LAS VEGAS —
Fatigue was setting in. Faith, ever fragile, was wavering. USC’s revamped defense had held mostly tough. Its new quarterback looked mostly comfortable. But USC’s grasp on its season opener had been slipping away since halftime. One drive, done in by a botched trick play. Another swallowed up by a fourth-down swat.
Still, Miller Moss remained undeterred. More than nine months had passed since the quarterback’s memorable Holiday Bowl debut, long enough to wonder seriously if his six-score performance was merely a bowl season mirage. But Moss never wavered, even as LSU defenders charged at him on third down in the fourth quarter and he fired an unlikely pass toward the corner of the end zone, where Ja’Kobi Lane had his arms outstretched for the touchdown.