Posted December 27, 2024 | lasvegasbowl
LAS VEGAS – USC (7-6) finished 2024 with a winning record thanks to a 35-31 comeback victory over the Texas A&M Aggies (8-5) in the 33rd SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl on Friday night before 26,671 at Allegiant Stadium. USC’s 17-point comeback marked the largest in the event’s history.
Things were relatively even in the first half of play. The Aggies struck first on a seven-yard pass from Marcel Reed to junior wide receiver Noah Thomas while the defense held the Trojans to zero points in the first quarter. It wasn’t until 10:16 in the second when USC quarterback Jayden Maiava, who previously starred at hometown UNLV before transferring to Troy, threw a 30-yard scoring strike to wideout Ja’Kobi Lane to tie the game at halftime.
The momentum was on the Aggies’ side out of the break, as they scored 17 points to build a 24-7 lead with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. Lane then caught his second TD of the night from 17 yards out to draw his team to within 10, kicking off a 21-0 spurt by the visiting team. Bryan Jackson’s one-yard rush opened the wild fourth quarter and 10 minutes later Lane found the end zone again from 15 yards out to give the Trojans their first lead of the evening, 28-24.
The Aggies responded by going 75 yards on seven plays, capped by Reed keeping the ball himself and finding the end zone from 19 yards out to put his team up 31-28 just under two minutes left. The Trojans would answer with a 10-play march over 75 yards, ending with Maiava’s bowl-tying fourth touchdown pass of the night, this time from seven yards to senior wideout Kyle Ford for what proved to be the winning score. Maiava overcame three interceptions in his return to Allegiant and finished with 295 yards while tying former Trojan Cody Kessler’s LV Bowl record with the four TDs.
Lane was named the Rich Abajian Most Valuable Player, catching seven passes for 127 yards and the record trio of TDs through the air. Reed was Texas A&M’s offensive standout, completing 26-of-42 attempts for 292 yards and three scores while rushing for 46 yards and another TD on nine carries. Aggie DL Cashius Howell put up the game’s biggest numbers on defense, totaling five tackles, one sack, one pass breakup and an interception.
“It’s kind of a poetic ending to the season,” said USC head coach Lincoln Riley. “Just incredibly proud of this group, the resiliency they showed. I told them there’s a toughness and a hardness that’s developing within this program right now that I think you can look at a lot of different points throughout this season and certainly tonight. There’s a lot of excitement about that. Great win. I think this is the biggest comeback in this bowl’s history, which is no small feat, especially against a really good football team in Texas A&M.”
The Trojans downed an SEC opponent at Allegiant Stadium for the second time in just four months, having dispatched LSU in September’s Vegas Kickoff Classic. USC, now 37-21 in bowl games, improved to 2-1 in Las Vegas Bowls, becoming the sixth program to win more than one all-time. Texas A&M fell to 23-21 in bowl games in what was its first-ever appearance in the Silver State.
