PASADENA, Calif. — A calm settled over Caleb Williams, on a night when that could be said about few others.
Touchdowns had been traded back and forth. Turnovers too. Field goals were missed. Response after response after response was mounted, in the most dizzying night of the crosstown rivalry in recent memory, a roller coaster that USC rode to a 48-45 victory Saturday night and a berth in the Pac-12 title game.
The Trojans’ star quarterback had come to USC precisely for moments like these, with every chest in a sold-out Rose Bowl thumping and the stakes heart-stoppingly high. He’d put up more than 500 yards of offense, and now, it was up to him to put the game away. But the pocket promptly collapsed, USC’s star was sacked, its hopes suddenly uncertain with time left for UCLA to mount one final drive.
That’s when an unexpected hero emerged to do what neither Williams nor any other Trojan could.
Korey Foreman had come to USC out of Corona Centennial High as the top recruit in the country, with the weight of expectation heavy on his shoulders. A billboard even had announced his arrival on campus. But nothing about his first two seasons had suggested a star was in the making.
Until Saturday, when Foreman found himself in perfect position with the game on the line, as UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw a desperate, third-down pass toward receiver Kazmeir Allen. Foreman stepped in front — and into rivalry lore — right on time, coming down with a game-sealing interception that sent the Trojans to the Pac-12 championship Dec. 2 in Las Vegas.
Thompson-Robinson had done all he could to will UCLA to that point. A year after hurdling his way into crosstown infamy, the Bruins quarterback was bloodied and bruised Saturday by a Trojans defense that set out to beat him into oblivion. Thompson-Robinson still accounted for six touchdowns, but USC’s defense forced him into three turnovers, the most crucial two of which came in the second half, just as USC’s offense took the reins.
Those turnovers kept USC afloat in a game it tried to give away at various points Saturday. The Trojans defense would still give up more than 500 yards for the third time in four weeks. It just so happened that UCLA’s defense gave up even more: 649, to be exact.
Of those, 503 belonged to Williams, a crosstown rivalry record. He completed 32 of 43 passes for 470 yards and four total touchdowns (two on the ground) in a performance that’s likely to thrust him toward the top of the Heisman race. He had plenty of help in that from top target Jordan Addison, who returned from injury to add 178 yards receiving and a touchdown.
USC’s offense managed to move just fine without its leading rusher, Travis Dye, who suffered a season-ending injury last week. Austin Jones didn’t miss a beat as he finished with 177 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.
Even still, UCLA had fired its way back into the game late, after giving up the lead it held throughout the first half. Thompson-Robinson had cut the Trojans’ lead to just a field goal with just 6:38 remaining.
But when he got the ball back, the Bruins’ fifth-year senior couldn’t conjure the same magic he’d had so many times before against the Trojans.
Missed opportunities afflicted USC from the start as UCLA built a 14-0 lead after one quarter.
The Trojans marched down the field on their opening drive, eager to make a statement, only to run headlong into a blue-and-gold wall once they hit the red zone. Facing a fourth and one, Williams opted to keep it himself. He promptly was swallowed up by UCLA’s Gabriel Murphy.
The missed opportunities for USC kept spiraling from there. After its defense forced a three-and-out, Williams found Addison downfield for a 37-yard gain, only for the offense to stall once again in the red zone.
Seeking something, anything from its two early trips inside the 20, USC opted this time to kick a field goal … only to have Denis Lynch botch a chip shot, 32-yarder, his fifth miss of the season in 15 tries.
UCLA would make USC pay soon after with a methodical, 15-play drive, punctuated by Thompson-Robinson’s one-yard touchdown run.
The Trojans’ sense of urgency suddenly rising, Williams took the field intent on mounting a response. Instead he threw one of his worst passes of the season and was picked off, just the third time all season that USC’s Heisman contender had turned the ball over.
This time, it took the Bruins just one play to respond, as a discombobulated USC defense left tight end Mike Ezeike without a defender in sight. He strolled in for a 30-yard touchdown catch.
It was difficult to imagine a more nightmarish start for the Trojans. But with its offense still moving the ball, USC quickly clawed its way back. Williams led a 10-play touchdown drive, capped by a six-yard keeper for the score.
Then, it was UCLA’s turn to shoot itself in the foot.
With a chance to score before halftime, Thompson-Robinson handed it back to the Trojans instead, hitting cornerback Mekhi Blackmon in stride for an interception. Seeking still to add a score before the half, UCLA coach Chip Kelly used his timeouts to give UCLA a second chance.
A second missed kick from Lynch would give the Bruins just that.
But, the decision backfired. Another errant throw from Thompson-Robinson was picked off, giving USC the ball again. This time — after an attempted icing by Kelly in which USC’s kicker missed — Lynch knocked a 49-yarder through the uprights just before half to cut UCLA’s lead to 21-20.
