GAME RECAP: Maiava, Mosley Lead No. 14 USC to 39-0 Shutout of Fresno State

LOS ANGELES, CA— No. 14 USC did not just stay undefeated. The Trojans emptied the Coliseum of any doubt.

On a cooler Friday night in front of a modestly improved crowd after last week’s empty-seat conversation, Lincoln Riley’s club blanked Fresno State 39-0, improving to 2-0 and answering the one question that lingered after the San José State opener: what happens when the first-team defense stays on the field and the young skill players keep getting the ball?

The answer was a shutout, two safeties, and another statement from redshirt senior quarterback Jayden Maiava.

“Pretty complete game from the team,” Riley said. “Very excited about how we finished it off.”

Maiava completed 23 of 25 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns before Lincoln Riley pulled him in the third quarter after he landed on his right shoulder on a run. There was no visible distress. It was a lead-protection move. By then the Heisman conversation had already been fed again.

Final: No. 14 USC 39, Fresno State 0

The Trojans opened the scoring the way Riley’s offense is built to open scoring — patient, then sudden.

A 12-play, 82-yard march chewed 5:33 off the first-quarter clock and ended with Maiava finding Tanook Hines from eight yards out at 9:27. Fourth-down conversion in the drive. Third-and-goal finish. 7-0.

Then the freshmen took over the highlight reel.

Early in the second, Maiava dropped one over the top to Santa Margarita product Trent Mosley, who finished a 68-yard touchdown and made the Coliseum sound like it remembered how to do this. Four plays, 83 yards, 1:45. 14-0.

The defense scored next.

Safety Kennedy Urlacher wrecked Fresno State quarterback Jayden Mandal in the end zone for a safety at 7:14 of the second, stretching the lead to 16-0. Urlacher was not done. He later strip-sacked Mandal, with Floyd Boucard recovering, and USC turned the short field into more points.

Mosley scored again from nine yards at 4:07 of the second. Then, after Urlacher’s sack-fumble set up another short field, Waymond Jordan punched in a 2-yard run with 14 seconds left in the half. Halftime: 30-0.

The second half was about finishing the job the first unit started and not repeating last week’s fourth-quarter slop.

Redshirt freshman safety Alex Graham sacked Mandal for a seven-yard loss and the game’s second safety at 5:15 of the third. 32-0. Maiava was already out. Jonas Williams came in and completed all six of his passes for 63 yards, looking comfortable enough that the backups never felt like a concession.

The last touchdown belonged to another freshman. Deshonne Redeaux capped a 10-play, 79-yard, nearly seven-minute drive with a 6-yard run at 5:46 of the fourth. Caden Chittenden added the extra point. 39-0.

Fresno State, in its season opener under former USC assistant Matt Entz, never found a down. The Bulldogs finished with 116 total yards, 9 first downs, and 2-of-10 on third down. USC held the ball for 38:52, piled up 552 yards and 27 first downs, and went 5-of-8 on third down.

Prophet Brown added USC’s first interception of the night. The first-team defense spent most of the evening walking Fresno State backward.

“It’s great to get the shutout,” Riley said. “Those are hard to get in college football nowadays. So it’s great for our young guys to be able to go in and play well then and preserve that.”

The night also belonged to the kids Riley keeps throwing into the fire.

Mosley finished with 4 catches, 104 yards and two scores — a second straight week as the offense’s most dangerous new piece. Fellow freshman Kayden Dixon-Wyatt had 6 receptions for 102 yards. Two true freshmen over 100 yards in the same game, on a national Friday night window, is the kind of box-score line that travels.

Jordan led the rushers with 67 yards and the half-ending touchdown. King Miller added work on the ground as the committee stayed intact. Williams’ clean relief work was the quiet box-score win Riley will like when he watches the tape.

Attendance was announced at 53,014 tickets distributed — up from 51,144 against San José State, still well short of the Coliseum’s 77,500, and still the subplot that will follow this team until the Oregon and Ohio State dates fill the place on their own.

What will not follow them into next week is a loss, or a fourth-quarter collapse, or an unanswered question about whether this defense can put a team in the dirt and keep it there.

“I think we played better as a football team tonight than we did in week one,” Riley said. “And that’s what you got to do. It may sound boring or cliché, but that’s how you get good. You’ve got to keep taking steps and attack it.”

Standouts

USC

• Jayden Maiava: 23-of-25, 349 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT

• Trent Mosley: 4 rec, 104 yards, 2 TD (68, 9)

• Kayden Dixon-Wyatt: 6 rec, 102 yards

• Waymond Jordan: 67 rush yards, 2-yard TD

• Deshonne Redeaux: 6-yard TD

• Kennedy Urlacher: sack-safety, strip-sack

• Alex Graham: sack-safety

• Jonas Williams: 6-of-6, 63 yards in relief

Fresno State

• Jayden Mandal: limited to 77 passing yards, 1 INT, 2 sacks for safeties

• Harold Duvall: 34 receiving yards

USC stays perfect at 2-0 and keeps the nonconference runway clean. Louisiana visits the Coliseum next Saturday night on Big Ten Network. Oregon is already on the horizon after that.

For one Friday in September, though, the story was simple enough to print in cardinal and gold:

Maiava was surgical. The freshmen were ready. The defense pitched a shutout. And No. 14 USC is still undefeated