USC rallies to defeat Texas A&M in Las Vegas Bowl, secure winning season

LAS VEGAS —  It was less than four months ago, at the start of his third and most consequential season yet as USC’s coach, that Lincoln Riley walked off this same field at Allegiant Stadium, brimming with belief. His new quarterback had come through. His rebuilt defense had delivered. The statement he’d been searching for finally seemed to arrive in a season-opening win over Louisiana State.

“We know what we’ve been building,” Riley said that night. “I know we’re making progress.”

By late December, any signs of that progress disappeared, and any confidence in Riley faded along with it, lost during a frustrating season that ended Friday night right back where it began. But after a campaign filled with painful fourth-quarter collapses, the Trojans were able to return, for one night at least, to the form they found that night in September, beating Texas A&M 35-31 in the Las Vegas Bowl.

USC 35, Texas A&M 31 — end of the game

With eight seconds left, USC burned its final timeout before kicking off.

Michael Lantz kicked the ball into the end zone.

On first down at the Texas A&M 25, Marcel Reed tossed an incomplete pass.

With two seconds left, the Aggies tried a series of lateral passes and were called for a penalty before USC eventually forced the ball carrier out of bounds to seal the win.

USC 35, Texas A&M 31 — eight seconds left in the fourth quarter

USC started on its 25 after the touchback.

Jayden Maiava passed to Kyle For for eight yards. Maiava then passed to Makai Lemon for 13 yards.

Maiava passed to Lemon for six yards. Maiava passed to Kyle Ford for three yards. A’Marion Peterson ran for two yards to the Texas A&M 43 and was treated on the field for an injury, stopping the clock with 42 seconds left.

Maiava’s pass was batted in the air and he grabbed the ball back. He tried to run forward and was dropped for a loss of three, forcing USC to call timeout with 31 seconds left to stop the clock. Maiava then passed out of bounds. On third and 13 at the Aggies’ 46 with 29 seconds left, Maiava passed to Ja’Kobi Lane for a 33-yard gain.

On first down at the Texas A&M 13, the Aggies called time out with 17 seconds left.

Maiava passed to Lane for 11 yards, stopping the clock with 12 seconds left.

On first and goal at the Texas A&M two-yard line, USC was called for delay of game. Maiava then threw a slant pass to Ford for a seven-yard touchdown. Michael Lantz hit the extra point.

Texas A&M 31, USC 28, — 1:49 left in the fourth quarter

Texas A&M started on its 25 after the touchback.

Marcel Reed ran for seven yards. Reed passed to Jabre Barber for 16 yards.

Reed passed to EJ Smith for 12 yards. REed then passed to Terry Bussey for 13 yards.

Reed ran for eight yards to the USC 19 and the teams reached the two-minute timeout.

Reed tossed an incomplete pass before he ran for a 19-yard touchdown. Randy Bond hit the extra point to reclaim the lead with 1:55 left.

USC 28, Texas A&M 24, — 4:30 left in the fourth quarter

USC started on its 21 after the missed Texas A&M field goal.

A’Marion Peterson ran for three yards. Jayden Maiava tossed an incomplete pass before connecting with Kyle Ford for 11 yards.

Peterson ran for two yards. Maiava passed to Makai Lemon for 33 yards.

Bryan Jackson ran for six yards. Jackson then ran for seven yards and a first down at the Texas A&M 17.

Jackson ran for four yards. Jackson was dropped for a loss of two yards. On third-and-eight, Maiava passed to Ja’Kobi Lane for a 15-yard touchdown. USC’s Michael Lantz hit the extra point.

Texas A&M 23, USC 21 — 10:02 left in the fourth quarter

USC started on its four-yard line.

Jayden Maiava dropped back to pass and his deep throw was easily intercepted by Dalton Brooks at the USC 38.

Rueben Owens ran for 11 yards.

Owens ran for six yards. On second-and-four, Marcel Reed was hit as he tossed a pass into the turf. On third-and-four, Owens ran for one yard.

Randy Bond missed a 39-yard field goal, capping a massive effort by the USC defense to limit damage after the interception.

Texas A&M 23, USC 21 — 12:13 left in the fourth quarter

Texas A&M started on its 34 after a 23-yard kickoff return.

Marcel Reed passed to EJ Smith for six yards. Smith ran for three yards. Reed ran for no gain. Texas A&M punted to the USC 4-yard line.

