1 week Ago
LOS ANGELES — Letdown or lookahead performances were a constant theme across college football on Saturday. It would’ve been easy for 13th-ranked USC to fall into that trap against Utah State while on short rest after an emotional victory over LSU last Sunday. But the Trojans turned in one of the more focused efforts of Lincoln Riley’s tenure and handled the Aggies in dominating fashion.
The 48-0 win was the program’s first shutout since blanking crosstown rival UCLA 50-0 in 2011. Advertisement “We talked about it all week,” Riley said. “We talked pretty specifically last night in our team meeting.
But, listen, I’m sure all those other teams did, too. So at the end of the day, it’s a players’ game. They’re either going to listen to the things that you say, take them to heart and be ready or they’re not.
And our guys were certainly ready to go.” USC is 2-0 and off next week before it faces Michigan on Sept. 21 in its first-ever Big Ten game.
Here are some takeaways from the win that put the Trojans in this position. Defense does its job There were a lot of questions about USC’s defense this offseason and how much it could realistically improve. Through eight quarters, the unit has played about as well as anyone could reasonably expect.
After holding LSU to 20 points in the season opener, the Trojans defense suffocated Utah State throughout all four quarters. The numbers were solid across the board. The shutout is the most important stat, but USC limited the Aggies to 190 yards of total offense, including 87 on the ground on 23 attempts (3.
8-yard average). The Trojans recorded three sacks after having none last week and forced one turnover. The tackling was solid, and Utah State had only one play of 20 yards or more.
“I think it’s a good visualization of our defense and how much work we put in,” linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold said. “I think the scoreboard and statistics doesn’t really show how well a defense might have done. The standard is the standard on our side of the ball and that’s the standard for our whole team.
And we know what we’ve got to do and we did a good job of execution today.” Linebacker Eric Gentry was all over the field and made several key plays while starting in place of Mason Cobb , who missed the game with an undisclosed injury. Gentry finished with seven tackles and recorded the Trojans’ first sack of the season.
Advertisement Safety Kamari Ramsey smothered Utah State’s tight end and broke up a pass on a third-and-3 to force a punt in the first quarter, and he sacked Aggies quarterback Bryson Barnes and forced a fumble on the first drive of the third quarter. Mascarenas-Arnold finished with seven tackles and notched an interception after defensive lineman Gavin Meyer tipped a Barnes pass late in the second quarter. Corners Jacobe Covington and John Humphrey played well.
Humphrey started in place of Jaylin Smith , who was suited up but didn’t play and wore a sizeable brace on his right knee. Is USC’s defense perfect? No. The pass rushers will have to get to the quarterback on a more consistent basis, and Utah State did break off a few big runs (17 and 20 yards) in the first half.
But through two games, the Trojans have looked fundamentally sound. The tackling was good again. The defense rallies to the ball with much more effort than it did last season.
There haven’t been a ton of busts. Simply put, the defense hasn’t been beating itself — something that happened so often in previous years. Big Ten play starts soon, so the challenges will get tougher, and USC will have some things to clean up.
But so far, so good for this defense and coordinator D’Anton Lynn. Running game dominates A few days before the LSU game, Riley was asked about finding consistency in the run game after the Trojans rushing attack sputtered late last season. He said he expects to be elite in that department.
USC ran it well in certain situations against LSU last week — such as Woody Marks’ game-winning touchdown in the final seconds — but it was an up-and-down performance. On the first play from scrimmage against Utah State, Marks picked up 8 yards. On the second play, he picked up another 8 yards.
And on the third play, he rushed for 33 more. Advertisement It took only three plays for the Trojans’ rushing attack to set the tone for the night. USC finished with 249 rushing yards, 174 of which came in the first half and allowed the Trojans to build a big lead.
Marks was particularly impressive. He rushed 13 times for 103 yards and a score and didn’t even play in the second half. Quinten Joyner complemented Marks with some tough running and finished with 84 yards and two scores on 10 carries.
When your QB blocks for you >>> ✌️ Quinten Joyner on the run! @uscfb pic.twitter.com/psy3hHeQB7 — FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 8, 2024 Bryan Jackson received the first carries of his college career and rushed seven times for 34 yards.
“Guys ran hard. We blocked well up front,” Riley said. “I thought we took some steps.
The big thing offensively was we wanted to be cleaner in the run game. ..
. We’ve got to get better. We did a good job of it.
We know we’ve got some exciting challenges coming up.” The line did well, but the tight ends really stood out. USC utilized two tight-end sets with Lake McRee and Kade Eldridge , and they played a critical role in the run game, sparking several big gains or scores.
That group has taken a step forward with run blocking after having some issues last season. Moss efficient again In Miller Moss’ first career start, he set a Holiday Bowl record with six touchdown passes against a top-15 Louisville team. In his second start, he spearheaded the game-winning drive against top-15 LSU squad.
Moss didn’t have a gaudy stat line and didn’t make any dramatic throws on Saturday night. But it was another solid performance. He completed 21-of-30 pass attempts for 229 yards and one touchdown.
It felt like Moss threw a couple of risky passes against Utah State, but none resulted in a turnover. He was hurt by drops from Zachariah Branch and Ja’Kobi Lane on passes that would’ve resulted in touchdowns. Advertisement Moss continued to spread the ball around.
McRee led the team with 81 yards on four receptions, and Marks was involved in the passing game as well, catching three passes for 39 yards. In the past, Riley has said that teams tend to take on the personality of their quarterbacks. Moss is steady, poised and focused.
Those are traits that the Trojans have displayed through two games, and they’ll need more of it when they head to the Big House to play Michigan in two weeks. (Photo of Lake McRee: Jonathan Hui / USA Today).
