If you’re a Trojan fan who was really excited over the play of USC’s newly coached defense which allowed just 20 points last week, you must be ecstatic right now after they dealt a complete 48-0 shut-out against Utah State, something they haven’t done since 2011. Recording three sacks and seven tackles for loss in what probably felt like righteous revenge for the Trojans who were around last year when now Aggies QB Bryson Barnes was playing for Utah and in relief of an injured Cam Rising led Utah to a dramatic 34-32 victory over USC. In this one he was held to just 103 yards in the air, no TD’s and 1 interception that led to a Trojan TD right before the break.
On the ground the Aggies were even worse rushing 23 times for just 87 yards. As Ryan Kartje noted in his article for the LA Times; “USC held Utah State to just 190 yards, its fewest allowed since 2014. It gave up just two third-down conversions and only once did USC’s defense allow Utah State to pass the 40-yard line into Trojan territory. Barnes could barely move the ball. He threw for just 103 yards and finished with [minus] eight yards on the ground as USC’s defense refused to allow him an inch where it might have given up a mile last season.”
In the meantime Caleb Williams’ replacement Miller Moss, getting great protection all night, is taking right to the job connecting once again on 70% of his throws for 229 yards, 1 TD, and no picks which could have been 3 TD’s if two hadn’t been dropped. But it was on the ground where USC really pushed the Aggies around while rushing 35 times for 253 yards and five TD’s by four different players including one by Sophomore back-up QB Jayden Maiava, two by Freshman RB Quinten Joyner, as well as one each by Senior RB Woody Marks and Freshman RB A’marion Peterson. Senior Linebackers Eric Gentry and Easton Macarenas-Arno combined for seven tackles each, 9 solo, 1 sack, and 1.5 tackles for loss. Last week Gentry also recorded 7 tackles as well as 2 tackles for loss.
The Trojans were dominant in every category of this one with 28 1st downs compared to just 10 for the Aggies and converted 60% of their 3rd downs while holding Utah State to 18%. They accumulated 548 total yards of offense while holding the Aggies to under 200. They ran and passed for almost three times as many yards, won the time-of-possession, and played a clean game with just 4 penalties for under 30 yards.
Picked in the Big Ten media poll to finish sixth, the as of now undefeated Trojans will be traveling 11,500+ miles over the next five weeks to take on Maryland, No. 17 Michigan, and Minnesota while hosting No. 8 Penn State and Wisconsin in between. Up next, a trip to the Big House where the Wolverines, who hadn’t lost a home game since 2020, got embarrassed by Texas this past Saturday 31-12 and won’t be in the mood to lose again. I can hardly wait to watch this and since I couldn’t seem to track down when Michigan last lost back-to-back games at home I’m hoping that by the end of the game the TV crew will let us all know.