USC overcomes 18-point second half deficit to defeat UCLA


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Redshirt senior running back Vavae Malepeai (29) ran for 110 yards and a touchdown in USC’s 5-point victory over UCLA Saturday. He became the first Trojan to log 100 yards on the ground in a game this year. (James Wolfe / Daily Trojan)

No. 15 USC completed its undefeated regular season Saturday, defeating crosstown rival UCLA by a score of 43-38. The Trojans overcame an 18-point second half deficit to move to 5-0 as they head into next week’s Pac-12 Championship Game. 

A back-and-forth second half saw the Trojans retake the lead at 36-35 with just over eight minutes remaining in the game, but USC’s defense was ultimately unable to hold its lead as UCLA kicked a go-ahead field goal with 52 seconds remaining. 

But after a 56-yard return from freshman receiver Gary Bryant Jr. on the ensuing kickoff, USC found the end zone to put itself ahead for good. With no timeouts, sophomore quarterback Kedon Slovis led the Trojans to a go-ahead touchdown in 27 seconds, and a last-second Hail Mary from UCLA fell to the ground in the end zone as time expired. 

“I knew if we just had one more opportunity, that they would make something happen. That’s who this team is,” head coach Clay Helton said after the game. “I thought to myself, ‘It doesn’t matter if they make this [field goal] or not, there’s an opportunity there for our guys.’ And it started with Gary Bryant.”

USC’s desperation touchdown drive came on just two plays and included a pair of improvisations from Slovis for a 35-yard completion to redshirt senior receiver Tyler Vaughns and an 8-yard touchdown to junior receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.

“Coach said on the sideline, ‘If you see man, check it,’ so we checked a shot to Tyler first,” Slovis said after the game. “And then on the goal line, we saw man again, we had a run called, but I checked it over to Amon-Ra too, and that worked out for us. Probably gave Coach Helton a bit of a tough time, but, sorry about that, coach. It worked out for us.” 

Slovis now has a 13-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio in the fourth quarter this season. He finished the game 30-of-47 with 344 passing yards, two interceptions and five touchdown passes, bringing him to a combined total of 10 touchdown passes in the past two weeks. 

The game also featured strong quarterback play from the Bruins. UCLA junior Dorian Thompson-Robinson finished the game with 414 rushing and passing yards combined, along with four passing touchdowns. Thompson-Robinson completed his first eight passes, helping the Bruins jump out to an early 14-0 lead. 

UCLA’s early offensive success can be partially attributed to its ability to finish drives. In the first half, UCLA outscored USC 21-3 on drives of five or more plays, despite the Trojans having one more such drive. This difference helped UCLA seize momentum and jump out to a commanding 21-10 halftime lead that grew to 28-10 early in the third quarter. 

But from there, the script flipped completely. After the Bruins went up by 18, USC outscored UCLA 28-3 on drives of five or more plays — despite each team having four such drives — leading the way for the comeback. 

USC’s defense was led by standout performances from familiar faces, as junior safety Talanoa Hufanga recorded an interception for the fourth consecutive game after failing to collect any in his first two seasons as a Trojan. Hufanga had 17 total tackles, seven more than any other Trojan.

“We had a rough first half. We gotta acknowledge, gotta give credit to a great UCLA offense,” Hufanga said. “But we just had to come out here in the second half and make these adjustments, make these key, simple fixes that can ultimately help us win this game and ultimately just give our offense a chance.”

USC’s comeback was aided by a series of costly mistakes from UCLA head coach Chip Kelly’s group. In the second half alone, UCLA fumbled on a punt attempt in its own territory, failed two fourth down conversions and threw an interception that would lead to USC’s first go-ahead touchdown. 

USC’s offense benefited heavily from a standout performance by redshirt senior running back Vavae Malepeai. Malepeai became the first Trojan to eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark this season. 

Entering Saturday’s contest, Malepeai had 35 rushing attempts in four games on the year. He finished the game with 19 attempts for 110 yards and a touchdown.

“Vavae, I thought, stepped up huge. Nineteen carries, 110 yards, averaged 5.8 against a really good defense,” Helton said. “I thought he made the tough yards, especially in the red zone. I thought he did, and the offensive line did, a terrific job.”

The success of USC’s running game proved to be a valuable counter to UCLA’s success on the ground, as the Bruins finished the evening with 185 rushing yards, an impressive total but well below their previous season average of 227.6. 

USC starts the season 5-0 for the first time since 2006. The Trojans also finished the regular season undefeated for the first time since 2005. The win marks USC’s 17th win against UCLA in their last 22 meetings. During the game, the Pac-12 announced USC will host Washington in the Pac-12 Championship Game next Friday, Dec. 18 at the Coliseum.