USC’s 49-30 win over Louisiana inside the Coliseum gave the Trojans a clean result, but not a clean game. The scoreboard said one thing. The details said something else.
The biggest issue was discipline. USC was hit with eight penalties for 78 yards, and the Trojans never really delivered the tidy performance the staff has been pushing for all camp. That sloppiness showed up on both sides of the ball, even as the offense piled up points and the freshmen kept flashing.
And those freshmen were impossible to miss. Trent Mosley, Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Mark Bowman all made major plays and reached the end zone, giving USC plenty of reasons to keep an eye on this young class.
Bowman, in particular, had the kind of night that gets people talking. He hurdled multiple defenders and scored twice, producing what was easily his most eye-catching performance so far.
The ground game also produced its best raw output of the season, with USC finishing at 214 yards on 40 carries. Even so, the rushing attack still hasn’t fully become the explosive unit the staff wants. A lot of the production came in shorter chunks rather than the kind of home-run bursts USC is still searching for.
On the defensive side, Jide Abasiri said the group got a little complacent as the game went on. That’s not the sort of thing the Trojans can afford much longer, especially with Big Ten play coming up fast. The message coming out of the locker room was plain enough: clean it up before conference play, because the margin for error is about to shrink.
USC also came out of the night with some injury concerns. Safety Kennedy Urlacher left the game and later was back on the sideline in full sweats.
Bowman got the wind knocked out of him on his second touchdown catch, and the Trojans kept him out for the second half. Mosley exited early as well, playing just one drive after halftime, catching his second touchdown and then not returning.
He was seen icing his knee on the sideline. Jahkeem Stewart had been expected to get some reps, but he ended up putting the ankle boot back on during the game and did not play.
USC was also without freshman running back Deshonne Redeaux and sophomore tight end Taniela Tupou, both of whom had appeared in the first two games of the season.
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USC May Have Found The Missing Piece In Its Passing Game
USC spent Saturday looking for answers in the passing game, and freshman tight end Walker Lyons Bowman offered a convincing one. He led the Trojans in receiving with six catches for 83 yards in the 49-30 win over Louisiana, then topped it off with his first two career touchdowns, giving USC a much-needed middle-of-the-field threat and a different kind of target for Jayden Maiava.
Bowman became the first USC tight end to score multiple touchdowns in a game since 2022, and the early production came with a caveat after he was held out in the second half following a heavy hit. Still, the performance was enough to draw praise from Lincoln Riley, who pointed to Bowmans playmaking ability, while Bowman credited the offensive line and Maiava for helping make the night happen. [Read more 🡒]
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Still, the cleanest takeaway was not the final margin but the checklist Riley left behind. He noted the penalties that kept USC from looking sharper for longer stretches and also offered an update on defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewarts injury status, while sounding encouraged by the way the roster is starting to reveal more depth. The win moved the Trojans forward, but it also left one of the seasons early questions hanging in plain view: how quickly USC can turn promising pieces into a more consistent, disciplined team. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Fast Start Comes With One Big Question Fans Cant Ignore
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The big-play profile was obvious throughout the afternoon, with Trent Mosley helping swing momentum as a receiver and on special teams, and Mark Bowman continuing to emerge as part of the passing game. For all the production, though, the broader question around USC is whether this fast start is showing a team that has already found its identity, or one still waiting for the pieces to truly come together. [Read more 🡒]