USC vs Arizona Score: Trojans Roll Wildcats in a Blowout

Saturday’s lopsided USC vs Arizona score put the Trojans over the .500 mark as they won their third-straight game, 48-14, to go 4-3 on the season and 3-1 in the Pac-12 South.

The lowdown: The Trojans got out of the gate quickly, with a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to take an early lead. But after Arizona’s hosting of USC proved charitable, with Khalil Tate turning the ball over twice in the first half to set up touchdown drives of just 10 and 15 yards, Troy didn’t look back.

JuJu Smith-Schuster caught three big touchdowns from Sam Darnold and the rout was on.

USC scored touchdowns on three-straight drives book-ending halftime and took a 41-7 lead to essentially kill off the game.

Ronald Jones got his first start of the season and finished with 77 yards on 16 carries, while tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe caught a touchdown pass for the second-straight game.

Defensively, USC held Arizona in check. Tate’s day was capped after going just 7-of-18 passing for 58 yards.

The takeaway: The Trojans got a sizable win against an injured team they were expected to beat. But it still came at a cost.

Wide receivers Steven Mitchell and JuJu Smith-Schuster left the game with injuries, while linebacker Olajuwon Tucker got dinged up in the third quarter with a minor leg injury. Clay Helton is expected to elaborate on the injuries in his postgame press conference.

The casualties raise a simple question: why did USC have starters in a 41-7 game in the third quarter?

It comes down to the Trojans having an offense still in its infancy, given the switch to Darnold at quarterback, requiring reps. On defense, USC simply doesn’t rotate players much at all regardless of score.

That said, the injuries may have played a roll in how substitution was handled. Helton pulled all starters in the drives following Smith-Schuster and Tucker’s injuries, on their respective sides of the ball.

Player of the game: Sam Darnold had the biggest passing game of his young career, throwing five touchdowns. He finished with 20-of-32 passing for 235 yards, and didn’t throw an interception. On the ground, he made several third down runs in the first half and finished with 54 yards on six carries, without a fumble.

Stat of the game: JuJu Smith-Schuster had nine receptions, giving him 183 for his career and allowing him to move into sole possession of eighth place on USC’s all-time pass catching list ahead of Mike Williams and Nelson Agholor.

Next on tap: With a win in tow, USC will now head into a bye week, before getting the Cal Bears at the Coliseum on Thursday, October 27.