point game on Slovis’ 15-yard TD pass to Gary Bryant Jr.

Slovis completed passes to seven receivers and came away feeling the offense could have done more Saturday.

“We ran for 200 and threw for almost 300. That’s pretty ideal,” Slovis said. “It was a good day, but there’s still a lot to build on. We left a lot of points out there, but it feels a lot better coming off a win.

The Trojans went three and out on their first drive but overcame two penalties to get on the board first. London had the big play, catching a 31-yard pass between three defenders to put the ball on the Colorado 20.

The drive stalled and Parker Lewis kicked a 30-yard field goal to put USC in front, and London took over on the next drive. He caught passes of 29 and 28 yards, the latter setting up first-and-goal at the 1, and his one-handed catch on second down gave the Trojans a 10-0 lead.

Drake London makes a spectacular one-handed TD catch under coverage by CU CB Christian Gonzalez in the first quarter Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

“It’s one of those plays where your body kind of takes over,” London said. “That’s Kedon putting the ball in the right place. He’s such an accurate quarterback. Wherever he puts it, I’m going to try to go get it.”

The defense continued to stuff Colorado’s struggling offense, forcing another punt. Ingram reeled off runs of 10, 13 and 11 yards, Slovis connected with London to move into Buffaloes territory and then went over the top to hit Trigg down the right sideline for a 46-yard TD pass.

The freshman beat the smaller defender, slipped out of the tackle and trotted into the end zone for his first career touchdown.

“Trigg showed me he can come out here and be a threat, a mismatch. Really, if he’s man-to-man, if he’s against a safety or a smaller guy, you can’t stop him,” Slovis said.

USC had a chance to put it away by halftime, but Ingram fumbled at the end of a 17-yard run. A rejuvenated Colorado offense went 48 yards in six plays to score and make it 20-7.

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