USC football beats Oregon State 17-14: Live updates recap, highlights from Pac-12 showdown in Corvallis
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All eyes were on Corvallis Saturday night as the USC Trojans battled the Oregon State Beavers in a battle of unbeaten teams.
Lincoln Riley's Trojans (4-0, 2-0) faced their toughest test of the young season against an experienced and tough Beavers team, and they emerged with a 17-14 victory that came down to the final seconds.
USC's defense was the story as the Trojans came up with four interceptions, including the game-clinching pick by Max Williams with 35 seconds to play.
Caleb Williams looked disjointed most of the night, but came up with the game-winning 21-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison with 1:13 to play.
USC was thin on the defensive line with the injury to Auburn transfer Romello Height, who is likely out for the season. But the rest of the defense came up big on Saturday night, especially the secondary.
Here's a recap of the big-play and scoring highlights from a crazy Saturday night in Corvallis:
FINAL: USC 17, OREGON STATE 14
4TH QUARTER UPDATES
INTERCEPTION USC! WOW! Eric Gentry tips a Chance Nolan pass and Max Williams picks it off with 35 seconds left to put this game on ice. That's the fourth interception by USC's defense tonight.
TOUCHDOWN USC! Caleb Williams throws a 21-yard dart to Jordan Addison to give USC a 17-14 lead with 1:13 left in the game.
Oregon State needs a field goal to tie and has two timeouts left.
TOUCHDOWN OREGON STATE: The Beavers take a 14-10 lead on an 18-yard TD run by Jam Griffin with 4:41 to play.
USC INTERCEPTION! The Trojans' defense is saving the day, folks. I cannot imagine writing that line a year ago. Mekhi Blackmon picks off a deep pass at USC's 5-yard line with 7:23 to play. Unfortunately, the offense went backward and punted right back to Oregon State, giving them great field position.
OSU MISSES FIELD GOAL! USC still leads 10-7 after Oregon State kicker Everett Hayes misses a 46-yard field goal with 8:34 left in the game. The field goal miss capped a 12-play, 46-yard drive that stalled with a holding penalty on a play that would have given the Beavers a 1st-and-goal situation.
TOUCHDOWN USC! The Trojans take a 10-7 lead on Travis Dye's 7-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-2 with 14:18 left in the game. Dye's touchdown capped a 7-play, 26-yard drive that came on the heels of Ceyair Wright's interception.
We head to the fourth quarter with USC deep in Oregon State territory, facing a 3rd and short inside the 15-yard line.
Jordan Addison has been on the sidelines for the entire series. It's unclear if he's injured.
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3RD QUARTER UPDATES
USC INTERCEPTION! Ceyair Wright picks off a Chance Nolan pass to give USC the ball deep in Oregon State territory.
OSU 7, USC 3, 4:49 LEFT: USC had a 13-play, 54-yard drive that ended in a punt after Caleb Williams was sacked on 3rd-and-12 from the Oregon State 34-yard line.
WILLIAMS TO ADDISON: Finally. After Travis Dye fumbles on the goal-line (and USC recovers), Caleb Williams completes a clutch third-down pass to Jordan Addison to give USC life and give Addison his first catch of the game.
The Beavers receive the second-half kickoff and USC's defense forces a punt. Let's see what adjustments Lincoln Riley made at halftime.
HALFTIME: OSU 7, USC 3
Big storyline of first half: Oregon State's defense. The Beavers constantly changed looks, especially late in the play clock, and Caleb Williams looked confused and was off target. The Beavers are taking away Jordan Addison (0 catches) and Williams and Lincoln Riley have not made the necessary adjustments.
Halftime stats:
Caleb Williams is 6-of-18 for 68 yards
Travis Dye has rushed 9 times for 92 yards
USC's drive chart: Turnover on downs, missed FG, punt, FG, end of half
The most revealing stats? USC burned all three of its timeouts early in the half because there was confusion at the line of scrimmage and the play clock was running down. And Jordan Addison has not caught a pass.
2ND QUARTER UPDATES
OSU 7, USC 3, 5:38 LEFT: Denis Lynch boots it through from 42 yards out to put the Trojans on the board. USC converts the turnover into points, but still looks disjointed on offense.
USC INTERCEPTION! The Trojans needed a big play and they got one from linebacker Eric Gentry who picks off a pass from Chance Nolan to give USC the ball back at their own 33-yard line with 7:37 left.
CALEB WILLIAMS UPDATE: USC's quarterback is really struggling, folks. Oregon State is doing a terrific job disguising coverages and Williams has looked confused, indecisive and very inaccurate through the first quarter and a half. Williams is 3-for-12 passing for 30 yards. Meanwhile, USC has abandoned the run game again after racking up 101 yards on just 14 carries, mostly in the first quarter.
There is one path forward for USC's offense: take what Oregon State is giving you and run the football.
OSU 7, USC 0, 13:18 LEFT: Deshaun Fenwick scores on a 4-yard run to give Oregon State the first points of the game. Fenwick's run capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive. Oregon State is controlling the tempo of the game and USC looks disjointed on both sides of the ball. This is the first time USC has trailed this season.
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1ST QUARTER UPDATES
USC 0, OREGON STATE 0, END OF QUARTER: The opening quarter comes to a close with the Beavers driving deep into USC territory. Travis Dye had 70 yards rushing in the quarter, but Caleb Williams only completed one pass.
USC MISSED FIELD GOAL, 3:16 LEFT: The Trojans' second drive of the game - a 13-play, 71-yard march - ends with a 36-yard missed field goal from Denis Lynch. Oregon State is taking a page from Fresno State and daring USC to run the football. The Beavers are changing their looks late and dropping seven and eight players into coverage. The Trojans have already run for 100 yards, but Caleb Williams is just 1-for-6 for 11 yards. Still 0-0.
USC TURNOVER ON DOWNS: USC receives the opening kickoff ... and Travis Dye takes the read-option handoff from Caleb Williams on the first play and gashes Oregon State for a 36-yard gain. But the next four plays produce just four yards, and USC fails to convert on 4th-and-6, giving Oregon State the ball on their own 42-yard line.
PREGAME UPDATES
Kickoff is scheduled for 6:41 p.m. PT and the temperature is 76 degrees. The conditions could not be more ideal. Here we go!
