USC football avoids disaster by holding on against winless Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, NJ.— The birthplace of college football looked like it might also mark the resting place of USC’s season.The Trojans would play more games regardless of what happened Saturday, of course, but would there really be any coming back from a loss to winless Rutgers?Some late perseverance prevented USC from finding out.On a day when their defense gave up way too many big plays and their offense missed freshman wide receiver Trent Mosley, the No.

12 Trojans nevertheless held on during a 42-35 victory at SHI Stadium in their Big Ten opener.A fourth-down stop followed by a quick touchdown midway through the fourth quarter prevented USC (4-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) from what would have been a major stumble.It was bad enough as it was, the Trojans’ defense giving up 460 yards against a team that got steamrolled by UMass in this same stadium.Rutgers (0-3, 0-1) converted three of four fourth downs and nearly matched the combined 42 points it had scored in its first two games.Meanwhile, Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava turned in his first clunker of the season.Repeatedly locking in on his first targets and struggling to make plays against soft zone coverage, Maiava completed 20 of 32 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.But the bigger concern was a defense that now must face Oregon, which rolled up 84 points against Portland State.USC averted a collapse against what was widely considered one of the worst Power Four teams in the country.Rutgers’ season-opening loss to UMass and subsequent setback against Boston College put Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano firmly on the hot seat.USC counterpart Lincoln Riley would have joined him had his team faltered Saturday.

But even with the sigh-of-relief victory, the Trojans are not exactly surging heading into their showdown against Oregon next weekend.With Rutgers facing a fourth-and-1 at its 24-yard line early in the fourth quarter, trailing by just a touchdown, the Scarlet Knights tried to g...