USC Football: 5 things to watch as Trojans seek to lower massive boom on Louisiana

The preseason is almost over for USC.

Wait, you mean these games count?

The Trojans have dispensed with their first two opponents so easily – save for that meaningless meltdown in the fourth quarter against San Jose State – that one might think the real season hasn’t started.

The Big Ten standings say otherwise, with the No. 14 Trojans (2-0) alone at the top by virtue of having played one more game than everybody else.

Barring an upset of epic proportions Saturday night at the Coliseum, they’ll stay there for at least another week. A 30.5-point favorite over Louisiana (1-0), USC can continue preparations for the regular season – sorry, there we go again – against an overmatched opponent whose best feature might be its Ragin’ Cajuns nickname.

Here are five things to watch in a game televised by the Big Ten Network:

Trojans right hire?

Maybe Gary Patterson really will succeed where predecessors Alex Grinch and D’Anton Lynn could not.

Patterson’s product looked worthy of an immediate raise for the new defensive coordinator last week after the Trojans notched their first shutout since 2024.

“He makes things challenging on the other side,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said of Patterson, “and I think what you saw was our belief in it was even higher than it was in Week 1.”

USC has held its opponents scoreless in the first half of back-to-back games for the first time since doing so against Washington State and Cal in 2009.

On Saturday, the Trojans will face a Louisiana offense that was incredibly balanced in its season-opening 38-7 victory over Lamar, producing 254 yards rushing and 231 passing. Riley called Ragin’ Cajun quarterback Lunch Winfield “far and away the most athletic quarterback that we’ve seen up to this point.”

Going the distance

USC’s run game has been solid, averaging 152 yards per game.

One thing the Trojans have lacked: big runs.

Waymond Jordan’s longest run has been 16 yards. King Miller? Just 10 yards.

What’s going on here?

“We’ve just had kind of small breakdowns,” Riley said. “They’ve been some in the core in terms of at the point of blockers, some have been the backs, some have been on the perimeter, some have been a couple of bad calls I put us in – we’ve kind of all taken our turns and with that, we’ve still been productive but we’ve missed some opportunities for explosives that we certainly want to have in the run game and so we’ve got to all be a little bit better.”

This is an element of the offense that will need to be more explosive when USC enters conference play. Look for a step in the right direction on Saturday.

Maiava magic

The surest sign of success for USC’s Jayden Maiava will be if you can spot him resting late in the game.

The quarterback hasn’t thrown a pass in the fourth quarter this season with his team up big.

Maiava has been a huge part of building those massive leads, completing 88.9% of his passes for 635 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. He’s also only been sacked once.

Another good showing would provide more opportunities for backup Jonas Williams, who has completed 11 of 13 passes for 118 yards and no touchdowns with one interception.

Injury updates

Riley said defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart, who has missed the first two games with a foot injury, might be able to play Saturday.

The same goes for tight end Tucker Ashcraft, safety Peyton Dyer and wide receiver Terrell Anderson, each of whom are hoping to make their season debuts.

Keep an eye out for these talented young players and what impact, if any, they make.

A man of the people

Riley lingered at the Coliseum to interact with fans after the last game, something that might start becoming more of a tradition for a coach who can be perceived as standoffish.

“I know I don’t do it all the time,” Riley said of mingling with fans, “but it’s something that I try to be more intentional about because it does mean something to me and the dream years ago of trying to get all of this together here – the school, administration, athletic department, team, boosters, facility, fans, right, the whole thing – it’s just continuing to bring people in and continuing to circle the wagons around USC football, so anybody that’s invested in that means a lot to me and shoot, we need it from everybody.”