BOULDER, Colo. _ Their depth had disappeared. Their options had diminished. Still, a ragtag defense and a running back-less offense seemed like enough for USC to redeem its road woes and beat up Pac-12 bottom feeder Colorado, which owned three consecutive losses and the Power 5's worst defense and had never beat USC in 13 tries.
But here they were, on their heels, on the brink of disaster, the Pac-12 title destiny they so desperately clung to slipping away into the brisk mountain air. Its uneven offense, down its top three backs, had oscillated between explosive and implosive. Its depleted defense spent most of three quarters just trying to stay afloat.
There was little reason USC (5-3, 4-1) should find itself with a chance to win its first game on the road this season. But here was Michael Pittman Jr., anyway, streaking across the middle of the field, catching a crisp pass from Kedon Slovis, and scampering 37 yards for his second touchdown of the fourth quarter. It was as much a gutsy comeback conjured out of sheer will as it was near-miracle drawn up out of desperation.
Nonetheless, destiny would be intact for one more day, no matter if the Trojans seemed deserving or not. Its injury-riddled defense mustered its strength in the second half, its uneven quarterback righted the ship in the final minutes, and USC escaped Colorado's clutches with a 35-31 victory, its first on the road this season.
"Those kids fought and fought and fought all the way to the last second," USC coach Clay Helton said.
Still, the escape was hardly satisfying. While Helton focused solely on the positive in his post-game comments, there was plenty dismaying about a near-defeat to the Pac-12's worst team.
USC's offense put up 518 yards, a season-high, but hardly looked the part, nearly giving away the game with a series of mistakes. Its defense allowed 520 yards and appeared exhausted as Colorado skated across the field in the first half, dominating time of possession by nearly a full quarter throughout.
But as Helton and his players kept reminding, they still prevailed. They were still atop the Pac-12 South division. For the moment, at least.
"Some problems, you have to go through," linebacker John Houston said. "But we went through that in the second half, and we came back."
A renewed defense laid the foundation for that comeback, after appearing exhausted early on. After a 71-yard touchdown sprint from Colorado wideout Laviska Shenault Jr. to open the second half, USC clamped down when it needed to.
That was especially true on third down as Colorado converted just once in seven tries, after converting four times in the first. It forced punts on four of Colorado's final five drives.
But it was Slovis who put the struggling Trojans on his shoulders in the final quarter, finally pushing past Colorado. All game long, the freshman quarterback had been erratic, missing open targets and nearly committing a series of crushing mistakes.
After opening at a blistering pace, marching USC down the field for a score in a five-wideout empty set, Slovis found himself again bogged down by inconsistency.
With its run game hampered and coaches unwilling to lean too much on electric freshman Kenan Christon, USC had put its hopes in a big showing from Slovis, who was coming off one of his most inconsistent performances of the season.
Those hopes were put on hold until late, as Slovis led a gutsy, 12-play drive in the fourth quarter that drained the clock. On one key third down, he took a huge hit, just as he delivered a dart to Pittman Jr. to keep the drive alive.
"He's got to believe in this guy on the sideline," Helton said of the play, "and he lets go while he's getting hit, steps right into it, and gets air-holed, and delivers the ball on time, accurately, with unbelievable poise."
But even on his final heroic drive, Slovis nearly gave the game away, fumbling away a sack that Christon fortunately fell on. It was that kind of night for Slovis, who finished with 406 yards, his most yards yet, and four touchdowns, also a career-high, but fumbled four different times throughout.
Those fumbles were often drive killers, forcing the defense back onto the field. USC had six drives of four plays or fewer, leaving an exhausted defense to deal with a Colorado quarterback Steven Montez, who, until late, had torn USC's secondary apart.
In all, the Trojans allowed a season-high 520 yards, including 324 through the air and 45 on the ground to Montez, who over his past two games had thrown six passes that were intercepted to go with zero scores.
At halftime, Helton gathered his team, knowing full well that things were heading in the wrong direction.
"Keep fighting," he told them. "Take a deep breath. Be poised. And you'll walk away winners."
As its depleted defense found its breath in the second half, and it's erratic offense found its poise, USC would walk away with a road win in hand.
As for the rest, well ... it might be better off taking a deep breath and forgetting.