Texas A&M 23, USC 21 — 14:24 left in the fourth quarter

USC started on its 34. A’Marion Peterson ran for four yards. Jayden Maiava tossed an incomplete pass. Texas A&M was called for delay of game. Bryan Jackson ran for two yards and a first down.

Maiava passed to Makai Lemon, who made an acrobatic catch and gained 28 yards.

Maiava passed to Ja’Kobi Lane for seven yards and then went back to Lane for 14 yards, moving the ball to the Texas A&M six-yard line as time expired in the third quarter.

Jackson ran for five yards to the Aggies’ 1. Jackson then ran for a one-yard touchdown. Texas A&M was called offsides on the scoring play, but the penalty was declined.

USC hit the extra point.

Texas A&M 23, USC 14 — 2:22 left in the third quarter

Texas A8M started on its 25 after the touchback.

Rueben Ownes ran for two yards and four yards. Marcelleft Reed then tossed an incomplete pass and the Aggies bobbled the punt that was downed at the USC 34.

Texas A&M 23, USC 14 — 3:42 left in the third quarter

USC started on its 29 after an A’Marion Peterson kickoff return to the Trojans’ 29.

Peterson ran for one yard. Jayden Maiava then passed to Kyle Ford for 23 yards. Maiava’s next two passes were incomplete, but the Aggies were called for pass interference on back-to-back plays.

Maiava then passed to Ja’Kobi Lane for a 17-yard touchdown and the Trojans hit the extra point.

Texas A&M 23, USC 7 — 5:16 left in the third quarter

USC started at its 25 after the touchback.

Jayden Maiava tossed a deep pass intended for Makai Lemon that was broken up. Maiava then tossed an incomplete pass under pressure. On third-and-10, Maiava’s pass was batted in the air by Aggie Donovan Green and then plucked from the air by Green. Maiava immediately tackled Green at the USC nine-yard line, briefly saving a touchdown.

Rueben Ownens ran for five yards. Marcel Reed tossed an incomplete pass before passing to Jabre Barber for a five-yard touchdown. Texas A&M hit the extra point.

Texas A&M 17, USC 7 — 6:12 left in the third quarter

Texas A&M started on its 17-yard line after a USC punt.

Rueben Owens rushed for four yards. Marcel Reed passed to Noah Thomas for nine yards and to Shane Calhoun for 36 yards, quickly moving the ball to the USC 34.

Owens rushed for six yards. Reed tossed an incomplete pass, but USC’s John Humphrey was called for pass interference and a loss of 15 yards.

Reed ran for a loss of two yards to the USC 10. Reed passed to Terry Bussey for one yard. Reed then tossed an incomplete pass.

Randy Bond hit a 27-yard field goal.

Texas A&M 14, USC 7 — 10:14 left in the third quarter

USC started at its 24-yard line after Josiah Zamora returned the kickoff 17 yards.

A’Marion Peterson ran for two yards. Jayden Maiava tossed an incomplete pass intended for Kyle Ford and another incomplete as he was hit intended for Peterson.

Ryon Sayeri punted to the Texas A&M 17. The Aggies were called for roughing the punter, but Lincoln Riley declined the five-yard penalty to keep the strong field position.

Texas A&M 14, USC 7 — 11:03 left in the third quarter

Texas A&M started on its 24-yard line after a kickoff return.

Rueben Owens rushed for four yards before the Aggies were called for false start. Marcel Reed passed to Jabre Barber for three yards before Reed passed to Terry Bussey for 15 yards.

Reed then passed to Tre Watson for 21 yards to the USC 38.

EJ Smith ran for 17 yards to the USC 21. Reed then passed to Barber 16 yards to the USC 5.

Reed passed for no gain, then passed to Noah Thomas for a five-yard touchdown. USC was called for pass interference on the play, but Thomas held onto the ball. Randy Bond hit the extra point.

It was a statement drive for the Aggies’ offense and a troubling start to the second half for the USC defense.

USC 7, Texas A&M 7 — 15:00 left in the third quarter

USC kicked off and Terry Bussey returned it 19 yards to the Aggies’ 24.

USC 7, Texas A&M 7 — HALFTIME

Michael Lantz missed a 39-yard field-goal attempt in the final seconds of the first half, spoiling USC’s chance to lead at halftime.

Lantz’s kick hooked wide left, ending a nine-play, 38-yard drive.

