LOS ANGELES – Quinten Joyner ran for 84 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 13 Southern California’s resurgent defense earned the Trojans’ first clean sheet since 2011 in a 48-0 victory over Utah State on Saturday night.
Miller Moss threw 229 yards and scored a touchdown, although he only played the first 2 1/2 quarters in his first home game for the Trojans (2-0).
USC was in control all night at the Coliseum, building on its impressive season-opening win over LSU by once again demonstrating the fundamental transformation of last season’s woeful defense.
“It’s very hard to shut down opponents in modern college football, so I’m really proud of the way we held up defensively all night and the complementary ball was really good,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “The offense ran the ball well. That was a big focus, so we were proud of how the guys responded.”
After USC limited the Tigers to 20 points in Las Vegas last week, defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s group allowed the Aggies (1-1) just 190 yards, 40 of which came against the Trojans’ backups on a final drive that ended with a missed 52-yard field goal attempt with 1:08 left.
“I think it’s just a good visualization of our defense and how much progress we’ve made,” said USC linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, whose interception late in the first half led to the Trojans’ third touchdown. “The scoreboard and the stats don’t really show how good a defense might have been, (but) it’s exciting for our whole team. We know what we need to do and we executed that well today.”
The Trojans’ first-half clean sheet was the school’s first in a half since the 2022 season, and they held on to earn the school’s first clean sheet in 153 games since their 50-0 victory over UCLA in the final game of the 2011 season.
Makai Lemon caught a touchdown pass just before halftime, while Woody Marks ran for 103 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes in the Mississippi State transfer’s home debut for USC, making his 47th consecutive pass catch and extending the nation’s longest active streak.
Bryson Barnes threw for 103 yards for the Aggies, but the transfer QB failed to win at the Coliseum for the second time in his football career. Barnes led Utah to a dramatic 34-32 victory over USC last season while filling in for injured Utes starter Cam Rising, handing Riley and Caleb Williams their first loss at the Coliseum.
This was the first loss for Aggies interim coach Nate Dreiling, the former defensive coordinator who got the job two months ago after Blake Anderson’s stormy departure from Logan.
“This offense is so hard to stop because it’s so explosive, but now they have a defense that’s always been talented but is so solid,” Dreiling said. “It’s incredible how well they teach their players how to play. They have length and now they know how to use that length. So they have a chance to not only be one of the best offenses in the country, but potentially one of the (best) defenses as well. So this is a complete football team that’s going to be playing for a very, very long time.”
UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava closed for Moss, running for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and throwing passes for 66 yards while leading two scoring drives in USC’s 544-yard offensive effort.
A power outage on the north side of the Colosseum forced the teams to begin the second half with less light than usual, and play was halted for several minutes in the fourth quarter when all the lights on the north side went out.
“Just when we were thinking about maybe not playing anymore, (the lights) came on, so that was good,” Riley said.
The power supply to the two main light towers was finally restored.
“You talked about doing commentary on the game, right?” Dreiling said. “So I asked Lincoln Riley, ‘Are both teams going to tie?’ He didn’t find it as funny as I did.”
Utah State: Not every defense the Aggies face will be as good as USC’s group, so they’ll hope to return to the form that saw them rush for 343 yards in the season-opening win over Robert Morris, rather than the anemic offense that managed just 103 yards in the air at the Coliseum.
USC: Aside from a few short-yardage execution errors and a costly Lake McRee fumble deep in Aggies territory, everything looked good. The Trojans are about to begin a brutal four-game series in the Big Ten, but they couldn’t be much happier with their progress thus far.
USC is likely to continue to climb, and a top-10 finish is entirely possible if enough voters stay up late to watch this performance.
Utah State: Hosts No. 11 Utah on Saturday.
USC: At No. 10 Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 21, for the Trojans’ Big Ten debut.
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AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football.
