Every Time USC Football was Mentioned on College GameDay in Week 2

Week two of the college football season kicks off with College GameDay on ESPN live in Ann Arbor. We breakdown every time the broadcast mentioned the USC Trojans ahead of their home opener against Utah State.

Sep 1, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts in the first half against the LSU Tigers at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Week two of the college football season kicks off with College GameDay on ESPN live in Ann Arbor. See what the broadcast had to say about the USC Trojans ahead of their home opener against Utah State. 

The first remark made about USC came when the College GameDay crew discussed big programs that suffered disappointing losses in week one, schools that included LSU, Florida State, Clemson and Florida. The Trojans handed LSU their third straight loss in the season opener under coach Brian Kelly on Sunday night. 

Sep 1, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Southern California Trojans running back Woody Marks (4) breaks the tackle of LSU Tigers safety Dashawn Spears (10) to score a touchdown in the final seconds of the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

“I thought that their DC, their new DC had an opportunity for a moment,” Desmond Howard said. “USC got the ball, less than two minutes left, LSU is up right. This is the moment as a defensive coordinator you separate yourself from the rest of the defensive coordinators. They came up short. That’s the frustration we saw with Brian Kelly with what they did as team. It was a high-spirited game, very competitive.”

USC quarterback Miller Moss engineered a game-winning drive with 1:47 remaining on the clock. Four completions from Moss and a four-yard run by Woody Marks brought the Trojans down the LSU 42. Moss then connected with receiver Kyron Hudson on a beautiful 20-yard throw and catch down the sideline. A targeting penalty on the play brought the ball down to the LSU 13. The very next play Marks capped off the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run with eight seconds remaining that gave the Trojans a thrilling 27-20 victory. 

The next mention of the Trojans came when the crew went rapid fire through a number of topics from week one in a segment called “Grab Bag." The topic that came up for USC said, “More eye opening: Miller Moss or D’Anton Lynn’s defense”. 

“Miller Moss from bowl game, all the way through, the way he handled himself with LSU, phenomenal,” Pat McAfee said. "I loved him running down the sideline, the entire thing on Sunday night. But if you think about this USC team, the reason why they haven’t been able to really go with Caleb (Williams) is because of defense. I think D’Anton Lynn brings them a weapon on the defensive side of the ball.”

Sep 1, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; LSU Tigers wide receiver Aaron Anderson (1) is tackled by Southern California Trojans safety Kamari Ramsey (7) in the first half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In 2023, the Trojans were only able to hold its opponents to 20 points or less twice and none of them came after September 9th. USC coach Lincoln Riley hired Lynn away from UCLA in December 2023 to revamp his defense that ranked at the bottom of the country in almost every major statistical category.

The hiring paid immediate dividends as we saw USC play with a more physical and disciplined style of defense in week one that had not been seen during Riley first couple of seasons.

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