On Saturday, USC football will host Georgia Southern in the team’s second game of the season. Normally, this would be just another tune-up for the Trojans to get ready for the start of conference play. However, this particular contest is notable in that it will mark the return to the Coliseum of former USC head coach Clay Helton, who is now in his fourth season as the head coach at Georgia Southern.
Helton coached the Trojans from 2015-2021. His tenure leading the team featured many frustrating moments, and USC fans spent several years calling for his firing before it finally happened. However, there were some great moments that came out of his tenure, too.
In honor of Helton’s return, here are USC’s top five moments of his tenure as the Trojans’ head coach.
Honorable Mention: Game-winning rivalry drive
USC’s 2020 season was so weird that it is difficult to properly contextualize. The Trojans played just five regular season games, all with no fans in attendance. After going 5-0 in the regular season, however, the Trojans fell in the Pac-12 Championship Game to Oregon (who only got into the game because Washington had a COVID outbreak). USC declined a bid to the Alamo Bowl due to COVID restrictions, meaning that the Trojans played just six total games that year.
Even in the weirdest of seasons, however, beating the school across town is always especially sweet. And in this case, USC did it with a game-winning drive for the ages. Getting the ball back trailing by two with 52 seconds remaining, true freshman Gary Bryant Jr. returned the kickoff 56 yards, setting the Trojans up at the UCLA 43.
After a deep shot to Tyler Vaughns gave USC a first-and-goal from the eight, many thought they would let the clock run down before attempting a game-winning field goal. Instead, however, quarterback Kedon Slovis connected with future NFL All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for the go-ahead score with 16 seconds left. After UCLA’s desperation Hail Mary fell incomplete, the Trojans celebrated with the Victory Bell in front of an empty Rose Bowl.
No. 5: Top-five road upset
After starting out 1-3, the 2016 USC team was on a five-game winning streak led by redshirt freshman cornerback Sam Darnold. However, the Trojans’ faced the daunting task of traveling up to Seattle to face undefeated No. 4 Washington.
On a wet evening in Seattle, Darnold introduced himself to the college football world, completing 23 of 33 passes for two touchdowns and two interceptions. However, it was star cornerback Adoree’ Jackson who stole the show with his two interceptions. Jackson and the USC defense would hold the high-powered Washington offense to just 13 points, as the No. 20 Trojans pulled off the upset, putting themselves in position to reach another game featured later on this list.
No. 4: Taking back the city
Entering this game, USC had lost three in a row to UCLA, with three different head coaches leading the way. Helton, still the interim head coach at the time, was the fourth Trojans head coach to get a crack at the Bruins in four years. In addition to the pressure of ending the mini-losing streak, both teams knew ahead of time that the game would decide the Pac-12 South, with the winner advancing to the conference championship game.
While Helton’s later teams often drew the criticism of being soft and not physical enough, that was certainly not the case on this day. The Trojans imposed their will on their crosstown foes, rushing for 235 yards on 59 attempts. Redshirt senior quarterback Cody Kessler, playing his final game in the Coliseum, threw two touchdown passes and USC added scores on defense and special teams as the Trojans took down their rivals 40-21 to advance to the first conference title game in school history. (USC also won the Pac-12 South in 2011, but was ineligible for the first ever Pac-12 Championship Game due to NCAA sanctions.)
No. 3: Pac-12 champions
After winning six consecutive Pac-10 championships from 2002-2008, USC has only won one conference title in the 16 years since. That came in 2017, when Helton’s Trojans defeated Stanford 31-28 in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Darnold threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns, running back Ronald Jones II rushed for 140 yards and a score, and wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. had a breakout game, catching seven passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. The victory was not sealed until Darnold connected with true freshman tight end Josh Falo on a 4th and 2 in the final minute to clinch the title.
No. 2: Double overtime thriller
While nothing will ever truly make up for USC’s heartbreaking loss in the 2006 Rose Bowl to Texas, the Trojans still had revenge on their minds when the two schools met again more than a decade later in September of 2017. The rematch more than lived up to the hype. After Texas took the lead on a touchdown with 45 seconds remaining, Darnold led USC down the field to set up a game-tying field goal by true freshman kicker Chase McGrath, sending the game to overtime.
After the two teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime, USC’s defense forced a fumble in the second OT. McGrath then drilled the game-winning field goal, giving the Trojans a walk-off victory.
No. 1: Rose Bowl classic
If you ask any USC fan what the high point the program in the post-Pete Carroll era is, just about any one would tell you this game. After upsetting No. 4 Washington in the game at No. 5 on the list (see, I told you we would get back to it), the Trojans concluded the 2016 regular season with dominant victories over rivals UCLA and Notre Dame. Although USC did not qualify for the Pac-12 Championship Game, with the conference champion Huskies earning a College Football Playoff bid, the Trojans were selected to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl.
The 2017 Rose Bowl between No. 9 USC and No. 5 Penn State remains one of the all-time great contests in the stadium’s more than 100 years of history. The Trojans jumped out in front early, but the Nittany Lions roared back to take a two-touchdown lead into the fourth quarter. In the final frame, however, Darnold put the Trojans on his back, leading two touchdown drives, including a 27-yard dart to Deontay Burnett to tie the game with under a minute remaining.
Penn State then got the ball back with a chance to try and win the game in regulation, but USC safety Leon McQuay III intercepted a pass from quarterback Trace McSorley and returned it 32 yards to the Penn State 33 yard-line. Kicker Matt Boermeester then hit a 46-yard field goal as time expired to give the Trojans an instant classic 52-49 victory in The Granddaddy of Them All.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Recalling USC football’s best moments under Clay Helton
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