USC Tight End Mark Bowman Named Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week

LOS ANGELES — The Big Ten Conference made it official Monday: USC tight end Mark Bowman is the Freshman of the Week.

The Mater Dei product earned the honor after a breakout Saturday night at the Coliseum, catching six passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns in the Trojans’ 49-30 win over Louisiana. It was the kind of night Orange County has been waiting to see from the 6-foot-5, 245-pound freshman since he skipped his senior year and enrolled at USC last spring.

Bowman had been a blocker first through the first two games. Against the Ragin’ Cajuns, Lincoln Riley unlocked the rest of the package.

Jayden Maiava found him early. Bowman scored on USC’s second possession for his first career touchdown, then kept coming. Late in the first quarter he caught a pass over the middle, refused the first hit, and hurdled two Louisiana defenders — corner Avery Demery and safety Kody Jackson — on a 35-yard gain that lit up the building. Both of his scores came before halftime as the Trojans built a 28-10 lead.

“I don’t typically hurdle, but it’s something I want to keep adding into my game and improving it,” Bowman said after the game.

The numbers were historic by USC tight end standards. Two touchdowns in a game by a Trojan tight end had not happened since Josh Falo against Utah in 2022. The 83 receiving yards were the most by a USC tight end since Andy McCoy’s 153 against Notre Dame in 2009.

Riley saw the mismatch he recruited.

“It’s good to see him get involved. He’s got some skills,” Riley said. “He’s dangerous when he gets the ball in the open field and so good to see him make some plays after the catch, and get into the end zone a couple times.”

Bowman is not a typical freshman. He reclassified out of Mater Dei after just three high school seasons, arriving in Castle Rock, Colo., by hometown and Santa Ana by football education. As a junior with the Monarchs he had 31 catches for 370 yards. As a sophomore he scored eight times. Recruiting services rated him a five-star and one of the top two or three tight ends in the country. The comparisons to Brock Bowers started before he ever put on cardinal and gold.

The opportunity opened when Lake McRee graduated and Walker Lyons transferred. Wisconsin transfer Tucker Ashcraft added experience to the room, but Bowman won the job the way Riley’s staff wanted it won — first as a blocker, then as a weapon. Tight ends coach Chad Savage had him in the office from the moment he set foot on campus.

Through three games, Bowman has 12 receptions for 128 yards and those two scores. USC is 3-0 and heading east.

The Freshman of the Week award is the first Big Ten weekly honor of Bowman’s career and the latest flash from a freshman class that has already produced Trent Mosley, Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, and Tron Baker as Week 1 starters. Bowman was one of three true freshmen to score against Louisiana.

He is not treating the honor like an arrival.

“Just keep developing overall as a player, continue to trust in what coach Riley’s teaching us, what coach Chad is teaching us,” Bowman said. “Becoming a better player each day, going back to the chalkboard after this week and improving as a player.”

Next up is Big Ten play for real. No. 12 USC visits Rutgers on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT on CBS from SHI Stadium in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights are 0-2. The Trojans will take the Freshman of the Week with them.