The sun hadn’t even set yet over the Coliseum, and already, Trent Mosley had broken free, with nary a defender within 15 yards on either side.
It was the start of the second quarter on Friday night, when USC quarterback Jayden Maiava spotted his budding star freshman soaring on a slot post through the wide-open center of the field. And a split-second later the crowd saw it, too — their quiet rumbles rising to a thrilling roar, as if they knew what was coming next.
One ankle-twisting stutter-step is all it took for the true freshman to take off, once again. And it didn’t take much after that for USC to stick a fork in Fresno State.
But while Mosley captivated once again and Maiava came alive, it was Gary Patterson and the Trojan defense that really twisted the knife in a dominant 39-0 win for USC.
It was the Trojans’ first shutout since Week 2 of the 2024 season.
USC (2-0) turned up the temperature soon after the Mosley score. With the Bulldogs backed up against their goal line, Patterson dialed up a nickel blitz — and Fresno State didn’t account for it. So defensive back Kennedy Urlacher came flying into the backfield and collided into Bulldogs quarterback Jayden Mandal, who fell out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
It didn’t get any less demoralizing for Fresno State (0-1) after that. USC’s defense didn’t give up a single yard in the second quarter. It didn’t allow a first down in the third. And between those two quarters, the Trojans gave up just a single completed pass — for seven yards.
USC’s defense actually tallied more safeties (two) during that same stretch. The second was a quarter later, and it looked quite familiar. This time, it was another defensive back, Alex Graham, who came screaming out of the slot and leveled Mandal in the end zone. It was one of three sacks that USC registered off the nickel blitz — and one of four overall.
The combination of an all-around dominant defensive effort, with the Trojans’ usual offensive mastery, offered a glimpse of what USC hopes it can be this season. The question is whether it can actually do it again moving forward.
Maiava might have a hard time staying quite this perfect. The USC quarterback had one of the most precise performances of his Trojans tenure, completing 23 of 25 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns. Through two games, just six of his 54 passes have ended up incomplete.
It certainly doesn’t hurt to have Mosley, who notched his second consecutive 100-yard game, tallying all of his 104 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter. Or what about Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, his freshman counterpart? He had 102 yards on six catches.
USC was all but unstoppable through the air. But on a night where there was little to nitpick, the Trojans weren’t exactly efficient on the ground. Their ballcarriers averaged under four yards per carry, and Waymond Jordan, USC’s leading rusher with 67 yards, lost a fumble.
But with Maiava doing most of the heavy lifting, USC barely needed its backfield.
Maiava completed 19 of his first 20 passes, picking up where he left off last week when he connected on 25 of 29 in the opener. Faced with an early fourth down, he heaved a pass deep down the sideline for Dixon-Wyatt, who leaped over a defender to reel in a 31-yard reception. Three plays later, he found sophomore wideout Tanook Hines streaking across the end zone, uncovered, and hit him for an opening score.
He didn’t take his foot off the gas. After Jordan fumbled away a screen pass, Maiava later found Mosley for that 68-yard score. Then he didn’t miss a single pass for another two quarters.
By that point, USC’s defense had found another level. It wasn’t until the final drive that Fresno State managed to move the ball. The Bulldogs tallied more yards on that possession (60) than they had the rest of the game combined.
But it ended the same way, with a pack of USC defenders descending all at once, leaving Fresno State with nowhere to go.
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