No. 13 USC’s revitalized defense dominates again in 48-0 win over Utah State

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 for 229 yards and scored a touchdown despite playing only the first 2 1/2 quarters in his first home game for the Trojans (2-0). Woody Marks ran for 103 yards and scored a touchdown, while A’Marion Peterson scored another touchdown.

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.

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.

The Trojans’ first-half clean sheet was their 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 Marks caught three passes in the Mississippi State transfer’s home debut, marking his 47th consecutive game of catching a pass and extending the longest active streak in the country.

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 start the second half with less light than normal, and the game was delayed for several minutes in the fourth quarter when all of the lights on the north side went out. The Colosseum eventually restored power to the two main light towers.

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 Lincoln 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.

After USC scored on four of its first five drives, Easton Mascarenas-Arnold’s interception with 1:14 before halftime enabled a 40-yard touchdown drive that ended with Lemon’s artful catch-and-run for a 6-yard touchdown with 4 seconds left.

Joyner ran for his second touchdown on the Trojans’ first drive after halftime.

The conclusion

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.

Impact of the survey

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.

Next

Utah State: Hosts No. 11 Utah on Saturday.

USC: At No. 10 Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 21, for the Trojans’ Big Ten debut.

——

AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football.