College football has, somehow, lasted more than 11 years without USC playing Texas, and Saturday night it was a wonder anyone could survive that long without it. The matchup has given us heroes and despair, iconic finishes and a life’s worth of stories.
Deep into another wild Los Angeles evening, it gifted us Chase McGrath, a walk-on freshman kicker — a beach kid, from Newport Beach, staring down 43 yards in double-overtime in the third-ever field goal attempt of his career.
The ball whizzed into the night, and No. 4 USC defeated Texas, 27-24, in a game that fried nerves, defied expectations and, again, lived up to the might of two powerful programs.