Makai Lemon catches big TD pass after benching, and No. 19 USC races past rival UCLA 29-10

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Makai Lemon caught a 32-yard touchdown pass after being benched for the first quarter, and King Miller rushed for 124 yards and two scores in No. 19 Southern California's 29-10 victory over UCLA on Saturday.

Jayden Maiava passed for 257 yards and hit Lake McRee with a TD pass in the fourth quarter for the Trojans (9-3, 7-2 Big Ten), who finished an unbeaten season at the Coliseum by pulling away from their archrivals to win the crosstown showdown for the third time in Lincoln Riley's four years as coach.

Riley benched Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane, his top two receivers, for the Trojans' first two offensive series without disclosing the reason. Both receivers then made key plays in the second half as USC pulled away, and Miller iced it with his 41-yard TD run with 2:29 left.

Nico Iamaleava passed for 200 yards for the Bruins (3-9, 3-6) in their final game under interim coach Tim Skipper, who replaced DeShaun Foster two games into his second season. Kwazi Gilmer caught an early TD pass, but UCLA was shut out in the second half.

Both teams wore their home uniforms in keeping with tradition in the 95th edition of this meeting between schools separated by about 13 miles within Los Angeles.

The Trojans' College Football Playoff and Big Ten title hopes ended last week with their loss at Oregon, reducing this rivalry game's stakes to city bragging rights.

USC marched to Miller's first TD run on its opening drive, but UCLA's Scott Taylor blocked the Trojans' field goal attempt when their second drive stalled.

After the Bruins drove for Gilmer's 2-yard TD reception, Mateen Bhaghani's late field goal put UCLA up 10-7 at halftime.

Lemon was no factor in the Trojans' offense until Maiava finally found him down the USC sideline for a go-ahead score with 25 seconds left in the third quarter.

After Lemon made a 35-yard punt return, Lane made a 27-yard reception to set up McRee's 2-yard TD catch with 11:24 left.

Takeaways

UCLA: The Bruins were not phoning in the finale of a lost season, as evidenced by Iamaleava's decision to play despite dealing with neck spasms all week. They took a halftime lead and appeared to be close to taking control of the game at several points before wrapping up their seventh losing season in the last 10 years with a competitive effort against their biggest rivals.

USC: A slow start turned into a seventh straight home victory for Riley's team, which had its best regular season since his first year in town. The Trojans still haven't reached the heights mandated by Riley's massive contract and this program's heritage, but they've got momentum heading into bowl season and 2026.

Up next

UCLA: A thorough program reboot under a new coach.

USC: An upper-tier bowl game.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football