Los Angeles • Ronald Jones II rushed for 194 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 17 Southern California overcame a big second-half rally led by Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate for a 49-35 victory over the 23rd-ranked Wildcats on Saturday night.
Sam Darnold passed for 311 yards and two TDs for the Trojans (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12), who led 28-6 midway through the third quarter before Tate finally got the Wildcats (6-3, 4-2) rolling. Arizona scored 29 points in about 11 minutes, tying it at 35 on Zach Green's TD run and a 2-point conversion with 8:23 to play.
But Jones ran wild in the fourth quarter, racking up 96 yards while scoring the tiebreaking touchdown with 5:37 to play and adding another score with 3:09 left as the Trojans pulled away.
USC is alone atop the Pac-12 South after its 15th consecutive victory at the Coliseum. One victory in the Trojans' final two games against Colorado and UCLA will put them in the conference title game next month.
Tate, an Inglewood native and high school classmate of several Trojans, rushed for 161 yards and passed for 146 yards and two TDs. After being bottled up in the first half, he rushed for a 32-yard TD and threw a 30-yard scoring pass in the third quarter.
But Tate was sacked five times, and he threw two fourth-quarter interceptions to USC's Ajene Harris and John Houston as the Wildcats' four-game winning streak ended.
Jalen Greene returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in the first quarter for the Trojans. Tyler Vaughns and Steven Mitchell caught TD passes for USC, and Aca'Cedric Ware rushed for another score.
Darnold shook off an early end-zone interception and improved to 11-0 at the Coliseum as a starter.
Jones broke a 52-yard run during the Trojans' final TD drive and became the first USC tailback with consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons since LenDale White in 2004 and 2005.