{"id":454295,"date":"2026-09-05T08:14:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T08:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/454295\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T08:14:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T08:14:51","slug":"no-14-usc-dominates-in-blowout-victory-over-fresno-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/454295\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 14 USC dominates in blowout victory over Fresno State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The sun hadn\u2019t even set yet over the Coliseum, and already Trent Mosley<\/a> had broken free, with nary a defender within 15 yards on either side. <\/p>\n

It was the start of the second quarter on Friday night, when USC<\/a> quarterback Jayden Maiava<\/a> 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 \u2014 their quiet rumbles rising to a thrilling roar, as if they knew what was coming next.<\/p>\n

One ankle-twisting stutter-step is all it took for the true freshman to take off, once again. And it didn\u2019t take much after that for USC to stick a fork in Fresno State.<\/p>\n

But while Mosley captivated once again and Maiava came alive, it was Gary Patterson<\/a> and the Trojans\u2019 defense that really twisted the knife in a dominant 39-0 win<\/a> for USC.<\/p>\n

A week ago, it was Patterson who took the Trojans\u2019 poor finish the hardest after they gave up 23 points in the fourth quarter<\/a> to San Jos\u00e9 State<\/a>. But a week spent looking in the mirror seemed to make a major difference as USC (2-0) managed its first shutout since Week 2 of the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loves shutouts,\u201d sophomore defensive back Alex Graham said of the Trojans\u2019 defensive coordinator. \u201cHe thinks shutouts are the best thing in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patterson must have felt particularly thrilled Friday, considering how thoroughly USC\u2019s defense dismantled Fresno State. The Bulldogs had just 56 yards heading into their final drive, 52 of which they accumulated in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told you guys,\u201d USC coach Lincoln Riley<\/a> said, \u201che makes it challenging on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was an understatement, given what happened after Mosley\u2019s tide-turning touchdown. With the Bulldogs backed up against their goal line, Patterson dialed up a nickel blitz \u2014 and Fresno State didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just great coaching,\u201d Urlacher said. \u201cCoach knows what to call in certain situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"USC <\/p>\n

USC coach Lincoln Riley, center, celebrates during the Trojans\u2019 39-0 win over Fresno State at the Coliseum on Friday night.<\/p>\n

(Mark J. Terrill \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Patterson had no problem pouring it on, as it didn\u2019t get any less demoralizing for Fresno State (0-1) after that. USC\u2019s defense didn\u2019t give up a single yard or a first down in the second and third quarters. And over that stretch, the Trojans gave up just one completed pass.<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s defense actually tallied more safeties (two) during that same stretch.<\/p>\n

The second, from defensive back Alex Graham, came a quarter later, and it looked quite familiar. This time, Graham came screaming out of the slot on the same blitz and leveled Mandal in the end zone. It was one of three sacks that USC registered off the nickel blitz \u2014 and one of four overall.<\/p>\n

The combination of an all-around dominant defensive effort, with the Trojans\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more than perfect,\u201d wideout Corey Simms said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing playing with a quarterback like Jayden Maiava.\u201d<\/p>\n

It certainly doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

USC was all but unstoppable through the air. But on a night where there was little to nitpick, the Trojans weren\u2019t exactly efficient on the ground. Their ballcarriers averaged under four yards per carry, and Waymond Jordan, USC\u2019s leading rusher with 67 yards, lost a fumble.<\/p>\n

But with Maiava doing most of the heavy lifting, USC barely needed its backfield.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"USC <\/p>\n

USC running back Deshonne Redeaux scores a touchdown after Fresno State defensive back Taylor Powell, left, fails to tackle him during the second half of the Trojans\u2019 39-0 win Friday night at the Coliseum.<\/p>\n

(Mark J. Terrill \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t 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\u2019t miss a single pass for another two quarters.<\/p>\n

By that point, USC\u2019s defense had found another level. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t 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, and they managed to march to the Trojans\u2019 eight-yard line.<\/p>\n

But that was as far as Fresno State would go. This time, on fourth down, a pack of Trojan defenders descended. They piled on Mandal for a game-ending sack.<\/p>\n

On the sideline, players crowded around Patterson, jumping for joy. And in the center of the chaos, the Trojans\u2019 new defensive coordinator cracked a smile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sun hadn\u2019t even set yet over the Coliseum, and already Trent Mosley had broken free, with nary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[47777,22149,11155,782,112,114,113,742,423,39393,39145,772,7555,179448,23138,3533,179447,1539],"class_list":["post-454295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-blowout-victory","tag-defender","tag-defense","tag-end-zone","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news","tag-fresno-state","tag-game","tag-maiava","tag-mosley","tag-pass","tag-second-quarter","tag-slot-post","tag-trojans","tag-usc","tag-waymond-jordan","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}