After a 38-21 thumping of Wisconsin for its first Big Ten victory despite a slow first half start, No. 11 USC football (3-1, 1-1) is back on the road for a clash against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis (2-3, 0-2) on Saturday. With the win over the Badgers, the Trojans moved up two spots in the AP poll this week from No. 13 last week. Minnesota, meanwhile, lost a 27-24 battle to Michigan at the Big House.
The Trojans and Gophers have faced each other eight times, with USC posting a 6-1-1 record against Minnesota and winning the last matchup between the two teams, a 19-17 bout at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2011.
While Minnesota has lost its first two Big Ten games of the year to Iowa and Michigan, the Gophers will likely give the Trojans a tough fight, especially with the game being at Huntington Bank Stadium.
The Gophers played the then-No.12 Wolverines very closely last week and almost staged a comeback by outscoring Michigan 21-3 in the fourth quarter, but failed to recover a controversial onside kick after closing the deficit to a field goal.
While senior quarterback Max Brosmer helped lead the offensive comeback last week, Minnesota’s strong suit this year has been its defense. First-year defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman has turned the Gophers into the best pass-defense in the FBS this season, allowing less than 100 yards per game.
“It’ll be another tough road atmosphere, tough football team,” Riley said during his weekly Thursday press conference. “You know, winning against good football teams, good football programs on the road is always difficult. So we’ve talked about being able to start fast and maintain our standard of play at a high level.”
While USC’s redshirt junior quarterback Miller Moss has continued to impress offensively — throwing for 308 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday — he has continued to take hits on the field as a result of a struggling offensive line. Moss has already been sacked seven times this year, with five of them coming in Big Ten games.
USC’s offensive line will need to do a better job of protecting Moss and allow him to accurately throw the football, especially with the Trojans facing one of the best defenses in the country on Saturday.
“It’s part of playing the position,” Riley said after Tuesday’s practice. “I’m sure you’d love to leave any game with a quarterback not taking any hits, but that’s just not always reality. We’ve played two good teams, two good defensive football teams, it’s gonna happen. Obviously, it’s something we want to continue to clean up but everybody’s involved in that.”
If Moss has better protection, he will be able to sling the ball well, especially when he finds a hot receiver like he did with sophomore wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane against the Badgers. Against Wisconsin, Lane set new career highs of 105 receiving yards and 10 receptions, and caught two of Moss’s three touchdown passes.
Because of the depth among USC’s wide receivers and tight ends, a different Trojan has led the team each week in receiving yards, which will help Moss and the offense remain unpredictable against the Gopher’s very strong defensive unit.
“We’ve got some good skill sets and some guys that we want to play that we think can create good matchups and go make plays for us,” Riley said on Thursday.
The Trojans kick off at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium on Big Ten Network.