USC loses third straight Big Ten game as Maryland comes back for 29-28 victory

USC continues to have trouble closing games.

The Trojans lost their third straight Big Ten game on Saturday as Maryland overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to steal a 29-28 win.

USC was up 28-14 with 13:31 to go when QB Miller Moss hit Duce Robinson for a 26-yard TD. Maryland cut the lead to six with just under 10 minutes to go, but USC had a great chance to close the game out when Terrapins QB Billy Edwards was sacked on a fourth down with less than three minutes to go.

However, USC’s offense couldn’t get a first down. The Trojans brought on kicker Michael Lantz for a 41-yard field goal to make it a two-possession game … and the kick was blocked.

From there, it took just six plays for Maryland to take the lead. Edwards completed four passes, got a pass interference penalty and capped the drive with a three-yard TD run.

USC still had 53 seconds to go for a game-winning field goal attempt and quickly got across midfield. But the drive stalled after that and Moss’ fourth-down pass to Woody Marks was broken up when Marks got hit as he caught the ball.

The Trojans are now 3-4 overall and 1-4 in the conference after the loss. A week ago at home vs. Penn State, USC led the Nittany Lions 30-23 with 5:56 to go before losing 33-30 in overtime. The game before that, USC took a 17-10 lead in the third quarter at Minnesota before giving up two TDs in the final eight minutes to lose 24-17.

It’s clearly not the first Big Ten season that Trojan fans were expecting after USC made a defensive coordinator change ahead of the 2025 season. The USC defense gave up 518 yards to Penn State last week and was on the field for 107 plays against Maryland as the Terrapins had 429 total yards.