San José State at No. 14 USC
No surprise here, right? USC easily handled the Spartans—well certainly through three quarters that is—ahead 35-3 going into the 4th. We’ll know more as we go, but the only weakness the Trojans seemed to have was in their depth on defense—especially in the secondary. Defense was always going to be a concern going into the year. But if their starters can stay healthy at least for a while, while the new guys get on top of things, USC could have the year those rabid fans have been hoping for. But have no doubt—nothing short of making the playoff this year will satisfy the Trojan faithful.
Gary Patterson, the former 20+ year TCU head coach, takes over as Defensive Coordinator for D’Anton Lynn who was enticed by Riley to move over from UCLA to USC in 2023 for the specific purpose of improving their defense. After spending the first year concentrating on adding bulk, strength training and the basics, the improvement was palpable. The team went from allowing 34+ points per game—121st in the nation—to just 23—13th in the nation. They went from allowing 333 yards passing and almost 3 passing TD’s a game to just 207 yards and less than 2 TD’s. The general consensus is that, in spite of losing D’Anton Lynn who left USC to became Defensive Coordinator at Penn State, in order to move forward they can’t let themselves go backwards on that side of the ball.
So, other than their second team getting burned for two TD’s in the air and one on the ground in the final quarter, there was plenty to be excited about on both sides of the ball. As reported by the Los Angeles Times Freshman Defensive End Luke Wafle, in spite of only playing 23 snaps in his very first game was—according to Pro Football Focus—the Trojan’s highest graded defender. On a team that will no doubt be better next year, Wafle wasn’t the only freshman that impressed as three of the top four WR’s for USC were freshmen with the fourth just a Sophomore. Senior QB Jayden Maiava had a field day connecting on 25-of-29 of his passes for almost 300 yards, 2 TD’s and no picks to go along with a rushing TD as well. Freshmen WR’s Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, Tron Baker, and Trent Mosley combined for 15 receptions, for 199 yards and both of Maiava’s TD passes—Mosley the leading receiver with 7 receptions for 118 yards and a TD. On the ground last year’s Freshman walk-on King Miller, Senior RB Waymond Jordan, and Freshman Shahn Alston collectively rushed 30 times for 141 of the teams 164 yards with Miller and Alston picking up a TD each.
USC was up 7-0 at the end of the 1st Qtr and picked up back-to-back-to-back TD’s in the second Qtr to be up 28-0 at the break. After San José State finally got on the board with a field goal in the third quarter the Trojans found the end zone again on a 9 play 74 yard drive and a no huddle TD pass out of the shotgun from Maiava to Mosley to go up 35-3 going into the 4th. The Spartans scored on back-to-back-to-back TD’s themselves in the 4th Qtr with USC scoring just once again after San Jose State’s first score and two-point conversion making it a 42-11 game. San José State would come back down the field to score again at the end of an 11 play 75 yard drive and then again a little over three minutes later after picking off USC’s back-up QB to give us the 42-26 final. The Trojans play again on a short week on Friday, September 4th, as they’ll host the always hard-nosed Fresno State.
Boise State at No. 2 Oregon
Boise State, the team determined by all the experts to be the favorite to become conference champion of the newly constituted PAC-12, came into Autzen Stadium in Eugene to face a Duck team that has only lost two games at home since hiring Dan Lanning back in 2022. To say they weren’t intimidated is an under statement as they held Oregon’s feet to the fire the entire game. Ahead of Oregon 7-0 after the first quarter while forcing the Ducks to a turnover on downs and a punt, they went into the locker room up 17-14 and was tied at the end of three—and still tied at 27 each in the middle of the 4th. Oregon ended up settling for field goals three times, once inside the red zone and twice just outside. In the end the Ducks pulled it out 34-27 the result of a two-play drive that had Senior QB Danta Moore connect with Sophomore WR Dakorien Moore for a 62 yard TD pass. After that both teams were held to a punt and a turn-over on downs to end it.
It was clear head coach Dan Lanning felt there was a lot to look at before hitting the road to take on Oklahoma State next week. As he said afterward; “We won the game with total yards and some situations, but we didn’t really win the critical situations. They won some of those [and] played better in special teams than us today. They did better on fourth down. We kind of gave them an opportunity, a chance to hang around.” Oregon’s Senior QB Dante Moore connected on 28-of-37 for 378 yards, 3 TD’s, and no interceptions with most of those yards going to Senior TE Jamari Johnson, and WR’s Jeremiah McClellan, Evan Stewart, and Dokorien Moore who collectively caught 24 passes for all but six of the total yards with McClellan, Moore and Johnson the recipient of a TD each.
