WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — USC traveled halfway across the country for its Big Ten opener and endured a three-hour weather delay before beating Purdue 33-17 on Saturday.

Showers and storms had been hovering around the area before warmups, but had initially cleared out. The showers recirculated the area about an hour before the 3:30 p.m. EST contest was slated to kick off. Those storms hung around the stadium, resulting in a three-hour and five-minute delay in the kickoff.

USC entered the matchup without winning a game in the Eastern time zone since 2012, when it defeated Syracuse in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The Trojans converted three of their first four drives into points, tallied 263 first-half yards, and led at halftime 17-3.

After forcing a Purdue punt on the opening drive, the Trojans didn’t waste much time getting into Boilermaker territory. On a third and 6, USC quarterback Jayden Maiava connected with Ja’Kobi Lane along the near sideline for a 59-yard connection. After a Purdue pass interference call, the Trojans had the ball inside the Boilers’ 7-yard line. However, the drive stalled, and the visitors settled for an early 3-0 lead on a 24-yard field goal from Ryon Sayeri.

Purdue then put together what seemed to be a quick response, as it took the Boilers just five plays to get the ball inside the Trojan 10-yard line. Then, the USC defense stood tall. On third and goal at the USC 3-yard line, Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne slung a pass over the middle, only for it to be jumped and intercepted by Bishop Fitzgerald, preserving a 3-0 lead.

USC capitalized on the turnover with a drive that concluded in just four minutes, picking up 80 yards over 10 plays. The drive resulted in a Jayden Maiava 3-yard keeper for a touchdown.

Purdue later responded with a field goal with just under 11 minutes left in the first half — the score marked the lone points for the Boilers in the opening 30 minutes.

The Trojans then took the next seven minutes and 30 seconds of game time and drove 75 yards down the field in 13 plays. The drive ended in running back Waymond Jordan punching in a 6-yard touchdown for the last score of the half.

The first half appeared to be more of the same offensive success for USC. However, if we have learned anything about the Trojans this year, it’s that the offense is going to put up a lot of points, maybe not 66 a game like they average thus far, but enough to win most games. The question would be whether the defense will hold up enough to win games.

The initial USC drive in the second half resulted in a 36-yard field goal for Sayeri off the back of a 42-yard catch by Lane on third down and 9.

With the ball on the USC 26-yard line, Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne threw a backwards pass to wideout Michael Jackson III, who attempted to throw another backwards pass back across the field to Browne. The ball was seemingly going to be picked by linebacker Eric Gentry, but it went right through his hands to the awaiting Browne, who picked up the ball off the grass and took it 34 yards to the house for the first Purdue touchdown of the night.

The Trojans’ next two scores came in widely different fashions. The first came with 5:01 left in the third quarter and was a 48-yard field goal that was drilled by Sayeri. The next score was from the defense. Browne dropped back to throw and was met by defensive tackle Devan Thompkins and safety Kamari Ramsey. The throw went up and landed right in the lap of defensive tackle Jamaal Jarrett. The 360-pound lineman took the interception 70 yards the other way for a pick-six to give USC a 30-10 lead.

Purdue continued to find a way to hang in the game, seemingly coming up with timely plays time after time throughout the night. This time it was a touchdown catch for wideout Nitro Tuggle from 9 yards out to cut the lead to 13. The momentum that was seemingly with the Boilers only grew larger when Sayeri missed a 37-yard field goal off the left upright.

Purdue proceeded to march down the field, along with some help from three USC penalties, but couldn’t convert it into points. Ryan Browne threw his third interception of the night right to the crossing Fitzgerald in the endzone, who secured his second pick of the night.

The interception from Fitzgerald set up one last scoring drive for USC. A 63-yard drive capped off by a 19-yard field goal was a perfect stamp on the elusive road Big Ten win for the Trojans.

The win marked the first Big Ten road win outside of L.A. as a member and the third overall win on the season.

The USC offense thrived throughout the night. However, the defense came up with timely plays numerous times, including two redzone interceptions and a 70-yard pick six— a big reason the Trojans won by the margin that they did.

Originally Published: September 13, 2025 at 7:38 PM PDT