It was last December, after another season at USC fell short of the College Football Playoff, that coach Lincoln Riley promised his Trojans wouldn’t be waiting much longer to compete for a title.
“I really believe a window here has opened up,” he said at the time.
Less than a year later, on a chilly night in Bloomington, Indiana, that playoff window was basically begging USC to burst through it. The Trojans’ destiny, with three games remaining, was still in their hands. And Indiana, the defending national champion, gave USC every opportunity to seize it on Saturday.
There were red-zone trips, dropped picks and rampant penalties for USC, any number of which, had they gone right, might have turned the tide for the Trojans. There was even a fourth-quarter, score-tying drive given away by a goal-line interception.
Any realistic hope of No. 18 USC making the College Football Playoff was extinguished in a 27-13 loss to No. 9 Indiana, leaving Riley to explain how he’d fallen short for a fifth straight season.
Riley came into the game having lost six of seven against ranked opponents. But the Trojans were coming off their biggest victory of Riley’s USC tenure, an upset of No. 2 Ohio State, and had just spent the bye week focused entirely on Indiana (9-1, 6-1).
The Trojans’ third loss almost certainly eliminates them from playoff contention and, barring some unforeseen circumstances, the Big Ten championship game. But the stakes weren’t the only reason that Saturday’s result proved particularly excruciating.
All game long, the Trojans found themselves within striking distance. The defense made timely stops, only to give up nine plays of 15 yards or more. Indiana’s other 53 plays went for an average of just three yards per play.
USC’s offense put up numbers, too, racking up over 409 yards, while five of its drives made it to at least the Indiana 12-yard line. But the Trojans, who came into the game 95th nationally in red-zone conversions, came away with just two field goals and a single touchdown from those opportunities.
Their last failed red-zone attempt is sure to haunt the Trojans for the rest of the season — and possibly beyond. USC (7-3, 4-3) drove to Indiana’s seven-yard line without having faced a third down. But as Maiava threw for the end zone, Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones stepped in front of the pass and picked it off.
It was Maiava’s second of three interceptions in the game, and by far his most back-breaking of the season. Overall, it proved to be a difficult day for the Trojans quarterback, who threw for 311 yards but had just one touchdown.
Star freshman wideout Trent Mosley did his part, with nine catches for 130 yards. But USC’s rushing attack was lacking once again, as King Miller and Waymond Jordan combined for just 98 yards on 25 carries, their second-lowest total of the season.
USC actually had no trouble moving the ball on Indiana’s vaunted defense early. But ill-timed penalties saw its first two drives stall deep in Hoosier territory, and USC only came away with three points.
Meanwhile, Indiana — with a new quarterback, Grant Wilson, under center — hit a 47-yard pass on its first third down and scored a few plays later.
Both defenses settled in from there. The Trojans’ offense wouldn’t convert a single third down until midway through the third quarter. After the early field goal, they managed just a single first down over their next four drives.
One of those drives would end with an interception from Maiava — his fifth in the last six games — opening the door for Indiana. But USC’s defense held deep in its own territory, and Indiana was forced to settle for a field goal.
USC made them pay on the Hoosiers’ next possession, turning the game on its head. With 44 seconds left in the half, a tipped Indiana pass found its way into the hands of linebacker Deven Bryant. On the next play, Maiava hit Kayden Dixon-Wyatt deep for a 51-yard gain. USC capitalized soon after that, hitting Zacharyus Williams for a score and tying the score 10-10.
The two Big Ten contenders kept trading punches in the second half. USC’s defense held once again early in the third quarter, halting an 11-play Indiana drive at its 8-yard line. And when the Trojans marched on their own long drive, the Hoosiers held, as well.
The stalemate broke late in the third quarter, as Indiana broke a pair of big plays on USC’s defense. And after that, the Trojans never recovered, left instead to pick up the pieces of what looks like another playoff-less campaign.
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