LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — King Miller ran for 129 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and No. 23 Southern California overcame its worst passing performance in seven years to beat Nebraska 21-17 on Saturday night.
The Trojans (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) came in with the nation's top passing offense, but Jayden Maiava was just 9 of 23 for 135 yards during Nebraska's first “Blackout” game. The Huskers dressed in all black, as did most of the juiced-up sellout crowd of more than 86,000.
“You come to a place like this, against a good football team, and the night kick and crowd riled up, I’d be surprised if they have a better crowd any time this year than that tonight," USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “They were tremendous. And so, yeah, to overcome all that was great. Is it a sign of progress? Of course, it is now.”
The Cornhuskers (6-3, 3-3) lost quarterback Dylan Raiola to a right ankle injury in the third quarter and dropped their 29th straight game against a ranked opponent. Coach Matt Rhule didn't have an update on Raiola's status after the game.
USC was able to make up for its passing struggles with a run game that churned out 202 yards, with many of them coming on chunk plays. Miller had five of the Trojans' 10 runs of at least 10 yards.
“Honestly, we were just getting back to square one, back to the basics, and just executed our basic plays,” Miller said. "That’s what we came out to do today. Honestly, it wasn’t a surprise to us.”
The Trojans took their first lead early in the fourth. Jayden Maiava threw a 43-yard pass to Jaden Richardson on a flea-flicker and USC was at the Nebraska 6 after DeShon Singleton was called for pass interference. Miller ran in on the next play.
The Huskers were pinned at their 4-yard line to start their final possession with 3:27 left. Freshman TJ Lateef, who replaced Raiola, scrambled for a first down. But on fourth-and-1 from his 27, Emmett Johnson slipped after he took a handoff and went down, and the Trojans ran out the clock.
Johnson had 165 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries.
The Huskers led 14-6 at halftime and intercepted Maiava's first pass of the third quarter. He turned into a runner on the Trojans' next series, following a 29-yard burst with a 16-yard touchdown. USC tied it at 14 when Miller took a direct snap, faked a pitch and ran to the corner of the end zone for the 2-point conversion.
“Any time we give up 200 yards rushing, we're not going to be happy,” said Rhule, who signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday. “I don’t think anyone has held them to 21 points often. The defense had some good moments, some valiant moments, but we lost the game so we’ll have to get better.”
USC: The Trojans came in 2-5 in Big Ten away games since joining the conference last year and it looked as though their misery on the road would continue until Raiola went out and the defense made a couple stands. Their passing yardage was their lowest since JT Daniels and Matt Fink combined for 132 in a loss to Utah in 2018.
Nebraska: The Huskers couldn't capitalize on their first “Blackout” game, with the team wearing all-black uniforms for the first time since 2020 and almost all of the 86,529 fans dressed in black as well.
USC: Hosts Northwestern on Friday.
Nebraska: Visits UCLA on Saturday.
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