Field Level Media
Nov 23, 2019
Kedon Slovis passed for a Southern California single-game record 515 yards, and his four touchdown throws powered the No. 23 Trojans past rival UCLA, 52-35, on Saturday at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
USC (8-4, 7-2 Pac-12) concluded its regular season with a season high in scoring -- and the Trojans needed almost every point. They went ahead 38-14 in the third quarter on the second of two Vavae Malepeai touchdown runs, and the last of four straight scoring drives for USC.
UCLA (4-7, 4-4) responded with consecutive scoring drives of 75 and 73 yards. Dorian Thompson-Robinson capped those possessions with touchdown passes of 53 yards to tight end Devin Asiasi and 7 yards to Chase Cota.
Thompson-Robinson passed for 367 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for a fourth score. Asiasi caught five passes for 141 yards.
Slovis opened the fourth quarter by giving USC breathing room when he dropped a perfect deep ball in stride to Tyler Vaughns for a 49-yard touchdown.
Four receivers surpassed 100 yards in the same game for the first time in USC history: Drake London caught eight passes for 142 yards and one touchdown; Amon-Ra St. Brown had eight for 128 yards; Vaughns finished with 106 yards on six catches; and Michael Pittman Jr. caught 13 passes for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Joshua Kelley, who last season set a rivalry record with 289 rushing yards in a Bruins win, scored on a goal-line option pitch to pull UCLA back within 45-35.
USC slammed the door on the rally attempt, and UCLA's hopes for a bowl game, with a nine-play, 75-yard drive, capped with Stephen Carr's 2-yard touchdown run. A fourth-down stop at the Trojans' 12-yard line on the ensuing UCLA possession effectively ended it.
In addition to his single-game record -- surpassing Matt Barkley's 493 yards at Arizona in 2012 -- Slovis set a USC freshman season record with 3,242 passing yards. Sam Darnold set the previous mark of 3,086 in 2016. Slovis completed 37 of 47 passes against the Bruins.
USC remains alive for the Pac-12 South title. A Utah loss in its final game, at home against Colorado next Saturday, would send the Trojans to their third Pac-12 Championship Game in five seasons.
--Field Level Media