{"id":454387,"date":"2026-09-05T10:17:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T10:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/454387\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T10:17:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T10:17:38","slug":"no-14-usc-dominates-on-offense-defense-in-rout-of-fresno-state-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/454387\/","title":{"rendered":"No.\u00a014 USC dominates on offense, defense in rout of Fresno State \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"USC<\/p>\n

USC wide receiver Trent Mosley, left, is tackled by Fresno State\u2019s Tytus Khajavi during the first quarter on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, at the Coliseum. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Kayden Dixon-Wyatt (17) pulled in this long pass to set up USC\u2019s first TD as Fresno State\u2019s Kiontre Harris (31) defends on the play during first quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno State\u2019s Jayden Mandal (7) is sacked by USC\u2019s Kennedy Urlacher (9) during second quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s King Miller (8) drives against Fresno State\u2019s Simeon Harris (5) during first quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Trent Mosley (4) dives in for a touch down during second quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno State head coach Matt Entz at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno State\u2019s QB Jayden Mandal (7) is driven back for a safety by USC\u2019s Jide Abasiri (97) and Kennedy Urlacher (9) during second quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s QB Jayden Maiava (14) gives instruction to King Miller (8) during first quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Kennedy Urlacher (9) celebrates a QB sack during second quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Waymond Jordan (2) falls in for a touch down as Fresno State\u2019s Tytus Khajavi (35) and Logan Studt (18) defend on the play during second quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Waymond Jordan (2) breaks tackles for a long gain against Fresno State during first quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fans<\/p>\n

Fans watch from the stands during USC\u2019s game against Fresno State on Friday night at the Coliseum. Attendance was up slightly from last weekend\u2019s season opener but still well below capacity. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Trent Mosley (4) jumps over Fresno State\u2019s Ethan Tierney (4) during first quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Crowds<\/p>\n

Crowds on hand for the USC vs Fresno State game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno State running back Julius Gillick (24) gets wrapped up by USC defensive back Jontez Williams, left, and defensive end Kameryn Crawford during the second quarter on Friday night at the Coliseum. USC dominated on both sides of the ball in a 39-0 win. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno State\u2019s QB Jayden Mandal (7) fumbles the football as he is tackled by USC\u2019s Kennedy Urlacher (9) during second quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Jide Abasiri (97) and Alex VanSumeren (91) celebrate a quarterback sack against Fresno State during second quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. USC defeated Fresno State 39-0. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC<\/p>\n

USC fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. USC defeated Fresno State 39-0. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno State\u2019s RJ Regan (20) tries to slow down USC\u2019s Waymond Jordan (2) during 3rd quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. USC defeated Fresno State 39-0. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC<\/p>\n

USC head coach Lincoln Riley reacts to a fourth quarter safety by the Trojans against Fresno State at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. USC defeated Fresno State 39-0. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Alex Graham (7) sacks Fresno State\u2019s quarterback Jayden Mandal (7) during 3rd quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Riley Wormley (27) drives for yardage as Fresno State\u2019s Tommy Nix (36) defends on the play during 4th quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. USC defeated Fresno State 39-0. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Zacharyus Williams (0) drives into a pack of Fresno State defenders during fourth quarter action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. USC defeated Fresno State 39-0. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC<\/p>\n

USC defensive coordinator Gary Patterson looks on during a game against Fresno State on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, at the Coliseum. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC<\/p>\n

USC players warm up before the start of game 2 against Fresno State at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"USC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Traveler takes the field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday, September 4, 2026. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 26<\/p>\n

USC wide receiver Trent Mosley, left, is tackled by Fresno State\u2019s Tytus Khajavi during the first quarter on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, at the Coliseum. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES \u2014 USC got another near-perfect night from quarterback Jayden Maiava and a dominant showing from its defense in a 39-0 victory over Fresno State on Friday night at the Coliseum.<\/p>\n

It was USC\u2019s first shutout since beating Utah State, 48-0, on Sept. 7, 2024.<\/p>\n

Maiava completed 23 of 25 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns, as the 14th-ranked Trojans built on their season-opening victory over San Jos\u00e9 State last weekend. True freshman Trent Mosley was the leading receiver for the second straight game with six catches for 104 yards and two TDs, while the defense limited Fresno State to 116 yards of total offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcited about the win,\u201d head coach Lincoln Riley said. \u201cI\u2019m really excited about the shutout. That\u2019s hard to do. It doesn\u2019t happen very often in college football these days. We played to our standard for a higher level tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

