Another huge halftime lead.
More crazy efficiency from quarterback Jayden Maiava.
Further fodder for Trent Mosley’s case as the top freshman receiver in the country.
The only significant difference between No. 14 USC’s 39-0 blowout of Fresno State on Friday at the Coliseum and its season opener six days earlier?
The ending.
After the Trojans repeatedly stumbled defensively in the fourth quarter against San Jose State, they held firm early and late against the Bulldogs.
“It was a pretty complete game from the team,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “Very excited about how we finished it off.”
Fresno State couldn’t get much of anything going at any point, finishing with a measly 116 yards of offense. When the Bulldogs threatened in the final minute, facing a fourth-and-goal at the USC eight-yard line, reserve defensive end Jadyn Ramos surged into the backfield for a sack.
“We bit down on our mouthguards, had some grit and were able to finish,” said Trojans defensive tackle Jide Abasiri, who made one of his team’s five sacks.
It was big-time redemption for a group of defensive players who had been bullied on the same field, giving up 23 points in the fourth quarter against San Jose State. This time, they helped the Trojans (2-0) complete their first shutout since a 48-0 victory over Utah State in September 2024.
There was also a slightly better show of support to see an oddity — a nonconference game against a Pac-12 opponent now that USC is in the Big Ten and Fresno State has joined a reborn version of the Trojans’ old conference.
The announced crowd of 53,014 on a cool, comfortable evening was about 2,000 more than the turnout last weekend in the sweltering heat.
Fans who showed up Friday were treated to a nearly flawless performance from Maiava. Showing much sharper touch than he did last week, the veteran quarterback completed 23 of 25 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns without an interception before giving way to backup Jonas Williams late in the third quarter.
Through two games, Maiava has completed 48 of 54 passes — an absurd 88.9 percent completion rate.
His favorite target might warrant dueling Heisman Trophy campaigns. A week after he topped 100 yards in his collegiate debut, Mosley reached triple figures — before halftime.
Curiously, Fresno State (0-1) let Mosley run wide open on one route early in the second quarter and paid dearly. After catching a pass inside the Bulldogs’ 40-yard line, Mosley juked a defender around the 20 and ran for a 68-yard touchdown.
Was Maiava surprised that Mosley was that open?
“Maybe a little bit, yeah,” Maiava said with a wry smile.
Mosley added a 9-yard touchdown later in the second quarter after making a catch at the five and eluding a defender before stretching the ball across the goal line. Mosley finished with four catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns.
Fellow freshman wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt also starred with six catches for 102 yards.
Maiava benefited from the return of a familiar target.
USC wide receiver Tanook Hines, who missed the season opener while rounding into form from an unspecified injury, hauled in an 8-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive after running open into the right corner of the end zone.
If there was anything to nitpick, it was the Trojans’ slippery hands. They fumbled three times, losing the ball twice.
It didn’t cost them against a team that couldn’t consistently move the ball or block for quarterback Jayden Mandal, who was constantly under pressure and took two safeties.
“I don’t know, as long as I’ve been a coach, if I’ve ever had two in a game,” Riley said. “So that was pretty darn cool.”
One sequence in the second quarter illustrated the Trojans’ dominance on defense.
On first down, defensive back Alex Graham and Abasiri stuffed running back Rayshon Luke for a 2-yard loss. On second down, Abasiri was credited with a sack after pressuring Mandal into throwing the ball away for an intentional grounding penalty. On third down, defensive back Kennedy Urlacher knocked Mandal out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
Things never got any better for Mandal or the Bulldogs offense. USC safety Prophet Brown made his first career interception on a pass that was thrown up for grabs and Fresno State managed just 56 yards of offense before its final, meaningless drive.
Riley said his defense played fast and confident after trusting in itself and new defensive coordinator Gary Patterson’s ability to put everyone in the best position.
“I thought our front and our back end really played well together and complemented each other,” Riley said. “That’s what really good defense looks like. It was steady with a dose of explosive plays defensively, and that’s a pretty good recipe.”
The Trojans have one more tuneup, against Louisiana — well, two, really, if you saw what happened to Rutgers this week — before things get real against Oregon on Sept. 26 at the Coliseum.
Maiava and Mosley appear ready, and maybe now the Trojans’ defense does too.
