USC hangs on to defeat Arizona for first road win of season

USC held off a late push by Arizona to defeat the Wildcats 24-20 on Saturday in Tucson. The victory extended the Trojans’ record to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12.

The Trojans had a 24-0 lead, but Arizona reeled off 20 consecutive points to draw closer in the fourth quarter. After a touchdown with under two minutes drew the Wildcats within four points, USC recovered an onside kick to close out the game.

Freshman quarterback JT Daniels was 16-of-24 passing for 197 yards, while Arizona’s sophomore quarterback Khalil Tate’s was 16-of-33 passing for 232 yards.

The Trojans committed 18 penalties for 169 yards.

USC’s first score came at the hands of a solid mixture of receivers to spark the passing game. Daniels completed passes to three different receivers and most notably gained 37 yards on a pass to sophomore tight end Josh Falo, a position that is seldom targeted for the USC offense, for a total of 80 passing yards on a 12 play 90 yard drive.   

In the first half, the Trojans were successful on key plays, converting three of five third down attempts while holding the Wildcats to just one of four conversions. On the other hand, USC failed to reconcile its preventable penalty issue. The Trojans were penalized nine times for 95 yards in the first half alone. One of the fouls, a holding call, negated what would have been a large gain for sophomore running back Stephen Carr.

Solid defensive pressure led to a turnover in favorable field position for USC. Senior linebacker Porter Gustin’s pressure on junior quarterback Khalil Tate on a play action forced a throw into the hands of senior safety Marvell Tell III. The Trojans were unsuccessful in breaking into the red zone and settled for a career long 42-yard field goal by redshirt sophomore Michael Brown to extend the Trojans lead to 10-0.

Perhaps the biggest improvement for the Trojans was the diversification of receiving targets. Daniels had three receptions to freshman receiver Amon-Ra St.Brown for 36 yards, two receptions each to Jones Jr. and Vaughns for 22 and 23 yards respectively. This diversity is a stark contrast to past games in which Daniels focused on one receiver, usually St. Brown, for the bulk of targets. The offense also experimented more with plays towards the tight ends, which aided in the offense’s passing success.

The second half kept the ball rolling for the Trojans. On its first drive of the second half, USC extended its lead to 24-0 via a 69-yard rushing touchdown at the hands of Ware.

The Wildcats’ first score was Tate’s first big play of the game. He led his team 84 yards in seven plays for a touchdown to narrow the Trojans’ lead to 24-7. The Wildcats next scoring drive didn’t come until midway through the fourth quarter. Following a turnover via a fumble by Daniels, Arizona found the end zone on its first play with a 32-yard completion to redshirt junior receiver Cedric Peterson.

The Trojans next week is a bye week. Following the week off, USC will welcome Colorado to the Coliseum.

The post USC hangs on to defeat Arizona for first road win of season appeared first on Daily Trojan.

from Football – Daily Trojan https://ift.tt/2QjzL65