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Boston College beats USC 37-31 for first top-10 home win since 1989

Graham Watson

It’s hard to get excited about USC because every time we think the Trojans might be reverting back to their early 2000’s form, they go and lose a game they probably should have won.

Case in point: Boston College 37, USC 31.

It’s easy to say this was a case of a young West Coast team travelling to the East Coast after an emotional win, but Boston College deserves a heap of credit for this victory because it flat-out beat the Trojans, pure and simple. This is a Boston College team that hadn’t defeated a ranked team since 2007 and hadn’t beaten an AP Top 10 team at home since 1989. So how did they work their magic against the Trojans? By making USC one-dimensional.

The Trojans running game, which had been a staple of its victories in its first two games, was held to just 20 yards by a Eagles defense that allowed more 300 rushing yards to Pittsburgh just a week ago.

Meanwhile, offensively, Boston College hit USC with the option, an offensive scheme it doesn’t see often and for which it clearly wasn’t prepared. USC had no answer for quarterback Tyler Murphy who led the Eagles to 506 yards of total offense while rushing for 191 yards and a score.

This loss isn’t the end of the world for USC, but I think any shot at the College Football Playoff is probably out, especially since the Trojans don’t face Oregon on the regular season schedule. But winning the Pac-12 South is not out of the cards with a South Division that has looked a little rickety through the first three weeks, and if the Trojans could get to the Pac-12 championship and perhaps beat Oregon, well, then, that might be a different story.

This is a disappointing loss, but this is also a young USC team still learning a new coaching staff. There were bound to be highs and lows and there probably won’t be a bigger emotional swing than the one from the Stanford win to this loss.

For more USC news, visit TrojanSports.com.

For more Boston College news, visit EagleAction.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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