Underwater early, Trojans storm back and soak it to Iowa

They were battered, they were bruised, they were soaking wet and covered in stereotypes.

- BILL PLASCHKE COLUMNIST

ERIC THAYER Los Angeles Times LINEBACKER Desman Stephens II exults during the second half of the Trojans' comeback victory.

They're not tough enough. They’re not resilient enough. They're not Big Ten enough.

Late in the second quarter Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum, a USC football team fighting for a playoff berth was being smothered by the worst of its national perceptions.

It was wilting under the weather and the weight of a team from Iowa.

Then, with big swings from the sort of deep resistance that few thought a Lincoln Riley team possessed, everything changed.

It’s raining wins, hallelujah.

Trailing 21-7, the Trojans got muddy and mad and just plain Midwestern, winning the line of scrimmage, winning the battle of skill, and eventually winning the game 26-21.

Yeah, afterward, that was Riley dancing in a downpour.

"A culture win right there, man," Riley said afterward. "If there ever was one, that was a culture win. Our team’s resilience, their response at halftime ... we just keep coming, we have all year."

And, yes, USC is still in the national championship hunt, needing wins in its final two games at Oregon and against UCLA to qualify for the College Football Playoff.

“It’s win or go home... ain’t no go home,” said linebacker Eric Gentry. “The whole team understands what the culture is... fight till the last second.”

Few will believe they can beat seventh-ranked and one-loss Oregon in Eugene. But then again, few believed they would survive Iowa after the Hawkeyes took that big second-quarter lead.