USC didn’t wait long to put Mark Bowman on the field, and the freshman tight end wasted no time showing why the Trojans made him such a prized part of their No. 1 class in the 2026 cycle.
Bowman started in USC’s win over San José State on Saturday, and his debut came with a lot of attention already baked in. The five-star recruit arrived in Los Angeles carrying the kind of buzz usually reserved for players much deeper into their college careers.
He was a centerpiece at Mater Dei (Calif.), where he looked the part of an older, more polished player even as a sophomore in 2024, helping lead a team that finished as high school national champions. By the time he reached USC, he had already collected the kind of résumé that included a Nike NIL deal as a senior in high school.
That reputation followed him straight into the lineup. Bowman was one of four true freshmen from Southern California to start on offense for the Trojans, alongside his former Mater Dei teammate Kayden Dixon-Wyatt.
The receiving numbers were modest - three catches for 15 yards - but that wasn’t the part of Bowman’s game that jumped off the field. His biggest impact showed up where USC needed it most: in the run game. Analyst Landon Tengwall singled out Bowman’s blocking in an exclusive interview, calling him one of the better young tight ends already in the Big Ten.
“You might have one of the better blocking tight ends already in the Big Ten with Bowman,” said college football analyst Landon Tengwall in an exclusive interview. “I'm talking serious ability to accelerate into blocks, and once again keeps a base, feet keep moving, gets a really good hand placement. I think Mark Bowman is going to be a huge piece of what this run game is going to be for USC.”
Bowman’s physical readiness was noticeable long before kickoff. He arrived in January already built like someone further along in the process, and when spring practice opened in early March, his lower body stood out immediately. After adding 10 pounds of muscle over the summer, he now looks like a tight end who has been living in the Big Ten for years.
Tengwall said that kind of early comfort is unusual for a freshman tight end, especially when the college game brings a different level of force every snap.
“I really was impressed because normally the biggest transition for a tight end or offensive lineman to college ball is the physicality,” Tengwall said. “You got 22, 23, sometimes 24-year-old guys now that you've got to go against.
It looked like Mark Bowman was a third-year tight end. He's physically impressive, but a lot of times when you're a young guy, you lack that full confidence to play 100 miles per hour because you're not fully sure.
“You didn't see any of that in Mark Bowman's game. It was full on accelerate, and there was zero hesitation.
It's I know what I need to do on this play, and he loves to just block the man across from. He doesn't care who he is.
He's going to give 100 percent, and he is going to finish through the whistle.”
That matters for a USC team built to move people up front. The Trojans bring back four starters on the offensive line and have size and experience in that group. They also return their two leading rushers from last season, Waymond Jordan and King Miller.
And Riley has made his preference clear. USC came out with nine run plays on its 13-play opening drive, a strong sign of where the offense wants to live. Bowman’s role in the passing game will come later, but his early value as a run blocker gives the Trojans another way to lean into what already looks like a strength.
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