LAS VEGAS, NV – USC quarterback Jayden Maiava found receiver Kyle Ford for a 7-yard touchdown pass with eight seconds remaining to comeback and defeat Texas A&M 35-31 to win the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl on Friday night.
It looked like Texas A&M (8-5) was primed for the win after quarterback Marcel Reed capped off a 7 play 75-yard drive with his 19-yard touchdown run to put the Aggies up 31-28 with 1:49 remaining.
Maiava and the Trojans had an up-and-down night but found a way to make the plays when it mattered.
USC (7-6) put together a 10-play drive for 75 yards that led to Maiava and Ford’s touchdown connection.
Maiava went 8-for-9 on the final drive for 78 yards including a 33-yard pass to receiver Ja’Kobi Lane on 3rd-and-13 from the Aggies’ 46.
“He didn’t play his best there for a while, missed a few things he doesn’t’normally miss, ”USC coach Lincoln Riley said of Maiava, “but he stuck with it. That’s what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to keep fighting.”
Lane was the star of the night with seven catches for 127 yards and a Las Vegas Bowl-record three touchdown catches.
“At the end of the day we all realized what we came to do in Vegas, and that is come out with a win,” said Lane. “And I think we’re all happy with that, and it’s time to go home and enjoy a little bit of Christmas time that we missed.”
USC trailed 24-7 with 5:12 left in the third quarter before turning it around starting with Lane’s second touchdown of the day making 24-14 late in the third quarter.
Maiva finished the game 22-for-39 passing for 295 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.
Reed gave everything he could to help knock off the Trojans but he left too much time in the end. He finished the game with a total of 339 yards (293 passing & 46 rushing) and 4 touchdowns ( 3 passing & 1 rushing).
On Sept. 1 at Allegiant Stadium in the opener, the Trojans overcame a third-quarter deficit and scored with eight seconds left to beat LSU 27-20 and they finished their season in a very similar way.
It was a fitting end for USC to end a season marked by frustration, on a high note from which they hope for a bright future ahead.
“You just kind of feel it within the locker room right now,” Riley said. “A confidence that we’re going to be in every fight, that we’re not going to go away.”
