The Spartans may have conquered the Trojans historically, but in football, they stood no chance.
USC beat San Jose State 42-26 on Saturday on the back of a strong freshman class with a dominant rushing attack in their season opener.
The Trojans wasted no time to start the season marching down the field on the first drive of the game. Redshirt senior running back Waymond Jordan and redshirt sophomore running back King Miller found plenty of room behind the offensive line to lead the way, combining for 56 yards on the opening drive. Senior quarterback Jayden Maiava capped off the opening drive on a ‘quarterback sneak’ to score the first touchdown.
Maiava finished the day with 286 passing yards and two passing touchdowns, while also throwing efficiently, completing 25-of-29 of his pass attempts.
The Trojans’ defense also wasted no time. Redshirt junior linebacker Deven Bryant snuffed out San Jose State quarterback Luke Weaver on a keeper to force the Spartans to go three-and-out on the Spartan’s first possession.
San Jose State only had 11 yards of total offense in the first quarter, which shifted later in the game. In the second quarter, the Spartans showed a different side on their first offensive drive, driving down the field thanks to redshirt senior running back Jabari Bates putting together several big runs. San Jose State went for it on fourth-and-one. Junior defensive tackle Jide Abasiri was able to stop Bates from behind the line of scrimmage to force a turnover on downs in the second quarter.
With injuries to junior wide receiver Terrell Anderson and sophomore wide receiver Tanook Hines, it was the freshman who began to make their mark on the game.
Freshman wide receiver Trent Mosley returned a punt for 46 yards, slipping through multiple tackles. Mosley ended the game with a total of 118 yards on seven catches. His debut was capped off in the third quarter when he fought his way into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown.
“I don’t think anybody here is very surprised,” head coach Lincoln Riley said when talking about Mosley’s performance. “He’s a consistent player.”
Throughout the game, the Trojans relied on the rush attack, using the two-headed monster of Jordan and Miller. Miller scored a touchdown and ended the day with 63 rushing yards on 15 carries. Jordan, on the other hand, had 48 rushing yards on eight carries. Running back Riley Wormley also joined the fun; on his first carry of the season in the second quarter, he scored a touchdown to make it 14-0.
On the ensuing offensive drive, freshman wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt brought in his first career touchdown reception on a bullet pass from Maiava to make it 21-0. Dixon-Wyatt finished the day with four receptions for 36 yards.
Other standout freshman performances include defensive end Luke Wafle, who nearly got to Weaver in his own end zone alongside junior defensive end Kameryn Crawford. Freshman wide receiver Tron Baker hauled in four receptions for 45 yards. Freshman tight end Mark Bowman was quieter than expected, only bringing in three receptions for 15 yards.
“They all affected the game,” Riley said. “You felt freshmen affect the game on defense. You felt it on offense; you felt it on special teams. Good to see those guys rise up and be ready to play.”
The Trojans were up 28-0 at halftime and continued to pour it on to begin the second half. Mosley’s touchdown extended USC’s lead to 35-3 in the third quarter.
With a commanding lead, USC turned to the backups to finish off the game. The Spartans took advantage of this in the fourth quarter, with Weaver connecting with redshirt junior wide receiver Jerry McClure for a 28-yard touchdown. That was the beginning of the 23-point fourth-quarter barrage from San Jose State.
Freshman quarterback Jonas Williams came into the game for Maiava, and he showed flashes of greatness in his debut. He led a drive downfield and showed off his scrambling ability but found Baker on the run near the goal line. Freshman running back Shahn Alston finished the drive to extend USC’s lead to 42-11.
Williams, unfortunately, wasn’t perfect, throwing an interception late in the game that gave San Jose State another scoring opportunity to cut into the lead. Weaver scored on a 7-yard scamper into the end zone to turn a 35-3 USC advantage into a 42-26 final score.
Despite dominating for the first three quarters, Riley wasn’t satisfied with how the game ended.
“You don’t hide behind the fact that the 4th quarter wasn’t good enough,” Riley said. “We got a lot of work to do.”
USC doesn’t have much time to fix those issues before taking on the Fresno State Bulldogs in a Friday night showdown at the Coliseum.