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USC vs Washington: Full highlights, final score, stats, Twitter reaction

By Patrick Schmidt

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Chris Petersen picked up his best win in his tenure with the Washington Huskies in upsetting No. 17 USC as the Huskies defense suffocated Cody Kessler and the Trojans offense.

Cody Kessler was sacked on the first play of the game and picked off on the third in a sign that the Heisman Trophy candidate was in store for a rough night. For the first time since Week 9 in 2011 USC was kept out of the end zone in the first half and led 6-3 after sleepwalking through the first half.

USC was a 17-point favorite and lost for the second time this year when they were a double-digit favorite. Their hopes of making the College Football Playoff are officially over, their Pac-12 title hopes took a massive hit and their stay in the Top 25 should come to an end on Sunday.

The Trojans started off as poorly as you could hope, but Washington couldn’t take advantage of the early turnover after missing a 31-yard field goal. Both teams traded punts on the next two drives before USC came out and ran it five times in a row for 39 yards before two incomplete passes and a false start penalty resulted in a second Kessler interception on third-and-16.

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True freshman Iman Marshall picked off Jake Browning four plays later and USC drove to the Washington 3 before a penalty for 12 men on the field and a sack on third-and-goal from the 6. USC had to settle for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

Washington responded with a field goal after the Trojans forced an incomplete pass to Jaydon Mickens. USC closed the first half with a 13-play, 81-yard drive but had to settle for a field goal after running out of time at the 5.

USC came out in the second half looking to capitalize on ending the first half with a small amount of momentum but JuJu Smith-Schuster fumbled on the second play and Washington scored on a double pass for a touchdown from Marvin Hall to Joshua Perkins.

The Washington defense continued to pressure Kessler and the Trojans passing game couldn’t get much going as the Trojans were forced to punt on three straight possessions, opening the door for the Huskies to pull the upset.

A 31-yard run and an 11-yard run from Myles Gaskin were the last two plays of the third quarter and a seven-yard run and his one-yard touchdown capped a four-play touchdown drive where he was the offense and gave Washington a 17-6 lead.

It only took six plays and 2:19 to answer with true freshman Ronald Jones II getting the last three carries for 39 yards and a one-yard score to make it 17-12 and give some hope this team finally woke up and Jones needs more touches.

USC was moving the ball late in the fourth quarter when it looked like they would finally regain the lead and come out of their slumber for good, but after Kessler was sacked for the fifth time on the night on third-and-six and the 25. Facing a fourth-and-nine at the 29, trailing by five and less that four minutes on the clock, Sarkisian elected to try the 46-yard field goal that fell inches short. The game was unofficially over after that questionable decision.

Washington killed the clock after a successful third down conversion when Browning hit Mickens for a six-yard gain on third-and-five to give Chris Petersen a win his team needed and gave USC another reminder he should be their head coach.

Kessler was 16/29 for 156 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions as the offense struggled all night with execution, play calling, decision-making, pass protection and discipline.

USC allowed five sacks, 11 tackles for loss, three turnovers, eight penalties, was 1-13 on third down on a night their championship hopes were dashed in their stadium against a team with a true freshman quarterback.

Next: 30 Best College Football Quarterbacks of All-Time

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