USC (2-0) allowed just 49 yards through the first three quarters while recording two safeties and forcing two turnovers under new coordinator Gary Patterson.<\/p>\n

The Trojans had a 30-0 lead by halftime, but they struggled to get their running game going and collected just 73 yards on the ground in the first two quarters. The one rushing touchdown was punched in by Waymond Jordan on a 2-yard run at the tail end of a two-minute drill just before halftime.<\/p>\n

Receiver Tanook Hines quickly made his presence known after sitting out the season opener with an injury. Maiava extended USC\u2019s opening drive with a deep, 42-yard pass to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt on fourth down and, two plays later, he dropped back and weaved his way through the trenches to get off an 8-yard touchdown pass to Hines.<\/p>\n

Safety Prophet Brown recorded his first career interception when he picked off Bulldogs quarterback Jayden Mandal, who was named the starter earlier this week, to cut Fresno State\u2019s first drive short. USC gave up the ball shortly after, however, when defensive lineman Dylan Hampsten punched the ball out of Jordan\u2019s grip to force a fumble.<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s defense gained momentum as the opening half progressed, and safety Kennedy Urlacher shined on two big plays.<\/p>\n

He sprinted off the edge and charged at Mandal, knocking him into the end zone and off the field for a safety with 7:09 left in the second quarter. He blitzed the quarterback again later in the half for a strip sack, and Floyd Boucard scooped up the ball to give his team possession at the 20-yard line.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach sent me on the blitz,\u201d Urlacher said. \u201cHappy to blitz. Just went out there and executed the call.\u201d<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s defense logged five sacks in the game. Urlacher was credited with two, and nickelback Alex Graham, defensive end Jadyn Ramos and defensive Jide Abasiri each had one.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, on offense, the Trojans added three more touchdowns before the halftime break \u2013 including Mosley\u2019s two scoring catches.<\/p>\n

Maiava hit the freshman with a deep pass, and Mosley juked a defender to stay in bounds to polish off a 68-yard touchdown at the 12:27 mark. Mosley was waiting in the corner of the end zone for his other touchdown \u2013 a 9-yard strike with 4:07 left.<\/p>\n

\u201c(My confidence comes from) a lot of the trust that I have in the guys,\u201d Maiava said. \u201cAnd the relationship that I have with those guys. And Coach Riley, (quarterbacks) coach (Luke) Huard. Those guys allow me to go out there and play well and play ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan\u2019s rushing touchdown extended the lead to 30-0 with 14 seconds on the clock.<\/p>\n

The USC defense continued to hold off Fresno the rest of the night and added two more points on Graham\u2019s safety with 5:15 left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

The offense struggled to score as second- and third-string players entered the game.<\/p>\n

Dixon-Wyatt \u2013 who caught six passes on the night for 102 yards \u2013 fumbled the ball near the 10-yard line on the first drive of the third quarter, and the Trojans were unable to convert on third down at the end of the period. Jonas Williams had come in to replace Maiava, who played just one series after halftime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just not good enough,\u201d Riley said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to be more consistent. We were still a little sloppy early in the run game. We made some explosive plays in the pass game, but we\u2019ve got a lot of work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deshonne Redeaux burst into the end zone on an 8-yard run for his first collegiate touchdown with 5:46 left in the game.<\/p>\n

More than half of Fresno\u2019s total yards (60) came on the final drive, which the Trojans snuffed out on fourth down in the red zone.<\/p>\n

USC has one more nonconference game left on its schedule before beginning Big Ten play. Louisiana comes to the Coliseum for an 8 p.m. kickoff next Saturday, then the Trojans travel to Rutgers the following week for their conference opener.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"USC wide receiver Trent Mosley, left, is tackled by Fresno State\u2019s Tytus Khajavi during the first quarter on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[10990,1321,1327,112,114,113,127,136,11320,125696],"class_list":["post-454387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-big-ten-conference","tag-college-football","tag-college-sports","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news","tag-sports","tag-top-stories","tag-usc-football","tag-usc-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454387","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=454387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}