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We finally made it, week one of the college football season is here. There are a lot of good matchups to keep an eye on this weekend, and one that you won't want to miss will be on Sunday between USC football and LSU football. The Trojans and Tigers are both ranked to start the season, and this is a crucial year for both teams. They will be playing at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
The new college football year got started with week zero on Saturday and things got going with a bang as #10 Florida State was knocked off by Georgia Tech. It was a fantastic start to the season (sorry Seminoles fans) as the game came down to the wire, but now we have a full slate of college football to take in over the course of five days.
Week one action will begin on Thursday and there are a lot of intriguing matchups to take in. Deion Sanders and Colorado will be taking on North Dakota State, and there are a few ranked teams in action as well. NC State, Kansas, Utah and Missouri will all start their season on Thursday as well.
There will even be a game Monday as well. Florida State will look to bounce back from their week zero loss on against Boston College. It’s going to be a great Labor Day weekend.
There's no doubt about it, Sunday's matchup between USC football and LSU football is one of the best of the week. Let's take a look at where both of these teams are heading into week one of the 2024 college football season. You might notice that they are in somewhat similar boats.
Lincoln Riley is feeling some pressure
USC football head coach Lincoln Riley has some pressure on him this year after a disastrous 2023 season. Year one went well for Riley and the Trojans as they made it to the Pac-12 title game in 2022 and won 11 games in the regular season. They were expected to once again contend for a College Football Playoff spot in year two, but they didn't come close at all to meeting expectations.
The Trojans had the best player in the country last year in quarterback Caleb Williams, who was also the reigning Heisman winner, and they ended up going 7-5. That wasn't Williams' fault at all. He had a good year, but the defense was one of the worst in all of college football. The Trojans simply couldn't stop their opponents, and even in games when Williams and the offense played their best, it was incredibly difficult to win.
Now, things are getting tougher for USC. They are in the Big Ten, and competition is a bit more fierce than it was in the Pac-12. It certainly doesn't help that they have to take on a top-15 LSU team to start the season. This is going to be a challenging year, and if the defense hasn't improved drastically, it's going to be one that USC fans are going to want to forget.
The pressure is on for Lincoln Riley this year. If the Trojans have another disappointing season like last year, he is going to be in some trouble.
Brian Kelly has a big year three as well
Brian Kelly and Lincoln Riley both made similar moves before the 2022 season as they left top schools for other top schools. Riley went from Oklahoma to USC, and Kelly went from Notre Dame to LSU. Both had good first years, and both had disappointing second years. However, the Tigers' disappointing 2023 season was a lot better than USC's.
LSU football made it all the way to the SEC title game in Brian Kelly's first year, and that was a huge accomplishment. They beat Alabama, and they won their division. Because of that, expectations for the team were through the roof in year two. They started off the season ranked in the top-five, but they got embarrassed in week one against Florida State. The Tigers ended up finishing the regular season with a 9-3 record. Not bad, but certainly not as good as fans were hoping for to begin the year.
Now, Brian Kelly has a huge year three ahead of him, just like Lincoln Riley. Both of these guys need to have good seasons. Year three is when you can really start to tell if someone is the right person for the job, so this season is incredibly important.
Both of these coaches have a bit of pressure on them, and they are squaring off against each other in the season-opener. It should be a great game, and whoever gets a win is going to be letting out a big sigh of relief. Here are three predictions for Sunday's showdown:
This game will be a shootout
Another similarity between these teams is that they both struggled on defense in big games last season. USC was obviously worse, but the Tigers gave up a ton of points on numerous occasions last year as well. Both teams have also had a Heisman winner in the past two years but they lost their Heisman winner to the NFL this offseason. This QB matchup would've been Caleb Williams vs. Jayden Daniels had it happened a year ago, but it will instead be Miller Moss vs. Garrett Nussmeier.
Still, expect some fireworks in this one. There is going to be a lot of scoring snd a lot less defense.
Garrett Nussmeier will throw for 350+ yards
Both of these starting QBs did get starts in their respective bowl games last year as Williams and Daniels both sat out, and they both played really well. They showed that they can put up big numbers and lead their offense. Garrett Nussmeier is going to have another really good game on Sunday. This USC defense is going to be a good one for Nussmeier to go up against to start the year, and he'll be able to build confidence with a big performance for LSU football.
LSU will get a comfortable win
This game is expected to be close, but LSU football is going to leave Vegas with a relatively easy win. USC's defense was so bad last year, it's hard to imagine that they have made all the necessary changes to slow down this Tigers offense. They should be better, but they aren't going to be good enough to have a chance in this game.
USC and LSU will kick things off from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas at 7:30 PM ET on Sunday night. The game will be airing on ABC and the Tigers are currently favored by 4.5.
