The day after USC

The USC Trojans began their first possession of the second quarter at their own 20-yard line. They would find the WSU end zone just 7 plays later with Kedon Slovis hitting Tyler Vaughns for a 35-yard score.

It wasn’t an ideal start to the final three quarters for the Washington State Cougars, but they responded with a touchdown drive of their own. An 11-play, 75-yard, grinder that ended with Travell Harris rushing 5 yards for a score. Blake Mazza missed the extra point to make it a 7-6 score for the final three quarters.

Those were the final points on the first half. The second half was a defensive battle. The Cougs turned up pressure, making a number of plays behind the line of scrimmage. The Trojans were able add a field goal to take 10-6 final three quarter lead. However, Gunner Cruz came on in relief and put the Cougs up for good. The redshirt freshman connected with Renard Bell for a 6-yard touchdown with 1:37 to play.

That gave the Cougars a 13-10 lead in the final three quarters. And they were able to hold onto it for the final 97 seconds, with USC mustering little offense to close out the game.

Unfortunately, USC opened the game with four touchdown drives to take a 28-0 first quarter lead and won the game 38-13. But the last three quarters were all WSU.

*****

Football:

Analysis: Three impressions from WSU’s blowout loss to USC | The Seattle Times
The Cougars finally returned to action after their previous two games were called off, and it didn't go well — USC took a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and...

Max Borghi set to miss third consecutive game for Washington State; four members of secondary also out | The Spokesman-Review
Max Borghi has made significant progress since suffering a back injury during preseason camp, and even if a return is on the horizon, the Washington State running back didn't travel with the team to USC and will miss his third consecutive game.

TV Take: FS1 crew spends night fawning over USC's potent offense in victory over Washington State | The Spokesman-Review
USC has plastered Washington State a few times over the years, but not in the past decade. Until Sunday night, when the Cougars ventured into the Coliseum without four of their top eight defensive backs due to the same reason they hadn’t played in nearly a month.

Recap and highlights: No. 16 USC jumps out early, cruises past Washington State, 38-13 | The Spokesman-Review
Kedon Slovis threw five touchdown passes, four to Amon-Ra St. Brown, and the No. 16 USC Trojans raced past the Washington State Cougars, 38-13, Sunday evening in Los Angeles.

Slovis, St. Brown help USC rout Washington State | theScore.com
Amon-Ra St. Brown caught four touchdown passes from Kedon Slovis in a spectacular first quarter, and No. 16 Southern California cruised to a 38-13 victory over Washington State on Sunday night.