LOS ANGELES – One defender screamed toward his legs, and another barnacled to his shoulders, a first-quarter run from redshirt-freshman Quinten Joyner seemed destined to end in short-yardage mediocrity.
But this was a quiet kid whose legs have thumped loud behind the scenes at USC, a threat to pop at any given moment if only given the rhythm. And as Utah State’s Jordan Vincent squirmed at his feet and Blaine Spires grabbed a handful of jersey, Joyner’s tree trunks somehow continued churning, twisting his upper body as time froze.
Poof.
Away Joyner went, bursting up the right sideline, quarterback Miller Moss suddenly sprinting up behind him and leveling an Aggie to send Joyner down with a 32-yard gain. A play later, and the freshman was in the end zone for USC’s first touchdown of the season at the Coliseum, skipping towards his sideline in glee.
It was the 10th handoff of USC’s first 16 plays in their home opener against the Aggies Saturday night, head coach Lincoln Riley pumping electrolytes into the Trojans’ ground game to clear away any notion of a Vegas hangover, pulverizing and paralyzing a helpless Aggies run defense with pitches and draws in the first half. And defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn handedly took care of the rest, as 13th-ranked USC (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) blanked unranked Utah State 48-0 in a complete steamroll of a Saturday home opener.
It was the first shutout USC has pitched since a 50-0 win over UCLA in 2011, when Matt Barkley was behind center, the quarterback who – coincidentally – led USC out of the tunnel Saturday. And it served a sliver of revenge for ghosts of 2023 past. In many ways, Utah State transfer quarterback Bryson Barnes represented the downfall from expectations that crushed USC two falls ago, the anointed pig farmer who’d dragged an entire defense through the muck.
He came marching back into the Coliseum Saturday, a year after gashing USC’s defensive line for a 26-yard keeper that sealed a 34-32 Utah win, a loss at the hands of a kid that grew up on a pig farm in Milford, Utah, that all but killed USC’s College Football Playoff hopes.
“For the first time in a while, there are going to be championship expectations here,” Riley said postgame, then. “And those aren’t going anywhere. We’re not going anywhere.”
A year later, those expectations looked soundly renewed, USC (2-0, 0-0 in Big Ten) reloading with a secondary that didn’t cede an inch to Barnes over the top and a front that kept a spy on his every move from the pocket. Lynn pressed the issue all night, dialing up a safety blitz for Kamari Ramsey on a third down on Utah State’s first drive that forced a quick hit from Barnes short of the sticks; in the third quarter, Ramsey shot again off the edge on a fourth down and blew up Barnes for a force-fumble sack.
USC senior Eric Gentry, starting at middle linebacker in place of an injured Mason Cobb, looked for a second straight week like USC’s most impactful playmaker, stuffing the stat sheet with seven tackles, a sack and 1.5 tackles-for-loss. And Wyoming transfer Gavin Meyer forced USC’s first turnover of the season, tipping a Barnes pass in the second quarter that floated gently into the waiting arms of linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold.
Their legs stayed fresh, in large part, due to a methodical ground and play-action attack dialed up by Riley. Veteran Mississippi State transfer Woody Marks rang the bell in a 103-yard first-half performance, Joyner added 84 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Miller Moss played largely clean in finishing 21-of-30 for 229 yards and a touchdown.
Tight end Lake McRee continued to impress in the season’s early going, leading USC with 81 receiving yards. Backup quarterback Jayden Maiava shone in garbage-time snaps, finishing 8-of-11 for 66 yards with a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown.
Utah State (1-1) managed only 190 total yards to USC’s 544.
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