USC Stunned by Unranked BC

In November 2013, the Trojan faithful experienced overwhelming joy as fans rushed from their seats onto the field at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum after the USC football team upset No. 4 Stanford, 20-17. Saturday night's game resulted in fans spewing onto the field as well, but this time leaving a sour taste in the Cardinal and Gold.

The No. 9 USC football team made the 3,000-mile trip across the country to take on Boston College Saturday night in Chestnut Hill, Mass. In last year's match up against the Golden Eagles, the Trojans pummeled the visitors 35-7, trampling over them with 521 total yards with 257 of them coming on the ground. This year was much different as USC was out rushed by BC, 452-20.

Beginning with USC's opening possession, the offense was out-of-sync in several different areas. Starting the game off with a toss to redshirt junior George Farmer, the Trojans were quickly introduced to a notion that would follow throughout the game: the running attack would not work. Farmer was stopped in the backfield and a couple plays later, redshirt junior Cody Kessler was thrown to the ground on a third down sack forcing an early punt from redshirt junior Kris Albarado.

After several back-and-fourths of sloppy offense by both teams, USC was ready to strike behind the arm of its ball-slinger Kessler. Creeping on the Boston College redzone, Kessler founding a streaking target in redshirt senior Randall Telfer who carried his first reception of the season to the BC 6 yard line. Two plays later, Kessler dropped back and connected with Farmer for his first career touchdown reception, giving the Trojans a 7-0 lead. 

As Boston College faced a third down and long deep within its own territory, senior linebacker J.R. Tavai wrestled BC's senior quarterback Tyler Murphy to the ground, forcing a Golden Eagle punt. Taking the field with excellent field position, the USC offense could not make any progress and lost a yard before senior kicker Andre Heidari squeaked in a 52-yard field goal to bring the lead to 10.

Following the kickoff, BC running back Myles Willis took a handoff 52 yards to set up the Golden Eagle attack just outside the Trojan redzone. With time winding down in the first quarter, BC leaned on freshman Jon Hilliman to take the ball down to the USC 4 before running back Tyler Rouse punched it in to get the Golden Eagles on the board, 10-6.

After a missed extra point attempt, freshman utility player Adoree Jackson returned the kick past mid-field to set up the Trojan attack. Faced with another third and long situation, Allen slipped out of the backfield and received a screen pass from Kessler, taking it 51 yards for the score in just 48 seconds, boosting the USC advantage to 11.

Following the quick USC score, BC's Murphy displayed his own quickness in the form of his running game. The dual-threat quarterback put together a duo of runs to move the ball to the USC 3 where Hilliman bounced around the outside into the endzone to decrease the Trojan lead back to four.

With the Golden Eagles' defense giving up no room and forcing several Albarado punts, BC regained possession inside of USC territory. Under five minutes to play in the half, Murphy took the snap and looked to strike down field, but his pass was snatched out of the air by redshirt freshman Chris Hawkins.

Rewarded with decent field positioning thanks to the defensive turnover, three straight Trojan runs proved unsuccessful and were followed by a mere 18-yard punt by Albarado.

On the ensuing play, freshman Sherman Alston got involved in the BC offensive scheme, taking the pigskin 54 yards for the touchdown and giving the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game. 

Showing off yet another poor set of offensive drives, USC quickly found itself back on the defensive side of the ball. With just 19 seconds remaining in the half with no timeouts remaining, Boston College elected to attempt a 47-yard field goal that sailed wide, rounding out the first half with a 20-17 lead over visiting USC.

As the Trojan offense jogged off the field after a fifth-straight three-and-out, Murphy turned to his legs again to set up the Golden Eagles' attack. Utilizing a 21-yard gain by the quarterback, Hilliman pounced into the endzone for the second time to make it a 27-17 game.

After three-straight USC offensive possessions ended with Kessler being tossed to the turf for negative yardage, Murphy combined two rushes for 52 yards, setting up a 25-yard field goal mid-way through the final quarter. 

Trailing by 13, Kessler put together a string of completions to carry the Trojans within striking distance. Turning to his most targeted receiver, junior wide receiver Nelson Agholor was left uncovered as he brought in a 10-yard touchdown reception to close the gap to six.

Two plays into Boston College's following drive, Murphy continued to exhibit his lightening-quick speed. Calling his own number during an option play, the senior transfer sprang for 66 yards and another BC touchdown.

Abandoning the run game that provided no help throughout the entire game, USC recorded just 20 rushing yards on 29 carries, Kessler completed pass after pass until eventually hitting sophomore Darreus Rogers for a 14-yard touchdown reception, his first career Trojan touchdown.

Trailing by only six with under two minutes to play, Heidari attempted an onside kick that was controlled by Boston College. Armed with the lead and an explosive running attack, the Golden Eagles ran out the clock and sent the crowd running onto the field to celebrate a 37-31 upset victory.

The Trojans will return to Los Angeles this week and take a week off from game action to prepare for visiting Oregon State on Sept. 27.

Final Stats

USC:

Cody Kessler: 31/41, 317 yds, 4 TDs

Javorius Allen: 15 carries, 31 yds

Nelson Agholor: 9 receptions, 118 yds

BC:

Tyler Murphy: 5/13, 54 yds, 1 int; 13 carries, 191 yds, 1 TD

Jon Hilliman: 19 carries, 89 yds, 2 TDs

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