friday night's NCAA football action featured a battle between two Pac-12 schools both ranked in the Top 25. The USC Trojans were No. 5 in the nation coming into the game, while the Washington State Cougars were ranked 16th overall. The home team was able to pull off a three-point win with a late field goal to score the big upset. Here's the latest Trojans vs. Cougars game recap including top players, stats, a Pac-12 standings update, and more.
NCAA game recap
In the big win, the Washington State Cougars matched USC's 17 points in the first half with 17 of their own.
Sam Darnold put the Trojans on the board with the first touchdown of the game on a four-yard run in the first. However, Washington State had two of their own in the second quarter. One came via a 28-yard pass by Luke Falk to Tavares Martin while the other was a one-yard rushing TD from Jamal Morrow with just 13 seconds before the half.
The two teams would trade field goals in the third quarter, but in the early part of the fourth, things got interesting. Jamal Morrow caught a 23-yard TD pass from Falk to give the Cougars a 27-20 lead. However, Darnold would tie it up with about five minutes remaining with his second rushing TD of the game. The Cougars' Erik Powell connected on a 32-yard field goal with under two minutes left in the game, giving the home team the lead for good.
Falk finished the game with a 34-for-51 passing performance with 340 yards and two touchdowns thrown, along with one interception. Morrow led on the ground with six carries for 91 yards and a touchdown, while Renard Bell led all Washington State receivers with 101 yards on three catches. Tavares Martin Jr. and Morrow each recorded one receiving touchdown apiece.
USC's Sam Darnold ended up with 164 yards and an interception thrown on 15-for-29 passing. Ronald Jones II had a touchdown and 128 yards rushing on 14 carries, while Tyler Vaughns led the receivers with six catches for 89 yards.
Standings & what's next
With Friday night's loss, the USC Trojans fall to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
The team will have to wait until Monday or Tuesday to find out how far they slide in the Top 25 rankings. Next up for the Trojans, they'll return home to host the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday, October 7th at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.
The Washington State Cougars have likely increased their ranking position in the college football Top 25, at least a bit. They're now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference. The Cougars will look to stay undefeated when they visit Oregon on Saturday at a time that is still listed as "to be determined."