The darkish clouds had parted. The rain, after soaking L.A. for greater than a day, had slowed.
By that time, in the beginning of a stellar, second-half turnaround Saturday, all hope of a Faculty Soccer Playoff bid for USC had almost washed away in a first-half downpour.
However that’s exactly when USC discovered its silver lining, with Makai Lemon scorching his method throughout the tip zone, calling for the ball. All season, Lemon had made the massive performs each time the Trojans’ offense wanted him. However no efficiency from its prime wideout was greater than Saturday, as Lemon got here alive within the second half, serving to ship USC a 26-21 win over Iowa that might maintain its playoff hopes intact for an additional week.
Lemon had 10 catches for 153 yards, none greater than the landing he scored within the third quarter to lastly flip the tide in a sport that gave the impression to be headed within the different route earlier than that.
USC’s protection would do the remainder, holding Iowa to a mere 108 yards after halftime. It was the third consecutive sport during which the unit held an opposing offense to fewer than 110 yards and not more than three factors within the second half.
USC extensive receiver Makai Lemon, proper, celebrates with tight finish Lake McRee through the first half of the Trojans’ win Saturday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Occasions)
A lucky bounce wouldn’t damage, both. Simply 4 performs after Lemon reeled in a 12-yard landing in site visitors, a third-down move from Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski was deflected instantly towards freshman defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart.
Stewart picked off the move, and USC took its first lead of the sport six performs later when Bryan Jackson rumbled into the tip zone for his second rating of the day.
Quarterback Jayden Maiava would shake off a shaky first half to assist regular the Trojans within the second. However he owed a lot of his afternoon to Lemon’s stellar efforts, in addition to fellow wideout Ja’Kobi Lane, who had 65 yards, most of which got here on catches that might charge tough or not possible for a mere mortal.
The victory units up for top-of-the-line video games of the school calendar subsequent week, as USC travels to No. 8 Oregon, with an opportunity to leap into the playoff dialog with a win. The truth that the Trojans have been in that place was significantly lucky, contemplating how issues began Saturday.
“The whole team was ready to lay it on the line today,” coach Lincoln Riley stated. “That’s what you have to have to win these big games.”
A tarp was unfurled throughout the sector virtually a full day earlier, in anticipation Saturday would deliver the kind of downpour the Coliseum hadn’t seen in years. The truth is, it’d been years because the stadium had seen rain in any respect all through a university soccer sport, the final time throughout a win over Notre Dame in 2016.
Because the rain fell in a single day, a upkeep crew armed with leaf blowers and large squeegees labored as much as kickoff to maintain the sector in first rate situation. There was solely a lot they may do.
The climate begged for a ground-heavy sport, which seemingly suited Iowa’s regular strategy. However the Hawkeyes as an alternative got here out firing on their opening drive, their 132nd-ranked passing offense transferring successfully down the sector. On a fourth and one, close to the objective line, Gronowski rolled out and delivered a landing move in site visitors, simply his sixth in eight video games this season.
USC coach Lincoln Riley celebrates within the second half of a 26-21 win over Iowa on the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Occasions)
It wasn’t so seamless of a begin for USC.
The Trojans gave it proper again to Iowa, in their very own territory, a couple of minutes later. They’d responded to the opening Hawkeye rating with a sloppy three-and-out collection, adopted by a shanked punt.
The subsequent time USC had the ball, Riley opted to go for it on a fourth and one close to midfield, and Iowa, whose protection is the perfect within the nation on fourth down, stuffed working again King Miller. The Hawkeyes promptly marched down the sector on one other landing drive.
Jackson punched in a second-quarter landing to place the Trojans on the board. Nonetheless, Iowa continued to maneuver at will on USC’s protection. It added one other landing earlier than the half, to which the Trojans might solely reply with a 40-yard area objective.
USC, although, got here out of the locker room trying like a completely completely different workforce. The protection clamped down. The offense received rolling.
