USC put some unexpected excitement back in the Coliseum on Saturday night when it erased a 15-point third-quarter deficit to pull into the lead early in the fourth quarter against No. 13-ranked BYU.
It not only would have been the 4-7 Trojans' best win this season but the program's best win since beating then-No. 10 Utah here in 2019.
Alas, it wasn't to be.
BYU (10-2) rolled through the USC defense for 62 yards on 6 straight carries for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:57 remaining for what would finish as a 35-31 win over the Trojans.
USC had one final chance to steal the game, and freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart led the offense inside the BYU 15-yard line before falling just short on a fourth down pass to Gary Bryant Jr. with 38 seconds left.
After the loss, interim head coach Donte Williams and the USC players talked about the resilience the team found on senior night -- an attribute that had been missing in each of the Trojans' previous losses, which all came by at least 14 points.
Watch video interviews with Williams, offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, Dart, Bryant, RB Vavae Malepeai, C Brett Neilon, RB Darwin Barlow, TE Lake McRee, DL Nick Figueroa, DL Tuli Tuipulotu, CB Chris Steele and more.