The biggest play of the drive came when a 15-yard roughing the punter penalty on Texas A&M gave USC a fresh set of downs from the Aggies’ 31. But USC couldn’t take advantage of the major mistake.

The USC defense has been strong, picking off Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed twice and holding Aggies to two straight three-and-outs to end the half.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava has completed six of 14 passes for 69 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Bryan Jackson has 43 yards in nine carries for the Trojans.

Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed completed 11 of 21 passes for 99 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions. Jahdae Walker had three catches for 49 yards.

USC 7, Texas A&M 7 — 5:55 left in the second quarter

After picking off Texas A&M twice, it was the Trojans’ turn to experience a momentum-sapping turnover.

Texas A&M defensive back BJ Mayes picked off Jayden Maiava to halt a five-play, 37-yard drive coming off the Aggies’ first three-and-out of the night.

Maiava threw deep, trying to find Makai Lemon in double coverage, and the Aggies made him pay.

USC 7, Texas A&M 7 — 10:16 left in the second quarter

Ja’Kobi Lane caught a short pass from Jayden Maiava and turned it into a 30-yard touchdown reception to tie the game early in the second quarter.

After an interception in the end zone by Akili Arnold, USC finally found rhythm on offense, with Maiava driving the Trojans 74 yards on eight plays. The drive included a 12-yard run by Bryan Jackson.

Maiava has completed four of 10 passes for 54 yards and Jackson has 31 yards in four carries.

Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed has completed 10 of 19 passes for 92 yards and Jahdae Walker has rushed for 42 yards in two carries.

Texas A&M 7, USC 0 — 12:08 left in the second quarter

USC safety Akili Arnold intercepted a deflected pass in the end zone and brought the ball out to the 26-yard line to thwart a two-touchdown lead for Texas A&M.

A pass into the end zone by Marcel Reed deflected off Noah Thomas’ hands, and Arnold was in prime position to catch the deflection before taking advantage of the open field in front of him. The interception ended a seven-play, 67-yard drive for the Aggies.

It was the Trojans’ second possession of the night — Kamari Ramsey had an interception in the first quarter.

Texas A&M 7, USC 0 — 2:22 left in the first quarter

USC is off to a rough start.

Makai Lemon gave the Trojans excellent field position for their second possession with a 46-yard kick return, but USC couldn’t capitalize.

On second down, Texas A&M defensive lineman Cashius Howell sacked USC quarterback Jayden Maiava for a 13-yard loss. An incomplete pass on third and 14 led to another punt.

USC got the ball a short time later when safety Kamari Ramsey picked off quarterback Marcel Reed. But for the second time in three possessions tonight, the Trojans then went three and out.

Making matters worse, USC starting left tackle Elijah Page was carted to the locker room after sustaining a left ankle injury.

Texas A&M 7, USC 0 — 6:37 left in the first quarter

Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed found wide receiver Noah Thomas open in the end zone on a seven-yard touchdown pass to cap a strong opening drive for the Aggies.

After the Trojans went three and out on the game’s first possession, Texas A&M chipped away at the USC defense on a 16-play, 78-drive. The drive included Texas A&M converting on fourth and one when Reed completed a two-yard pass to wide receiver Jabre Barber on a well-executed quick out.

Reed completed six of nine passes for 29 yards and the Aggies converted on three of four third downs.

A 15-yard penalty on USC defensive end Braylan Shelby also helped the Aggies.

A year ago, with USC’s star quarterback off to the NFL, Lincoln Riley made his plans at the position abundantly clear. He would pursue a transfer quarterback to take the reins from Caleb Williams — someone like Cam Ward or Will Howard or another marquee passer eager for the opportunity. Perhaps he’d add two — one older, one younger.

Miller Moss, the longtime backup, had different plans. In his first start, Moss threw for six scores and led the Trojans to a triumphant victory in the Holiday Bowl. So Riley, seeing no other choice, pivoted and put his faith in Moss.

That succession plan ultimately produced mixed results. While Ward and Howard led their new teams to 10-win seasons, Moss was benched by early November, replaced by Jayden Maiava, the Nevada Las Vegas transfer brought in to be his backup. Now Moss is in the transfer portal, Maiava is penciled in as starter and Riley finds himself back in a similar spot, with an uncertain future at football’s most important position.

When USC coach Lincoln Riley met with each of his wide receivers last week, he knew the room could be in for some upheaval.

