LOS ANGELES_Late in a strange rivalry game, when neither USC nor UCLA was playing particularly well, Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen heaved up an offering into the light fog over the Coliseum.
Rosen had launched missiles all game, mostly successfully, but when this one came down to earth, USC cornerback Jack Jones was in position. He batted the ball away ... only for it to deflect into fellow cornerback Iman Marshall's helmet ... and right back into the hands of UCLA receiver Jordan Lasley.
Officially, it was a 43-yard reception. Unofficially, it felt like an omen. No. 11 USC had violated an important rivalry-game dictum: Never let the underdog hang around. Now it might lead to disaster.
The Trojans could credit their escape from catastrophe, and their 28-23 victory Saturday, to their reaction to the catch-turned-omen. On a stand near the goal line, USC did not break.
On third down, USC came at Rosen. He had to check down to Austin Roberts. Safety Chris Hawkins and nickel back Ajene Harris swarmed. And so a potentially tying touchdown, with just about 10 minutes left, became a mere field goal that cut the Trojans' lead to 21-17.
USC marched down the field on the next drive. A two-yard Ronald Jones II score gave the Trojans an 11-point cushion.
It was a fitting performance amid two head-scratching seasons.
UCLA couldn't support Rosen's 421-yard performance, couldn't escape its self-inflicted mistakes and couldn't give a big boost of support for coach Jim Mora while some call for his job.
"It's a very disappointed football team in there," Mora said. "It's been a tough season."
USC, as it has for much of the season, played sloppily. Its offense was lurchy. Yet it won its 10th game, and the Trojans can now turn their full attention to the Pac-12 championship game in two weeks against Stanford or Washington State.
"There's always things that we can fix and get better at going into a Pac-12 championship game," coach Clay Helton said. "I don't think any game is perfect. But I think our kids did what was needed."
In the first duel between two of the nation's best quarterbacks, Rosen dazzled. He completed 32 of 52 passes for three touchdowns, but he also had one interception and a fumble.
Almost half of his yards went to Lasley, who finished with 204 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs, on 10 catches. He now has two multiple-touchdown games in his career. Both have come against USC.
USC quarterback Sam Darnold completed 17 of 28 for 264 yards with a rushing touchdown and an interception. After the game, as he led the band, USC's student section chanted at him, "One more year!"
"I'm not going to say anything about that last part," Darnold said. But he called the opportunity to face Rosen, who would likely be the other top quarterback taken if both decide to enter the NFL draft, "awesome."
Rosen's deep strikes let UCLA hang around for four quarters. So did a surprisingly ineffective USC rushing game.
Entering the game, UCLA's defense gave up, on average, 302 rushing yards per game. It was the worst rush defense in the county. It was the worst rush defense from a Power Five conference in 15 years.
Still, USC (10-2, 8-2 in the Pac-12) rushed for only 146 yards _ worse than any team has managed against UCLA (5-6, 3-5) all season.
Jones finished with 122 yards and two scores in 28 carries and two touchdowns.
Both offenses received an incomplete grade early. As in, neither could complete a drive.
USC had five drives in the first half. Four times, it marched into UCLA territory. It scored only once, on a two-yard Jones touchdown run at the end of the first quarter.
USC's first touchdown was a special-teams gem. Ajene Harris pretended to field a UCLA punt near one sideline. UCLA swarmed. Problem was, the ball was actually punted to the other side, where Michael Pittman Jr. had casually retreated. He jaunted an easy 72 yards for the touchdown.
UCLA's offense fared no better than USC's. On three drives in the first half, the Bruins forayed as far as USC's 39-yard line, 21-yard line and 17-yard line. They scored zero points on those drives, which netted one punt, one missed 47-yard field goal and one fumble. Rosen called it "stupid mistakes."
"We missed a field goal, two turnovers, that's like nine points right there and we lost by five," Rosen said. "We had another touchdown called back on the chop (block). It's just frustrating, really frustrating."
The failure to finish drives created an unusual midgame malaise: The high-powered offenses went 28 minutes and 53 seconds without scoring a point.
Rosen had one final flourish near the end of the game. He responded to Jones' late touchdown with another postcard-pretty pass to Lasley in the corner of the end zone for a 27-yard score
But it was too late. Less than three minutes remained. USC needed one first down to run out the clock. This time UCLA's run defense could not hold.
As USC lined up to take a knee, the fight song was playing, and the players on the field were dancing and exhorting the crowd to cheer.
Most of the 82,407 in attendance were too busy exhaling.
