STORM TROOPERS

Trojans overcome poor start as Lemon and stingy defense keep playoff hopes intact

- BY RYAN KARTJE

JIDE ABASIRI holds up the ball during a second half in which USC shut out Iowa and held it to 108 yards on a rainy day at the Coliseum.

(Eric Thayer Los Angeles Time)

The dark clouds had parted. The rain, after soaking L.A. for more than a day, had slowed.

By that point, at the start of a stellar, second-half turnaround Saturday, all hope of a College Football Playoff bid for USC had nearly washed away in a first-half downpour.

But that's precisely when USC found its silver lining, with Makai Lemon scorching his way across the end zone, calling for the ball. All season, Lemon had made the big plays whenever the Trojans' offense needed him. But no performance from its top wideout was bigger than Saturday, as Lemon came alive in the second half, helping deliver USC a 26-21 win over Iowa that keeps its playoff hopes intact for another week.

"The whole team was ready to lay it on the line today," coach Lincoln Riley said. "That's what you have to have to win these big games."

Lemon had 10 catches for 153 yards, none bigger than the touchdown he scored in the third quarter to finally turn the tide in a game that seemed to be headed in the other direction before that.