The No. 7 USC Trojans held off the Oregon State Beavers with a 17-14 victory on Saturday in Corvallis. It was a wild finish, and one that many college football fans missed out on, with the game shown on the Pac-12 Network (which still isn’t even on DirecTV, for example), and at a late time- the game concluded at nearly 1 a.m. ET.
Only 10 total points were scored in the game entering the fourth quarter, but the final 4:41 featured two touchdowns.
Trailing 10-7, Oregon State running back Jam Griffin scored an 18-yard rushing touchdown with 4:41 remaining.
But USC answered, with Caleb Williams — transferred from Oklahoma to join Lincoln Riley after starring with the Sooners last season — connecting with USC receiver Jordan Addison — had 100 receptions, 1,593 yards, and 17 touchdowns at Pittsburgh last season — for what would serve as the game-winning touchdown.
There wasn’t much room for this throw, but Williams threw a dart to find Addison for the 21-yard score.
Oregon State tried to at least get into field-goal range, but USC’s Max Williams intercepted Oregon State quarterback Chance Nolan (who threw three interceptions on the night) to secure the Trojans’ victory.
USC (4-0) keeps its College Football Playoff hopes alive with the win.
Here’s a look at what the college football world has had to say about USC’s victory and the game being shown on the Pac-12 Network:
Horse is very dead but the Pac-12 created a situation where Oregon State is up on USC at halftime, there are about to be very few other games of national interest, and it's on an under-carried network that you probably do not get. Larry Scott was so bad at what he did.
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) September 25, 2022