USC football defeats Arizona in triple-overtime thriller

The Trojans overcame a 17-point deficit to beat the Wildcats to improve to 6-0 on the year.

By JUSTIN WHITE
A 9-yard rushing touchdown by redshirt junior running back MarShawn Lloyd gave the Trojans their first lead of the game. (Jordan Renville / Daily Trojan)

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After a painstaking back-and-forth affair spanning three overtimes, the Trojans finally got the best of the Arizona Wildcats by a score of 43-41 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Saturday night.

On their first overtime possession, USC (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12) scored on an 18-yard Williams rush, making the field goal to take a 7-point lead. Arizona answered immediately to tie it and force double overtime.

After both teams traded touchdowns and missed two-point attempts, Williams ran the two-point attempt in himself in triple overtime. Arizona would fail on their attempt, giving the Trojans their sixth victory of the season.

In a packed Coliseum, USC didn’t give the Trojan crowd much to cheer about during the first quarter.

After a quick three-and-out to start the game, the USC defense allowed the Wildcats (3-3, 1-2) to drive down the field and kick a field goal to take a quick 3-0 lead. It was the first time the Trojans trailed all season.

But it didn’t stop there.

Arizona would drive down the field again and score a touchdown with less than five minutes in the first quarter. Early in the second, Arizona would cause a dead silence to come over the once rambunctious Coliseum with yet another touchdown, taking a three-possession lead.

But the tide soon began to change in the Trojans’ favor. An interception by redshirt junior cornerback Jacobe Covington gave the Trojans the ball at the Arizona 12. Junior quarterback Caleb Williams would eventually rush it in to give USC their first points of the game.

The defense stepped up their game, and the Trojans found the endzone again thanks to a 5-yard pass from Williams to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Kyron Hudson, closing the gap to 17-14 just before halftime.

On their first drive of the second half, the Wildcats drove down the field and threatened to score, but the Trojan defense held strong and forced them to kick a field goal.

USC’s offense nearly stalled on their responding drive, but a pass interference call on fourth down and then a roughing the passer just a few plays later kept them on the field, and a 9-yard rushing touchdown by redshirt junior running back MarShawn Lloyd gave the Trojans their first lead of the game.

After driving down to the Arizona 1, Caleb Williams muscled his way around and through the Arizona defensive line for one of his more impressive touchdowns in a Trojans uniform to push USC’s lead to eight with less than 13 minutes left in the game.

Arizona refused to go quietly, making their way down the field on their ensuing drive and scoring on a 1-yard passing touchdown, converting on the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 28 with less than nine minutes left.

After a missed 50-yard field goal by Arizona, USC got the ball back at their own 33 with just over two minutes left. They would drive down the field to attempt a game-winning 25-yard field goal, but a botched snap sent the game into overtime.

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