Woody Marks rushed for three touchdowns, Miller Moss passed for two scores and rushed for a third, and Southern California snapped a Big Ten Conference losing streak while outscoring Rutgers 42-20 on Friday night in Los Angeles.
USC (4-4, 2-4 Big Ten) pounced on the visiting Scarlet Knights early, building a 21-3 lead less than 15 minutes into the contest. Marks started the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown plunge to cap the Trojans’ opening drive of 77 yards.
It was the first of four consecutive USC drives that ended in touchdowns.
After Rutgers (4-4, 1-4) scored on a 26-yard field goal by Jai Patel, Makai Lemon returned the kickoff 80 yards to set up the USC offense at the Scarlet Knights’ 20-yard line. Four plays later, Marks punched in his second score, also from 1 yard out.
The kickoff return was part of a standout night for Lemon, who caught four passes for 134 yards. Forty of those yards came on a touchdown connection with Moss just before the end of the third quarter, as USC shut the door on a Rutgers’ comeback attempt.
The Scarlet Knights, who lost their fourth straight game, cut their initial deficit down to a single possession earlier in the third period when Athan Kaliakmanis capped a seven-play, 86-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Christian Dremel. A successful two-point conversion pass play brought the score to 28-20, but Rutgers’ next four possessions ended in two punts and two turnovers on downs.
In the meantime, USC scored on Moss’ 7-yard touchdown run and then scoring pass to Lemon. Moss also scored in the second quarter on an 11-yard completion to Kyle Ford.
Moss finished 20-of-28 passing for 308 yards. Marks rushed for 94 yards on 15 carries, punctuating his three-touchdown night with a 22-yard scoring run late in the second quarter.
Kaliakmanis went 27-of-47 for 313 yards. Kyle Monangai ran 18 times for 86 yards, while Antwan Raymond carried 15 times for 36 yards. Raymond scored on a 3-yard run in the second quarter.
Dymere Miller led Rutgers with 11 receptions for 131 yards.
