PROVO, Utah _ The trap was set. And USC fell right into it.
Riding high after a rousing victory over Stanford, with a new dynamic freshman quarterback and a renewed sense of hope behind him, USC rode into the state of Utah on its first road trip of the season with every intention of rolling over Brigham Young.
Instead, the No. 24 Trojans tripped and fell on their faces in a 30-27 overtime loss they could ill afford.
All week long, coach Clay Helton preached maturity to his young team. Mature teams, he told them, kept their focus in these situations.
But Saturday, as USC's scorching offense went cold, its freshman quarterback's mastery went stale, and its defense went missing in action, that notion dissolved into the mountain air.
It ended with Kedon Slovis, the freshman who just a week ago had lit the Coliseum ablaze. But here, in a hostile environment, he folded at the worst possible time, throwing an interception in overtime that clinched the Trojans' first defeat.
Slovis completed 24 of 34 passes for 281 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions _ the last of which proved to be the dagger.
The road to that moment, however, had been littered with miscues on offense, defense and special teams.
It all began according to plan. Slovis marched the Trojans (2-1) down the field with ease on a 10-play, 74-yard opening drive. He hit open receivers in spite of pressure, showing the composure USC has so often raved about since his arrival. He took what BYU's defense gave to him.
When he ended the drive with an eight-yard dart to Michael Pittman Jr. in the end zone, it seemed the Trojans might skate to a road victory, setting their sights on a marquee Pac-12 matchup next Friday against Utah.
But on the next drive, Slovis threw an interception in his own territory. Then, one drive later, he threw another, this one, into triple coverage.
With a short field on consecutive possessions, BYU took a 10-7 lead and buckled down on defense.
Suddenly, USC had issues moving the ball. Slovis struggled to push the ball down the field. And the run game, which was expected to excel against a BYU defense that gave up more than 500 yards on the ground in two weeks, ran more often than not into a wall of defenders.
The run game found its rhythm briefly before the half by leaning on bruising back Markese Stepp. A touchdown from Vavae Malepeai, who led the team with 96 yards, capped the run-heavy drive, tying the score at 17 heading into the half.
It wasn't until the fourth quarter that the Trojans finally seemed ready to pull away. But it wasn't without a little bit of outside help.
A 12-play drive late in the third brought BYU deep into USC's territory. But as the Cougars faced a fourth-and-one play, a bizarre sequence of events handed the ball back to the Trojans.
A rush attempt on fourth down, which was stopped by USC, was whistled away by the officials when Helton apparently called a timeout. That timeout was then given back, due to a substitution issue. On BYU's second try at fourth and one, USC's defense held strong,
Taking over at their eight-yard-line, Slovis drove the Trojans down the field on a crucial 13-play drive. In the corner of the end zone, he found Pittman for his second touchdown.
Still, the Trojans continued to play with fire. A BYU field goal on the next drive cut the USC lead to four, and on the ensuing possession, the Trojans proceeded to self-sabotage.
A penalty on the kickoff put them deep in their own territory again, but this time, there was no crawling out. They punted and could only watch soon after as Cougars quarterback Zach Wilson evaded the rush and hit a wide-open Gunner Romney 35 yards down the field.
One play later, Wilson spotted an opening in the middle of the field and cut through USC's defense for a go-ahead touchdown.
With time ticking away, the Trojans drove down the field, but their drive stalled at the BYU 34. So Chase McGrath lined up and kicked a 52-yard field goal to tie it at 27-27, giving USC hope that it might just escape in overtime.
After the Trojans held on the first possession, BYU kicked a field goal.
But then, Slovis' third interception was tipped into the air, and the crowd flooded the field in victory.
