SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 21, 2013
USC 17, Utah State 14: Andre Heidari kicked the tiebreaking 25-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter as the host Trojans held off the Aggies.
Tre Madden rushed for 93 yards and USC (3-1) controlled play defensively by taking away the scrambling lanes of quarterback Chuckie Keeton. The Utah State standout had minus-15 yards on 12 rushes while going 21-of-39 for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
Keeton was stopped three yards short of a first down with 3:33 left while scrambling on fourth-and-9 and the Aggies (2-2) never saw the ball again. USC converted two first downs and ran out the clock.
The Trojans led 14-7 at halftime before the Aggies tied the game midway through the third quarter on Keetonกฏs 10-yard pass to Travis Reynolds. Later in the quarter, Utah Stateกฏs Jaron Bentrude shanked a punt that traveled just 12 yards to the Aggiesกฏ 24-yard line and USC took advantage with Heidariกฏs go-ahead boot with 13:35 remaining.
USC took a first-quarter led on Maddenกฏs 1-yard scoring run and Utah State knotted the contest early in the second quarter on Keetonกฏs 8-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Swindall. The Trojans went back ahead on Cody Kesslerกฏs 30-yard toss to Xavier Grimble with 5:13 left in the first half.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Trojans WR Marqise Lee caught six passes for 72 yards to raise his career count to 214, two behind second-place Dwayne Jarrett (216 from 2004-06) on the schoolกฏs all-time list. กญ Utah State was just 5-for-17 on third-down conversions after entering the contest with a 65.2 percent success rate, fourth-best nationally. กญ USC starting RB Silas Redd (knee) missed his fourth consecutive game.