Lincoln Riley had a flashback to three years ago when he was coaching Oklahoma.
Back then, the Sooners were tied with their rival Texas, and a 33-yard run into the end zone with 3 seconds left secured the win against the Longhorns.
On Sunday night, with No. 23 Southern California needing just a field goal to win, Riley remembered that play. A run was called for Woody Marks, who ran 13 yards up the middle to score with 8 seconds left, giving USC a 27-20 victory over No. 13 LSU.
“I told someone on the headset, ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if he creases this,’” Riley said. “And, of course, it happened.”
Miller Moss threw for 378 yards and a touchdown. His 20-yard pass to Kyron Hudson and a subsequent targeting penalty on LSU with 18 seconds left set up Marks’ winning score. This was Marks’ second touchdown run.
“We worked really hard throughout the offseason to build the identity of a tough team that really cares about each other,” Moss said.
Moss outperformed LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, who completed 29 of 38 passes for 304 yards with two touchdowns and an interception on the final drive.
Moss was similarly efficient, completing 27 of 36 passes in a matchup of quarterbacks who had waited their turns after sitting behind the most recent Heisman Trophy winners, LSU’s Jayden Daniels and USC’s Caleb Williams.
USC, in its first season in the Big Ten Conference, made a statement with this win, their first meeting with LSU in 40 years. It showed that the Trojans could be a strong team after a disappointing 8-5 season last year.
“That was some pretty good Big Ten football today,” Riley said with a smile.
And it came against an SEC team hoping to prove it belongs in the College Football Playoff.
LSU will still have chances to make that case, but this marks their third consecutive season-opening loss under coach Brian Kelly and their fifth straight overall. LSU’s four-game winning streak from last season was also broken.
“We didn’t play complementary football,” Kelly said. “But what concerns me the most are the personal fouls and selfish penalties.
They’re undisciplined, and that reflects poorly on me. We pride ourselves on running a disciplined program, but we clearly didn’t do a good job there, and it affected the game.”
The Tigers made up about 60% of the crowd at Allegiant Stadium, which had a record attendance of 63,969 and often felt like Baton Rouge West. Some notable figures were present too, including LSU legends Shaquille O’Neal and Daniels with his Heisman Trophy, as well as former USC Heisman winners Marcus Allen and Matt Leinart.
The first half featured two amazing catches. Hudson made a spectacular grab, jumping high and pulling the ball in with one hand, then bringing it into his body for a 24-yard gain to LSU’s 19-yard line.
This play stood after a video review and led to a 2-yard touchdown run by Marks, putting the Trojans ahead 7-0 four minutes into the second quarter.
LSU’s Kyren Lacy responded with his own impressive catch, twisting and just managing to get his right foot inbounds for a 19-yard touchdown to even the score midway through the period.
Both teams missed key opportunities — the Tigers were stopped on downs after reaching the USC 3-yard line, and Trojans kicker Michael Lantz missed a 29-yard field goal attempt to the right as the first-half clock ran out.
The Trojans could have had an extra 30-40 seconds on their final possession, but Riley chose not to call a timeout before LSU tied the game with a 45-yard field goal by Damian Ramos with 1:08 left.
The game was tight throughout, with the Trojans taking a 20-17 lead with 5:44 left in regulation when Moss connected with Ja’Kobi Lane for a 28-yard touchdown. Ramos’s 31-yard field goal tied the game, leaving 1:47 on the clock.
