LOS ANGELES – No. 14 USC remained undefeated after beating the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 49–30 Saturday night, powered by a career performance from quarterback Jayden Maiava and big plays from its young offensive core.
“If there’s a team having more young guys contribute in the country right now,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said, “I’d love to see it.”
Maiava completed 19 of 29 passes with five touchdowns and one interception. His night began with two incompletions before he was picked off by Louisiana’s Avery Demery, but the early stumble did not last long.
Then, the Maiava magic took over.
The quarterback rebounded to set a career high with five touchdown passes. He adds to his season total of 896 passing yards, which currently leads the FBS.
“It definitely didn’t feel like that but shout out to the guys up front. The running back room, receivers,” Maiava said. “Just being able to trust me to give them the ball.”
Maiava found his strongest connection in Mark Bowman. In the first quarter, the freshman tight end brought the Coliseum to its feet with a Saquon Barkley-esque hurdle over two defenders. He later pulled in a 5-yard score for the first touchdown of his USC career. He finished with two touchdowns and 83 receiving yards, the most single-game receiving yards by a USC tight end since 2009.
The freshmen kept rolling from there.
Trent Mosley took a punt 86 yards to the house, giving him five total touchdowns through three games. He is tied for fifth in the FBS in receiving touchdowns and is the only freshman ranked among the top five.
True freshman Kayden Dixon-Wyatt also joined the action, bobbling a 19-yard pass before securing it in the end zone.
At halftime, USC led 28-10. With 7:30 remaining, King Miller closed out USC’s scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run. The sophomore led USC on the ground with 128 rushing yards and one touchdown on 18 carries.
Although the Trojans extended their winning streak, Louisiana’s 30 points were the most USC has allowed this season. In the first football meeting between the two programs, the Ragin’ Cajuns presented a tougher challenge than San José State or Fresno State. Louisiana’s Collin Jacob led all defenders with 13 tackles, including 12 solo stops.
USC delivered plenty of highlights but still had plenty to clean up after the final whistle.
“The biggest negative to me of the night were penalties. We got to coach that better. We got to play better. We got to play smarter,” Riley said. “That can’t happen going forward.”
With nonconference play behind them, the Trojans will visit Rutgers next Saturday before returning home to face No. 2 Oregon.
The warmup is over. The Big Ten test begins now.
JohVonne Roberts is a specialized journalism graduate student at USC Annenberg. Roberts is a South Central native, interested in covering the intersection of sports, culture and community. She completed her undergraduate studies at San Diego State University and has covered teams such as the LA Sparks, LA Clippers and LA Chargers.
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