Trojans show mettle against LSU

USC walked into its game against against LSU as underdogs. The Trojans checked in as the No. 23 team in the country. LSU found itself 10 spots ahead of USC. That didn’t mean a hill of beans by the time the end of the game wrapped up.

Thanks to a short touchdown run by Woody Marks with seconds left in the ballgame, the Trojans got the better of the Tigers, defeating their SEC Conference opponent 27-20. Okay. Is it time to sound the alarm bells? No, not quite yet.

But the win by the Trojans against a storied football program such as LSU, a team that plays in what is considered by many as the best conference in the country, is bound to do wonders for USC.

Lincoln Riley’s ballclub is looking to regain some respectability after a disastrous 2023 season in which the Trojans lost five games and found themselves not considered to play in a major bowl game.

It was not the way that former Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams could have imagined ending his career. USC played in the Holiday Bowl with Williams sitting the game and walking the sidelines in street clothes.

Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise because that allowed a whole lot of folks to see the future in quarterback Miller Moss. All Moss did was toss six touchdowns and lead the Trojans to a 42-28 win against the Louisville Cardinals in the 2023 Holiday Bowl, a game played at Petco Park in San Diego, California.

In his first real test against a top-notch defense, Moss delivered a quality performance, completing 27 of 36 passes for 378 yards and a touchdown. So if there were any questions about who would be that guy for the Trojans, Moss answered them emphatically.

The USC offense looks to be in good hands. The same could be said about the USC defense.

After two years of raggedy play under Riley, the Trojans played tougher against LSU and even stopped the Tigers with a goal-line stand. An immediate takeaway from that LSU game is that this year’s version of the USC Trojans appears to be grittier and more hungry.

The Trojans fed off being an underdog going into Week 1 against LSU. They won’t be able to sneak up on anyone else moving forward.

After a date with Utah State, the Trojans will go through the heart of the Big Ten Conference with games at Michigan, against Wisconsin, on the road against Minnesota before playing Penn State at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a home game.

Those four games will determine how the rest of the season goes for the Trojans. But if the LSU game proved anything, Riley and the Trojans are looking forward to those dates.

Lead photo caption: Running back Woody Marks (4) of the USC Trojans runs upfield to score the winning touchdown in the closing seconds of the Modelo Vegas Kickoff Classic featuring the USC Trojans versus the LSU Tigers on September 1, 2024 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Speer/Icon Sportswire)