The USC Trojans put together a wild touchdown play against Illinois that made play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson go wild on the Fox Big Noon Saturday broadcast, but the play was called back due to a penalty. Fox color commentator Joel Klatt provided analysis to break down the “massive mistake” that wiped out the 75-yard touchdown in Champaign.
Trailing 14-7 in the second quarter, USC head coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans drew up a creative trick play that initially appeared to work out beautifully.
USC running back Waymond Jordan took the snap in a “Wildcat” formation, faked a handoff, and proceeded to pitch the ball to quarterback Jayden Maiava, who was lined up like a wide receiver near the right sideline. Maiava then threw a pass downfield to wide receiver Makai Lemon, and Lemon made a couple of nifty moves to make Illinois defenders miss before taking it to the house for a 75-yard USC touchdown.
“Holy smokes,” Johnson exclaimed. “Touchdown, SC! 75 yards if it stands, but there is a flag!”
The flag was an “ineligible player downfield” penalty against USC to erase the touchdown, with backup center J’Onre Reed the culprit.
Gus Johnson: “HOLY SMOKES! TOUCHDOWN, SC! 75 yards if it stands, but there is a flag!”
An ineligible player downfield wiped out the USC TD.
Joel Klatt: “He’s just floating down the field, not even blocking… What a MASSIVE mistake on a touchdown play!”
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing.bsky.social) September 27, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Klatt went into detail to break down the play on a zoomed-out replay angle provided by the Fox broadcast.
“From the snap here, here’s the line,” Klatt explained. “You’re going to get three yards. You’ve got about this long, a little past that, for that offensive line, and they can go down the field. It’s a slow-developing play.”
“But you can see the center just kind of floats,” Klatt continued. “There he is. Look at him. He’s just floating down the field, not even blocking anybody, unnecessarily kind of gets lost in space. And he is about four yards down the field. And that’s what’s called. What a massive mistake on a touchdown play!”
“Wow,” Johnson replied.
What would’ve been a 75-yard touchdown and likely a tied game instead turned into a five-yard penalty for USC. The drive would go on to result in a turnover-on-downs for the Trojans, and they entered the half trailing 14-10 in a Big Ten showdown featuring two teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.