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Nebraska Football Falls at USC; Still Chasing Bowl Eligibility

Originally posted on Nebraska Cornhuskers on SI
By Kaleb Henry | Last updated Nov 16, 2024 7:35 PM ET

The search for bowl eligibility for the Nebraska Cornhuskers continues.

NU fell at USC 28-20 Saturday. The Huskers are now 5-5 on the year and 2-5 in Big Ten play. The Trojans improve to 5-5 and are now 3-5 in the league.

Nebraska has never beaten USC, falling to 0-5-1 all-time. The Huskers also fall to 0-9 since 2016 in games that would have clinched bowl eligibility.

The Huskers struck first on what would turn out to be one of a couple big plays from Ceyair Wright. The former USC defensive back took a first-quarter interception to the house.

USC's offense got rolling after that interception, though. After starting 2-for-7, new starting quarterback Jayden Maiava completed his next nine passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Nebraska answered with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Emmett Johnson caught a Dylan Raiola pass and outran his defender to the edge and took the ball upfield for the score.

Neither team did much in the way of productivity over the final 9:21 of the second quarter. USC punted the ball three times while Nebraska threw an interception, punted once, and ran out the clock into the half.

Out of the half, Nebraska got a 29-yard field goal from John Hohl. He would add a 30-yarder a couple drives later, but in the meantime the Trojans got a touchdown.

USC added another touchdown with 2:45. That drive saw the Trojans burn 7:39 off the clock.

On Nebraska's final offensive drive, Raiola drove the Big Red to the USC 14. Before the final play of the game could commence, most of the offensive line commited a false start.

With five seconds left, Raiola threw an interception in the end zone.

USC gained 441 yards on the day, clearing the 310 that Nebraksa posted. The Trojans got 259 yards and three touchdowns through the air from Maiava while Woodie Marks led the ground attack with 146 yards.

Raiola completed 27-of-38 passes for 191 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Emmett Johnson and Dante Dowdell both eclipsed 50 yards rushing on the day.

Over the first five games of the year, Raiola had a 9-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio. Across the last four-and-a-half, that ratio is 2:8.

Nebraska returns home next Saturday to host Wisconsin. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CST on the Big Ten Network.