The Turning Point: Nebraska Football at USC

The Blackshirts had a chance to get off the field down one point, but the Trojans made the play, then converted, then scored another touchdown.

Nov 16, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans running back Woody Marks runs the ball ahead of Nebraska Cornhuskers linebacker John Bullock during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

This week's turning point is a pretty obvious one. 

It is a play that without any doubt will go down infamy if the Nebraska Cornhuskers fail to reach a bowl game for the ninth straight season. 

On third and long, first-time USC starting quarterback Jayden Maiava dropped back to pass. Barrelling down his right side was Nebraska’s pass rushing specialist, James Williams. Williams squared up to contact Maiava’s arm mid throw. 

The football went fluttering in the air, bounced off the hands of Trojan wideout Makai Lemon, off the head of Nebraska linebacker Javin Wright, then back into the hands of Lemon, who fell just a half yard short of the first down marker. 

In a game with a ridiculous amount of 50/50 balls, this was the one the Big Red needed to have. This was the ball they needed to grab, the turnover they desperately needed. This was the moment they could have turned the tide of not only the season but changed the momentum of the direction of this program. 

This NEEDED to be Nebraska’s turning point. 

But one team's missed opportunity is another team's treasure. On the play, USC went from third and long and likely to get off the field to fourth and short and prime opportunity to put a dagger in the back of the Big Red. USC head coach Lincoln Riley decided to go for it, and a beautifully designed option run put USC within the 15 yard line. 

A couple of plays later and the Trojans found their way into the end zone, making it a 28-20 ball game. Nebraska had an opportunity to tie the game, but poor clock management along with the inability to make big plays in big moments haunted this team once again. 

So we will do this song and dance for another week as the Huskers will welcome the Wisconsin Badgers to Memorial Stadium with an opportunity to accomplish the same thing every other Power 4 team in the country has accomplished over the last eight years: reach bowl eligibility.

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