No. 13 USC's revitalized defense dominates again in a 48-0 blowout of Utah State
Quinten Joyner rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 13 Southern California's revitalized defense had the Trojans' first shutout since 2011 in a 48-0 victory over Utah State on Saturday night.
Miller Moss passed for 229 yards and a touchdown while playing only the first 2 1/2 quarters in his first home start for the Trojans (2-0).
USC was in control all night at the Coliseum, building on its impressive season-opening victory over LSU with another demonstration of the thorough transformation of last season's pathetic defense.
"Very hard to shut people out in modern-day college football, so I'm really proud of us maintaining our play defensively the entire night, and the complementary ball was really good," coach Lincoln Riley said. "The offense did a good job running the ball. That was a big emphasis point, so we were proud of the way the guys responded."
After USC held the Tigers to 20 points in Las Vegas last week, defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn's group yielded just 190 yards to the Aggies (1-1), with 40 of those yards coming against the Trojans' backups on a final drive that ended with a missed 52-yard field goal attempt with 1:08 to play.
"I think that's just a good visualization of our defense and how much growth we've put in," said USC linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, whose interception late in the first half led to the Trojans' third touchdown. "The scoreboard and statistics don't really show how well a defense might have done, (but) it's exciting for our whole team. We know what we've got to do, and we had good execution of that today."
The Trojans' shutout in the first half was the school's first in any half since the 2022 season, and they held on to finish off the school's first shutout in 153 games since its 50-0 victory over UCLA in the final game of the 2011 season.
Makai Lemon caught a TD pass shortly before halftime, while Woody Marks rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown and also made three receptions in the Mississippi State transfer's home debut for USC, catching a pass in his 47th consecutive game to extend the nation's longest active streak.
Bryson Barnes passed for 103 yards for the Aggies, but the transfer QB couldn't 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, sending Riley and Caleb Williams to their first defeat at the Coliseum.
The loss was the first for Aggies interim head coach Nate Dreiling, the former defensive coordinator who got the job two months ago amid Blake Anderson's stormy departure from Logan.
"This offense (is) just so hard to stop because they are so explosive, but now they have a defense that has always been talented, but it's so sound," Dreiling said. "Unbelievable how well they're teaching their players to play. They have length, and now they know how to use their length. That's why they have a chance to be not only one of the best offenses in the country, but possibly one of the (best) defenses, so that is a complete football team right there that's going to play a long, long time."
UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava finished up for Moss, rushing for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and passing for 66 yards while leading two scoring drives in USC's 544-yard offensive performance.
A power outage on the north side of the Coliseum forced the teams to begin the second half in less light than normal, and the game was delayed for a few minutes in the fourth quarter when all of the north-side lights went out.
"Right as we were considering maybe not playing anymore, (the lights) came on, so that was good," Riley said.
Power was eventually restored to the two main light towers.
"They were talking about calling the game, right?" Dreiling said. "So I asked Lincoln Riley, 'Does that go as a draw for both teams?' He didn't think it was 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 in which they racked up 343 yards passing in a season-opening win over Robert Morris, instead of the punchless attack that managed only 103 yards in the air at the Coliseum.
USC: Everything looked good, aside from a few short-yardage execution mistakes and a costly fumble by Lake McRee deep in Aggies territory. The Trojans are about to start a brutal four-game stretch of Big Ten play, but they couldn't feel much better about their progress so far.
USC should keep rising, with a top-10 berth seeming like a possibility if enough voters stayed up extra-late to watch this effort.
Utah State: Hosts No. 11 Utah on Saturday.
USC: At No. 10 Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 21 for the Trojans' Big Ten debut.