USC held steady at No. 12 in the Associated Press top 25 poll released Sunday, a week after surviving a 42-35 road win over Rutgers to open conference play.
The Trojans had to grind for that one. Rutgers piled up 490 yards of offense, but USC’s efficiency on the other side of the ball, plus a pair of game-shaping interceptions, kept the lead in its hands throughout the night. One early pick set up a score, and another turned into a pick-six that stretched the cushion.
"[Offensively] there was a lot of good," head coach Lincoln Riley said Saturday. "Guys made some clutch plays.
I'm most proud of being able to run it out there and end the game with the ball in our hands. That's the thing I was most excited about.
We made some big-time plays, but we also had some big-time mistakes and untimely penalties that'll have to get better."
Now 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten, USC heads back to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a Saturday meeting with No. 20 Oregon.
Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. PDT on NBC.
Oregon arrives after an eye-popping 84-0 rout of Portland State on Friday, a single-game program record. The Ducks finished with 726 yards of offense and four takeaways in that one. Their lone loss came the previous week at unranked Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
At the top of the poll, nothing changed. Texas stayed No. 1, followed by Georgia and Notre Dame.
Ole Miss moved up four spots to No. 4, while Indiana, Miami and Ohio State each slipped one place to Nos. 5, 6 and 7. Alabama climbed to No.
8, BYU moved up to No. 9 and LSU fell three spots to No. 10.
In Other News...
USC Got An Unexpected Boost At Exactly The Right Time
USC picked up a pair of timely individual honors after its win over Rutgers, with kicker Caden Chittenden earning Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week and running back Riley Wormley landing Big Ten Freshman of the Week. It was the first Big Ten weekly recognition of both players USC careers, and it came on a day when the Trojans needed clean, efficient production in key spots.
Chittenden accounted for 10 points with two field goals and four PATs, giving USC steady work in the kicking game. Wormley added a spark out of the backfield, scoring two touchdowns and finishing with 54 yards from scrimmage, the kind of contribution that can matter most as the season starts to tighten up. [Read more 🡒]
USC Won Its Big Ten Opener But A Real Concern Followed
USC opened Big Ten play with a tight win over Rutgers, moving to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play, but the result came with plenty to digest beyond the final score. The Trojans got a huge lift from turnovers, including a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown by safety Prophet Brown, and those splash plays proved decisive in a game that otherwise leaned far too heavily on the offense and opportunistic moments.
The concern for Lincoln Rileys team is hard to miss after Rutgers piled up 460 yards and reached the end zone five times, exposing a defense that still has work to do. Riley pointed to the defensive issues and penalties as areas that need cleaning up, and while USC has the record it wanted entering conference play, the way it won left little doubt that better tests are ahead. [Read more 🡒]
USC Heads Into Oregon With A Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Week 3 mostly went the way Big Ten powers wanted, with a slate of comfortable wins over lesser opposition and a few performances that turned heads, including Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. throwing four touchdown passes and Nebraska running back Jamal Rule piling up 119 yards and two scores. Against that backdrop, USCs narrow escape against Rutgers in its conference opener stood out for a very different reason, especially for a team trying to settle in quickly after joining a league where every week seems to sharpen the pressure.
The Trojans got the result they needed, but the defensive issues that showed up again against Rutgers are hard to brush aside with Oregon next on the schedule. Other Big Ten contenders such as UCLA and Iowa took care of business, and the updated power rankings reflect that separation beginning to form. For USC, the concern is no longer just winning games, but whether the defense can travel well enough to survive a much tougher stretch ahead. [Read more 🡒]