Boise State’s Maddux Madsen connected on just over 50% of his passes for 181 yards, 3 TD’s and no interceptions. On the ground Junior RB Dylan Riley and Sophomore Sire Gaines combined for 89 of the team’s 93 yards on 28 carries but never found the end zone. Both teams picked up 18 first downs each but the Ducks had just about 200 yards more in the air. The Bronco’s picked up two of their three fourth down attempts while Oregon was completely anemic on both 3rd and 4th down picking up just 33% on the first and going 0-for-3 on the later. Boise State won the time-of-possession battle and the Duck’s frustration was apparent with their 10 penalties for 90 yards compared with just three flags for the Broncos.
Fresno State at No. 14 USC
San Jose State did the Trojans a favor last week putting all those points up on the board in the fourth quarter because there was none of that shit going on against Fresno State—a team that knocked off Boise State last year in the regular season and came in looking much more of a challenge than the Spartans. The defense was strictly business from the get-go in this one, not only forcing a fumble that was lost but an interception and two safeties thanks to the very innovative Gary Patterson—TCU’s former head coach for 21 years who is well known for creating very deceptive defense schemes.
USC took an early lead, scoring on their very first possession on a 12 play 82 yard 5 plus minute drive resulting in an 8 yard TD pass from Senior QB Jayden Maiava to Sophomore WR Tanook Hines to go up 7-0. After picking off the Bulldogs QB on Fresno State’s first possession the Trojans were on there way to 14-0 lead if not for a fumble by Senior RB Waymond Jordan after a completed pass by Maiava near mid-field in Fresno State territory. Holding the Bulldogs to a punt on their first possession of the 2nd Qtr, USC would add those extra seven points to the scoreboard on a 68 yard TD pass from Maiava to Freshman sensation Trent Mosley. The defense took over after that, holding Fresno State to a three-and-out and then forcing a safety on their next possession and a fumble on the one after that. Each followed by a USC TD—the first, Maiava’s second pass to Mosley for a score and the second on a Waymond Jordan TD run—making up for that earlier fumble and giving the Trojans a 30-0 lead going into the locker room.
After forcing a three-and-out by Fresno State to start the second half the Trojans were well on their way towards another score. But at the end of an 8 minute 83 yard 13 play drive, lost the ball on another completed pass by Maiava that was lost to a fumble by his receiver—this time it was Freshman WR Kayden Dixon-Wyatt. But USC wasn’t going to let that third quarter expire without at least putting some points up on the board. This time it was an impressive safety from seven yards out—second of the game for the defense—to put the Trojans up 32-0 at the end of the 3rd and going into the 4th. Both teams were held to a punt on their first possessions of the final quarter but USC, lead by their back-up QB J. Williams, would go on a 10 play 79 yard drive while eating up almost seven minutes of clock to find the end zone again on a TD run by their Freshman RB Deshonne Redeaux to make it 39-0 with almost six minutes left in the game. Fresno State spent the next five plus minutes working their way downfield, but after an incompletion and sack had to turn the ball back over to the Trojans sitting 4th and goal at the USC 8 yard line with just thirty-six seconds left.
The Trojans were absolutely surgical in the air connecting on over 90% of their passes. Senior QB Jayden Maiava was 23-of-25 for 349 yards, 3 TD’s, and no interceptions and even his Freshman backup—Jonas William—was a perfect six-for-six without a score or a pick. Their WR freshmen phenoms continue to dazzle with Trent Mosley picking up 104 yards on 4 receptions and two of Maiava’s three TD’s while Kayden Dixon-Wyatt pulled in six for 102 yards. Collectively they accounted for exactly half of USC’s 412 yards in the air with Maiava also connecting multiple times with six other players for most of the rest. On the ground, Senior RB Waymon Jordan, Sophomore King Miller, and Freshman Shahn Alston combined for 132 yards on 30 carries with Jordan picking up a TD along with Freshman RB Deshonne Redeaux. As you can imagine by the score, USC completely dominated the stats picking up 27 first downs to 9, 552 yards of total offense to 116, possessed the ball 17 more minutes and were proficient if not perfect on third and fourth down—63% and 50% respectively. Up next for the Trojans—Louisiana on September 12th, a week off, and then their first major test on the 2026 season—a visit by the Oregon Ducks on September 26th. After watching their game against Boise State they’ll need to get their Ducks in a row because USC so far is looking like the real deal.