LOS ANGELES – Here are the final takes and grades following Nebraska’s 28-20 loss at USC on Saturday.

The Huskers dropped to 5-5 on the season and will return to Lincoln for the final time next week against Wisconsin.

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Rushing offense: C

Nebraska got 107 yards rushing on 18 carries from Emmett Johnson and Dante Dowdell. They found a few new things in the running game but still could not get enough to break through in the second half. Heinrich Haarberg also came in for two plays, including a 13-yard run.

Passing offense: D+

QB Dylan Raiola was 27-of-38 for 191 yards and two interceptions. Raiola also missed a key third down throw to Jahmal Banks where NU had to settle for a field goal. There were some new wrinkles by the Huskers in the passing game, but on nine third-down passing plays, NU could only convert three first downs.

Rushing defense: D

USC had 32 carries for 182 yards on the ground, including 19 for 146 yards from running back Woody Marks. As the game got deep in the second half, USC put things away with a 13-play, 84-yard drive that took up 7:39 off the clock. USC finished with seven runs of 10+ yards, including a 34-yard run on a critical fourth-and-1 play in the fourth quarter.

Passing defense: B-

Ceyair Wright had an interception return for a touchdown, and Ty Robinson forced a fumble out of the pocket on a scramble play. However, USC converted far too many third downs, as they had five passes of 15+ yards. The real early back breaker was on second-and-13 after the Wright pick-six Tommi Hill gave up a 28-yard pass where he was in a position to make the intercpetion. That led to a touchdown on the next play where Hill completely whiffed on the tackle.

Special team: B

John Hohl made both his kicks and Brian Buschini averaged 46 yards on five punts. The only thing the Huskers struggled in was they never were able to get good field position in the punt return game, as USC pinned one punt all the way down to the 1-yard line. The other big moment came when Wright blocked a field goal to keep the game at 21-20.

Sean Callahan can be reached at [email protected] and is heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall, and each week, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm.

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The search for bowl eligibility for the Nebraska Cornhuskers continues.

NU fell at USC 28-20 Saturday. The Huskers are now 5-5 on the year and 2-5 in Big Ten play. The Trojans improve to 5-5 and are now 3-5 in the league.

Nebraska has never beaten USC, falling to 0-5-1 all-time. The Huskers also fall to 0-9 since 2016 in games that would have clinched bowl eligibility.

The Huskers struck first on what would turn out to be one of a couple big plays from Ceyair Wright. The former USC defensive back took a first-quarter interception to the house. He would block a field goal in the second half as well.

USC’s offense got rolling after that interception, though. After starting 2-for-7, new starting quarterback Jayden Maiava completed his next nine passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Nebraska answered with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Emmett Johnson caught a Dylan Raiola pass and outran his defender to the edge and took the ball upfield for the score.

Neither team did much in the way of productivity over the final 9:21 of the second quarter. USC punted the ball three times while Nebraska threw an interception, punted once, and ran out the clock into the half.

Out of the half, Nebraska got a 29-yard field goal from John Hohl. He would add a 30-yarder a couple drives later, but in the meantime the Trojans got a touchdown.

USC added another touchdown with 2:45. That drive saw the Trojans burn 7:39 off the clock.

On Nebraska’s final offensive drive, Raiola drove the Big Red to the USC 14. Before the final play of the game could commence, most of the offensive line commited a false start.

With five seconds left, Raiola threw an interception in the end zone.

USC gained 441 yards on the day, clearing the 310 that Nebraksa posted. The Trojans got 259 yards and three touchdowns through the air from Maiava while Woodie Marks led the ground attack with 146 yards.

Raiola completed 27-of-38 passes for 191 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Emmett Johnson and Dante Dowdell both eclipsed 50 yards rushing on the day.

Over the first five games of the year, Raiola had a 9-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio. Across the last four-and-a-half, that ratio is 2:8.

Nebraska returns home next Saturday to host Wisconsin. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CST on the Big Ten Network.

Nebraska Athletics Notes

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No. 2 Nebraska, coming off what it called an “ugly win” over Minnesota, will look for more consistency when it welcomes Indiana to the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Saturday night.

Match time is 8:30 p.m. ET and you can watch it on the Big Ten Network or live stream it on fubo TV (FREE trial), Sling TV (discount) and DirecTV Stream (FREE trial and discount).

The Cornhuskers come into this match at 25-1 and 15-1 in the Big Ten.

For just the second time in the last 10 matches, Nebraska dropped a set, but the Cornhuskers rallied to win the final two for a 25-12, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19 victory over No. 16 Minnesota on Thursday night.

Per accounts, Nebraska struggled in transition most of the night, allowing Minnesota to extend rallies.

Bergen Reilly recorded 20 digs and six kills — both career highs — to go with her 40 assists and four blocks. She hit .500, but the team struggled to terminate out of system when she took the first contact.

Harper Murray led the Huskers with 13 kills on .250 hitting and a career-high 19 digs. Taylor Landfair added 12 kills against her former team, but also had nine errors and hit .067. Jackson contributed nine kills on .471 hitting and six blocks.

• WHO: Indiana at Nebraska women’s volleyball
• WHERE: Devaney Center, Lincoln, Nebraska
• WHEN: 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 16
• TV: Big Ten Network or live stream it on fubo TV (FREE trial), Sling TV (discount) and DirecTV Stream (FREE trial and discount)

Lexi Rodriguez added 16 digs and seven assists as Nebraska held the Gophers to .130 hitting.

The Cornhuskers have just one more home match after this one, on Nov. 23 vs. Wisconsin. They’ll wrap up the regular season with an East Coast swing during Thanksgiving weekend, at Penn State on Nov. 29 and at Maryland on Nov. 30.

Indiana enters at 12-13 and 5-10 in the Big Ten.

The Hoosiers come into the match fresh off a three-set loss to Iowa. They continue to adjust their lineup to find the best combination. Head Coach Steve Aird is in his seventh season at Indiana. The team found success last season finishing 11-9 in the conference with the most conference wins in more than 20 years.

Indiana has multiple jump servers. Camryn Haworth is the Hoosiers’ top player, leading with .58 aces per set, but the entire team contributes to the ace category. They average 1.60 aces per set as a team.

You can see the full lineup for both teams at this conrhusker.com link.