This season hadn’t gone as hoped for most of the Trojans’ talented receivers. USC’s passing attack took a significant step back. Explosive plays disappeared from the offense. And until Makai Lemon emerged down the stretch, finishing with a team-leading 665 yards, none of USC’s vaunted quartet of sophomores took steps forward they were expected to make. Some even quietly blamed that fact on Riley’s insistence on regularly rotating receivers instead of leaning on a few.

But as USC’s young wideouts considered last week whether to stay or enter the transfer portal, Riley insisted Thursday that he didn’t set out to convince any receiver to stay. He simply set out in search of “alignment” between players and his plans at the position.

The NCAA, Pac-12 Conference and USC are seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by former Trojans star running back Reggie Bush on the grounds that his claims of antitrust violations and lost name, image and likeness compensation from his Heisman-winning tenure at USC come “at least a decade and a half too late.”

Bush filed the lawsuit in September, alleging that his school, its former conference and the sport’s governing body had all “profited from uncompensated use” of his NIL during and after his dazzling tenure at USC “without compensating Bush one penny.” In a news release announcing the lawsuit, Bush’s attorneys claimed he should be paid “to address and rectify ongoing injustices stemming from the exploitation of Reggie Bush’s name, image and likeness during his tenure as a USC football player.”

Already poised to turn over most of its offensive line, USC has moved quickly to replace departed offensive line coach Josh Henson with a familiar face.

Zach Hanson, who spent the last three seasons as USC’s tight ends coach, will shift to leading the Trojans offensive line.

He’ll take the place of Josh Henson, who left Tuesday to become the offensive coordinator at Purdue. While Henson technically carried the same title at USC, he will step into a play calling role for new Boilermakers coach Barry Odom, who previously coached alongside Henson at Missouri.

After nine days of chaos and uncertainty, during which 19 of his players left USC for the transfer portal, Lincoln Riley found himself longing Wednesday for a time, not so long ago, when the process of building a college football team was less opaque, teams were equally allotted 85 scholarships, relationships were forged in living rooms and decisions were made with more than money in mind.

But now, Riley lamented, that was long gone. In its place was a colder, more professional model, with much less clarity for all parties involved. College football, he said, was now “more of a business than it’s ever been.”

“I don’t think any of us could have predicted, I guess, just how quickly it has changed, how fundamentally it has changed,” Riley said. “I think the whole college football world is trying to adapt right now, which is, honestly, I think for everybody a little difficult to keep up with.”

Safety Kamari Ramsey, one of the leaders of USC’s improved defense, will return to anchor a rebuilt Trojans secondary in 2025, handing USC a significant victory after a week of disconcerting developments in the transfer portal.

Ramsey was widely expected to leave for the NFL draft, given his place as one of the top safety prospects available. But in a post on social media, the redshirt sophomore announced Wednesday that he would run it back for another season at USC, explaining that “there’s more I want to accomplish with my teammates.”

“I’m excited to run out of the Coliseum tunnel again next season wearing the Cardinal and Gold,” he wrote.

When he first arrived at USC last January, Bryan Jackson was still a few months short of his 18th birthday. The bright-eyed freshman running back had graduated from high school early, in the hope that he’d hit the ground running at USC. And right away it was clear how quickly that ground was moving beneath his feet.

But Jackson, a 230-pound power back, resolved not to let the speed of it all swallow him up. He watched closely as Woody Marks, the Trojans’ workhorse and Jackson’s roommate on the road, worked his way through a stellar season. He took note of Marks’ every move, how he arrived early and stayed late, how he took care of his body, how he watched film, filing it all away for when his moment finally came.

It might have seemed then as if Jackson would have a while to wait, what with Marks leading the way and standout sophomore Quinten Joyner waiting in the wings. But Marks opted out of the bowl game, and Joyner entered the transfer portal, and suddenly, the keys to USC’s backfield for Friday’s Las Vegas Bowl against Texas A&M were in the hands of one of the youngest players on USC’s roster, a freshman with barely 20 carries to his name.

“It’s an opportunity for me,” Jackson said recently, “one of the biggest of my life.”

USC (6-6) looks to end its season on a high note when it takes on Texas A&M (8-4) in the Las Vegas Bowl at Allegiant Stadium. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. PST and will be shown on ESPN. The radio broadcast will be available on 710 AM in the Los Angeles area.

Here’s a look at the betting odds for the game: