Korey Foreman's interception of Dorian Thompson-Robinson with 1:25 remaining clinched No. 7 USC's 48-45 road win over rival and No. 16 UCLA Saturday in Pasadena, Calif., preserving the Trojans' College Football Playoff aspirations.
USC (10-1, 8-1 Pac-12 Conference) gave up three consecutive UCLA touchdowns over the late third quarter and into the fourth. Laiatu Latu delivered a critical third-down sack, forcing the Trojans' first punt of the game and giving the Bruins possession with 2:27 remaining.
UCLA (8-3, 5-3) was driving when Thompson-Robinson found Jake Bobo for a 27-yard gain, part of Bobo's team-high 76 yards receiving.
On the next play, Foreman stepped in front of Thompson-Robinson's pass attempt up the middle for USC's third interception of the UCLA quarterback to get the critical stop.
With the win, USC sewed up a berth in the Dec. 2 Pac-12 Championship Game. The Trojans close the regular season hosting nonconference rival and No. 18 Notre Dame.
Thompson-Robinson completed 23-of-38 pass attempts for 309 yards with four touchdown passes -- three to tight end Michael Ezeike. Thompson-Robinson also rushed for 81 yards, with two touchdowns.
USC quarterback Caleb Williams outdueled him, setting a career-high with 470 yards on 32-of-43 passing. Jordan Addison caught 11 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, and Kyle Ford hauled in Williams' other touchdown pass.
Williams added another 33 yards with a touchdown on the ground, while Austin Jones -- starting in place of the injured Travis Dye - ran for 120 yards on 21 carries, with two touchdowns.
UCLA jumped ahead 14-0, capitalizing on a pair of early USC misfires deep in Bruins' territory. The Trojans had three trips into the UCLA red zone that failed to net any points.
The Bruins, meanwhile, went 4-of-4 on red-zone attempts. UCLA's inability to slow the USC offense, which gained 649 total yards, made the difference. The Bruins gained 513 yards for the game.
--Field Level Media
Southern California | UCLA | |
Austin Jones | Player | Zach Charbonnet |
21 | Attempts | 19 |
120 | Yards | 95 |
5.7 | Avg Yards | 5.0 |
2 | Touchdowns | 0 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Southern California | UCLA | |
Jordan Addison | Player | Jake Bobo |
11 | Receptions | 4 |
178 | Yards | 76 |
16.2 | Avg Yards | 19.0 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Southern California | 649 | 179 | 470 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1.0 | 1 |
UCLA | 513 | 204 | 309 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2.0 | 0 |