USC football opened their 2024 campaign in impressive fashion. The 23rd-ranked Trojans knocked off No. 13 LSU 27-20 in a thriller on Sunday night in Las Vegas, pulling ahead on a Woody Marks touchdown run with eight seconds to go. All in all, it was a promising showing for Lincoln Riley and company, who showed signs that this year may be different.
Arguably the most encouraging sign from Sunday night was the USC defense. Nobody is going to mistake them for Georgia after giving up 421 total yards against LSU, but the 2024 opener was a stark contrast in aggressiveness, mentality and fundamentals from the Alex Grinch days. ESPN's Max Olson has a stat to prove it.
“LSU's offense only generated 3 plays of 20+ yards vs. USC,” Olson wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after the game. “The Trojans D gave 71 plays of 20+ last season.”
The explosive plays were what killed the USC defense a year ago, and there were a few noticeable things that they buttoned up on Sunday night. The first thing that stuck out was the tackling, especially on the back end. The Trojans' secondary was pretty tidy getting ballcarriers on the ground in open space after the catch, forcing LSU to grind out long drives. The physicality up front was also much better, holding LSU to 4.5 yards per rush, which isn't in the elite category but is definitely a manageable number. The final obvious change was the aggressiveness, specifically in the play calling. D'Anton Lynn wasn't afraid to get his guys downhill or send pressure on key downs, a stark contrast from previous years.
This has a chance to be the most complete Lincoln Riley USC team yet
Don't get me wrong: this USC offense isn't going to be as explosive as the Caleb Williams iterations, and that could limit the ceiling of this team a bit. However, the offense unsurprisingly showed plenty of signs that it will be a capable Lincoln Riley offense, and it starts with Miller Moss.
Moss was sharp in his second career start for the Trojans, playing on time and displaying excellent ball placement from the pocket, including a laser down the left sideline on the game-winning drive. He has the requisite weapons to get the ball to as well, as receivers Zachariah Branch, Kyron Hudson, Duce Robinson, and Ja'Kobi Lane all flashed explosive ability.
The running game wasn't excellent, but was dealing with a talented LSU front and still took some of the load off the passing game, especially down in the red zone. Sprinkle in Riley's play calling and the much-improved defense that they showed on Sunday, and USC has a chance to be near the top of the Big Ten in 2024.
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