USC Trojans' Lincoln Riley Applauds Team Grity Performance in Tough Road Environment

Redshirt freshman running back King Miller led the way on offense with 130 yards on the ground and one touchdown. His twin brother , Kaylon, stepped in for an injured Alani Noa at guard on the Trojans second possession and helped pave the way for another phenomenal day for the star walk-on running back.

"Kaylon came in a played a really good game for us, which was awesome to see him step in there ... Maybe blocking for his brother gave him a little more inspiration," Riley said.

First Half Struggles

It was a sluggish start for the Trojans offense coming off its second bye week. They had back-to-back three-and-outs to begin the game and couldn't any consistent rhythm on that side of the ball.

Nebraska went on a 14-play drive on its opening possession and was capped it off with a 14-yard touchdown from Dylan Raiola to receiver Dane Key and the Cornhuskers held a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

USC kicker Ryon Sayeri kept the Trojans in the game with a pair of field goals in the second quarter, including one from 49 yards.

"His poise and presence, the confidence that he has. The confidence our whole team has in him is off the charts right now. The guy's been incredible for us all year," Riley said.

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson's 10-yard rushing touchdown just before the end of the first half extended the Cornhuskers lead to 14-6 at the break. The Cornhuskers made life uncomfortable from the jump for Maiava, who was 6 of 16 for 57 yards in the first half. The Trojans quarterback struggled to settle in and as a result, his passes were off target.

Flipping the Script

The two teams traded turnovers to begin the second half. Maiava was picked off by Nebraska cornerback Andrew Marshall, which set the Cornhuskers up deep in USC territory. But just four plays later, Anthony Lucas forced a fumble on Raiola, and the ball was recovered by Kameryn Crawford. Raiola was injured on the play and never returned.

It took a while for Trojans offense to get going. But late in the third quarter, Maiava connected with freshman Tanook Hines for 29-yard completion to set the Trojans up in Nebraska territory. Maiava then kept himself for a 16-yard touchdown run and Miller's two-point conversion tied it up at 14-14 heading into the fourth.

Miller's six-yard touchdown with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth gave USC a 21-17 lead and they never relinquished it, thanks to a defense that only surrendered three points in the second half and stopped Johnson short on fourth-and-one with under two minutes remaining to seal the game.

"Our defense was phenomenal. We had some really big-time special teams plays as well," Riley said. "It was fitting that our defense was the one to close it down right there at the end."

Hostile Environment

As Riley mentioned, winning on the road is never easy and it doesn't always look pretty as this one illustrated. USC went into a tough road environment, where the Cornhuskers debuted their blackout jersey's and that's how the crowd in Lincoln looked.

"It's progress to come in a place like this against a good football team and getting the night kick and crowd riled up," Riley said. "They have a good crowd every week, I'd be surprised if they had a better crowd anytime this year than tonight, they were tremendous. So, to overcome that was great."

The Trojans will look back at this film and see there is a ton of areas they need to better at if they want to remain alive in the College Football Playoff. But right, the Trojans head back to Los Angeles with another win on the schedule.

"You have to win some of these like this, and I think the more this program continues to ascend, the more you win these types of ways, the more confidence of everybody, the ability to win," Riley said. "You hear it all the time, a team learning to win, a program expecting to win. You hear it all the time in sports like that's a real thing. And you keep taking those steps that we've been taking, you're going to continually put yourself in there and once you do it, it can be a domino effect."