With the Jayden Maiava era officially beginning, the USC Trojans found a way to defeat Nebraska in dramatic fashion 28-20 courtesy of a Greedy Vance Jr. interception in the end zone as time expired.
With the victory, the Trojans now move to 5-5 on the year needing only to split their upcoming two rivalry contests in a quest to become bowl-eligible.
Here is what we learned about this USC Trojans team.
Buckle Up For The Jayden Maiava Roller Coaster Ride
The dynamic UNLV transfer made a lot of positive plays to the tune of 25/35 for 259 yards and three touchdowns in addition to 20 yards rushing and another score on the ground.
Jayden Maiava demonstrated supreme arm strength in taking repeated vertical shots down the field, most notably to Duce Robinson on a beautiful outside slant in stride for a 48-yard touchdown.
He also provided horizontal explosiveness to the Trojan attack by extending plays outside the pocket while also picking his spots in the RPO game.
However, with all those positives came some reckless gunslinging. There was the 45-yard pick-six at the hands of former Trojan Ceyair Wright, along with the fumble inside USC’s own 20-yard line that led to a Nebraska field goal.
But even beyond the two turnovers, there were several near misses. In fact, three of the Trojans’ four touchdown drives almost ended in a Maiava mistake. On the USC Trojans’ first scoring drive, Maiava rolled out and threw a 28-yard jump ball against the grain to Duce Robinson where a Cornhuskers’ defender miss judged the ball for an interception.
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On USC’s next scoring drive, Maiava’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Kyron Hudson went right through a Nebraska defender’s hands, subsequently bounced off both players, and finally made its way to Hudson, who exhibited spectacular concentration.
Finally, on the Trojan game-sealing drive, Maiava’s pass on 3rd & 10 was deflected, leading to a sideways rotation before bouncing off two players and ultimately finding its way to Makai Lemon for a nine-yard play that set up an explosive fourth and short run.
Maiava’s potential is obvious, but his precision is a work in progress. The next two games will be a very nice dataset on whether the Trojans have their long-term signal caller solution.
Lincoln Riley Scheming An Offensive Identity
With the presence of Maiava, Lincoln Riley was able to establish a primary offensive scheme utilizing the counter zone run from the shotgun, leveraging offensive linemen from the weak side to pull in the direction of the running back’s predetermined lane. This staple of historic Air Raid offenses enabled Woody Marks to be the game’s MVP, en route to a career day of 19 carries for 146 yards, including the back-breaking 34-yard run to set up the Trojans final score.
Riley was able to overlay this counter-based rushing attack with jet-sweeping motion that allowed Zachariah Branch to leverage push passes for six catches, 41 yards, and his first touchdown of the season.
But it also allowed Marks to be an effective weapon out of the backfield as a pass catcher in the flat and on reverse screens to the tune of six receptions for an additional 36 yards.
Finally, the play action was extended to exploiting Duce Robinson in a hybrid tight end role, as linebackers had to stay honest with the zone read rushing attack, as the sophomore had a career day with four receptions and 90 yards along with that aforementioned touchdown.
Lost in the hype surrounding Maiava’s debut was Lincoln Riley calling his best game of the season.
USC Trojans Gutty Defensive Performance
While this defense has lacked sacks, turnovers, and dynamic negative plays all year, this banged-up unit battled valiantly in holding Nebraska and freshman phenom Dylan Raiola to a mere 310 yards of total offense.
In particular, Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, Mason Cobb, Kamari Ramsey, and Jaylin Smith stood out as linchpins to lead the defensive charge. This quartet combined for 29 total tackles, with Cobb and Mascarenas-Arnold limiting any runs to get beyond the second level.
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Smith made a terrific interception on Raiola in the second quarter showcasing elite ball skills, with Ramsey providing a spectacular open field tackle on Cornhuskers’ running back Emmett Johnson saving a possible 4th quarter Nebraska touchdown.
It wasn’t pretty, and many were clearly compromised with physical ailments, but this unit’s competitiveness was exceptional.
A win is a win, no matter how fortuitous. As the Trojans get ready for the famed annual crosstown rivalry Victory Bell game with the UCLA Bruins, they will need to elevate both their emotion and execution if they want to come out victorious, so let’s see just how much this team has left in the tank.