King Miller ran for 129 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and No. 23 USC overcame its worst passing performance in seven years to beat Nebraska 21-17 on Saturday night.
The Cornhuskers (6-3, 3-3) lost quarterback Dylan Raiola to an apparent injury to his lower right leg and dropped their 29th straight game against a ranked opponent.
Raiola’s injury occurred after he took a sack at the 12:04 mark of the third quarter. The standout QB fell backwards on the play as his leg got caught and bent awkwardly under the defender.
Raiola required assistance off the field and did not return to the game. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule offered minimal details in his post-game update, but noted Raiola wanted to come back into the game despite being unable to run.
“From a medical perspective, they were like, ‘He can’t run,'” Rhule said. “The trainers didn’t want him to go out there. I know he’s had a history with that ankle, and he was in a lot of pain on the field, so when I walked off the field, I didn’t think he’d be able to go.”
The Trojans (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) came in with the nation’s top passing offense, but Jayden Maiava was just 9 of 23 for 135 yards.
USC was able to make up for its passing struggles with a run game that churned out 202 yards, with many of them coming on chunk plays. Miller had five of the Trojans’ 10 runs of at least 10 yards.
The Trojans took their first lead early in the fourth. Jayden Maiava threw a 43-yard pass to Jaden Richardson on a flea-flicker, and USC was at the Nebraska 6 after DeShon Singleton was called for pass interference. Miller ran in on the next play.
The Huskers’ were pinned at their 4-yard line to start their final possession with 3:27 left. Freshman TJ Lateef, who replaced Raiola, scrambled for a first down. But on fourth-and-1 from his 27, Emmett Johnson slipped after he took a handoff and went down, and the Trojans ran out the clock.
Johnson had 165 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries.
The Huskers led 14-6 at half and intercepted Maiava’s first pass of the third quarter. He turned into a runner on the Trojans’ next series, following a 29-yard burst with a 16-yard touchdown. USC tied it at 14 when Miller took a direct snap, faked a pitch and ran to the corner of the end zone for the 2-point conversion.
The takeaway
USC: The Trojans came in 2-5 in Big Ten away games since joining the conference last year and it looked as though their misery on the road would continue until Raiola went out and the defense made a couple stands.
Nebraska: The Huskers couldn’t capitalize on their first “Blackout” game, with the team wearing all-black uniforms for the first time since 2020.
Up next
USC: Hosts Northwestern on Friday.
Nebraska: Visits UCLA on Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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