No. 13 BYU blows lead, rallies to beat Southern Cal 35-31

Sun, Nov 28, 2021
NCAAF News (AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jalen Hall passed for 276 yards and two touchdowns, Tyler Allgeier rushed for 111 yards and a pair of scores and No. 13 Brigham Young rallied to defeat Southern California 35-31 Saturday night after blowing an 15-point, third-quarter lead.

BYU (10-2) trailed 31-28 with 11:03 remaining after Jaxson Dart's 10-yard touchdown pass to Gary Bryant Jr. and 2-point conversion. But the Cougars regained the lead with 3:57 to go on Jackson McChesney's 7-yard TD run.

USC (4-7) drove to the BYU 15 in the final minute, but Bryant came up a yard short on a pass from Dart on fourth-and-6 and turned the ball over on downs with 38 seconds remaining as Kaleb Hayes made the tackle.

Dart was 23 of 45 for 248 yards and a touchdown for the Trojans, who have dropped five of their last six and saw their bowl hopes dashed.

USC trailed 28-13 early in the third quarter after Keanu Hill caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Hall that was just beyond the outstretched left arm of Trojans cornerback Isaiah Pola-Mao before coming back with scores on three straight possessions.

Vavae Malepeai started the rally on the ensuing drive with a TD on fourth-and-goal. Malepeai ran right, bounced off an attempted tackle by BYU linebacker Max Tooley and scored from 2 yards out.

Parker Lewis' third field goal brought the Trojans within five points before they took the lead on Dart's strike to Bryant.

After USC's Bryant returned the opening kickoff 62 yards to the BYU 34-yard line, the Trojans took a 3-0 lead on Parker Lewis' 26-yard field goal. BYU took the lead eight plays later when Hall connected with Puka Nacua for a 28-yard touchdown.

Both of Allgeier's scores came in the second quarter as BYU led 21-13 at halftime. USC's lone first-half touchdown was on a 5-yard keeper by Dart. His knee appeared to be on the ground while fielding the shotgun snap, but he didn't have possession of the ball.

Hall completed 20 of 32 passes and was picked off twice.

TEMPER, TEMPER

BYU coach Kalani Sitake was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the third quarter for arguing on the field after a punt.

THE TAKEAWAY

BYU: The Cougars were a perfect 5-0 against Pac-12 teams this season. They defeated Arizona, Utah, Arizona State and Washington State earlier.

USC: This was the best the Trojans have looked during the second half of what has been a disappointing season, especially after a 62-33 loss to rival UCLA last week.

UP NEXT

BYU: Regular season complete.

USC: Travels to Cal next Saturday for its season finale. The game was rescheduled from Nov. 13 due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Cal's program.

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