By Tim Peterson
(Los Angeles)- USC set a Pac 12 record with three interceptions for touchdowns and the offense racked up 538 total yards in a 66-14 rout of Rice Saturday before 60, 113 at the LA Memorial Coliseum. The game marked the USC debut of new head coach Lincoln Riley.
Muir’s own Calen Bullock picked off a pass and returned it 93 yads for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the Trojan a 28-7 lead.
Shane Lee and Ralen Goforth had pick sixes on consecutive series of 40 and 31 yards respectively to open the third quarter and blow the game wide open. When Goforth danced into the endzone to make it 45-14 with 12:52 left in the third quarter Rice was cooked.
USC got started on its first possession marching 75 yards on 7 plays. Jordan Addison hauled an a five- yard touchdown pass from quarterback Caleb Williams for a 7-0 lead.
Rice responded with a 16-play, 74-yard drive. Ari Broussard capped it with a one-yard touchdown run.
Austin Jones scored on a 4 -yard run to finish a 9-play, 84-yard drive. on the next series. The Trojans took a 14-7 lead with 14:13 left in the second quarter.
The Trojans forced Rice to punt and then scored again. Freshman Raleek Brown capped a 70-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown run. USC only needed 4 plays to go up 21-7.
Less than two minutes later Bullock picked off Rice quarterback Wiley Green and raced 93 yards for the score.
On the next possession Rice drove 75 yards on 10 plays which was helped by a targeting penalty on USC. Broussard scored his second TD of the day on a two-yard run to cut Trojans lead to 28-14. That was the last time the Owls scored.
Dennis Lynch booted a 25-yard field goal as the first half clock ran out and the Trojans took a 31-14 lead into the half.
The Trojans then had the two pick sixes on the first two possessions of the third quarter and that was all she wrote.
Addison hauled in 3-yard pass from Williams with 9:12 left in the third as the Trojans broke the 50 mark to lead 52-14.
Jones picked up his second score of the day on a 28-yard run late in the third quarter.
Darwin Barlow scored on a two-yard run with 6:13 left in the fourth as the Trojans hit double sixes.
Rice had four turnovers overall and struggled offensively and was shut out in the second half. Wiley Green threw for just 69 yards and had an interception while TJ McMahon, who was rotating with Wiley, had 65 yards and threw three picks. Cameron Montgomery led the rushing attack with 99 yads on six carries.
For USC Williams completed 19 of 22 for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. Miller Moss relieved him in the fourth quarter and was 6 of 7 for 81 yards. Williams also rushed for 68 yards.
The Trojans had 208 yards on the ground with Jones running for 48 yards and two scores and Brown scoring once and rushing for 36 yards.
Williams spread the ball around with his receivers. Tahj Washington had 4 catches for 65 yards and Addison hauled in 5 for 54 and 2 scores. Mario Williams had 2 for 43 and Brown caught 2 passes for 40 yards.
The Trojans will travel to Stanford next week to take on the Cardinal.
Trojan faithful can start jockeying for the best seats to this year’s national championship game. This SoCal team is beyond loaded, plus they’re getting paid via the student body right fund. Riley’s squad is to college ball what Bosco is to the high school level.