The dark clouds had parted. The rain, after soaking L.A. for more than a day, had slowed.
By that point, at the start of a stellar, second-half turnaround Saturday, all hope of a College Football Playoff bid for USC had nearly washed away in a first-half downpour.
But that’s precisely when USC found its silver lining, with Makai Lemon scorching his way across the end zone, calling for the ball. All season, Lemon had made the big plays whenever the Trojan offense needed him. But no performance from its top wideout was bigger than Saturday, as Lemon came alive in the second half, helping deliver USC a 26-21 win over Iowa that would keep its playoff hopes intact for another week.
Lemon had 10 catches for 153 yards, none bigger than the touchdown he scored in the third quarter to finally turn the tide in a game that seemed to be headed in the other direction before that.
USC’s defense would do the rest, holding Iowa to a mere 108 yards after halftime. It was the third consecutive game in which the unit held an opposing offense to fewer than 110 yards and six points in the second half.
A fortunate bounce wouldn’t hurt, either. Just four plays after Lemon reeled in a 12-yard touchdown in traffic, a third-down pass from Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski was deflected directly toward freshman defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart.
Stewart picked off the pass, and USC took its first lead of the game six plays later when Bryan Jackson rumbled into the end zone for his second score of the day.
Quarterback Jayden Maiava would shake off a shaky first half to help steady the Trojans in the second. But he owed much of his afternoon to Lemon’s stellar efforts, as well as fellow wideout Ja’Kobi Lane, who had 65 yards, most of which came on catches that would rate difficult or impossible for a mere mortal.
The victory sets up for one of the best games of the college calendar next week, as USC travels to No. 8 Oregon, with a chance to leap into the playoff conversation with a win. The fact that the Trojans were in that position was particularly fortunate, considering how things started Saturday.
A tarp was unfurled across the field almost a full day earlier, in anticipation Saturday would bring the sort of downpour the Coliseum hadn’t seen in years. In fact, it’d been years since the stadium had seen rain at all throughout a college football game, the last time during a win over Notre Dame in 2016.
As the rain fell overnight, a maintenance crew armed with leaf blowers and giant squeegees worked up to kickoff to keep the field in decent condition. There was only so much they could do.
The weather begged for a ground-heavy game, which seemingly suited Iowa’s usual approach. But the Hawkeyes instead came out firing on their opening drive, their 132nd-ranked passing offense moving effectively down the field. On a fourth and one, near the goal line, Gronowski rolled out and delivered a touchdown pass in traffic, just his sixth in eight games this season.
It wasn’t so seamless of a start for USC.
The Trojans gave it right back to Iowa, in their own territory, a few minutes later. They’d responded to the opening Hawkeye score with a sloppy three-and-out series, followed by a shanked punt.
The next time USC had the ball, Riley opted to go for it on a fourth and one near midfield, and Iowa, whose defense is the best in the nation on fourth down, stuffed running back King Miller. The Hawkeyes promptly marched down the field on another touchdown drive.
Jackson punched in a second-quarter touchdown to put the Trojans on the board. Still, Iowa continued to move at will on USC’s defense. It added another touchdown before the half, to which the Trojans could only respond with a 41-yard field goal.
USC, though, came out of the locker room looking like a totally different team. The defense clamped down. The offense got rolling.
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