Miller Moss, USC Play Greatly in Blowout Win Over Utah State

It seemed like an odd matchup at first. A West Coast power known for its flash paired with a conference known for its size and corn-fed muscle. Two years of patronizing tones from the rest of the Big Ten Conference suggested the same thing about USC, which until this fall hadn’t given much reason to believe it belonged in such a weight class.

But while the Big Ten’s might was getting pummeled on Saturday, USC not only looked like a conference heavyweight in a 48-0 win over Utah State, it forced its way into the College Football Playoff conversation before the Big Ten schedule had even begun.

That effort began, once again, on defense, where USC’s rebuilt unit came out swinging to throw its first shutout since November 2011. The 13th-ranked Trojans held Utah State to 190 yards and gave up just one third-down conversion. The Aggies crossed the 50-yard line just twice before the final minutes rolled around.

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It wasn’t just a stifling USC defense that prevailed. After finding little space against Louisiana State, USC proved it could assert its will on the ground against Utah State. Led by Woody Marks and Quinten Joyner, who combined to average more than eight yards per carry, USC piled up 249 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

The rushing attack was so dominant that quarterback Miller Moss didn’t have to do much. Moss still threw for 229 yards and a touchdown in an efficient performance — and could have had two more scores, had his receivers not dropped two first-half gimmes.

The mistakes made — a fumble here, a missed opportunity there — mattered little. Even a power outage at the Coliseum, which delayed the lighting of the torch in the fourth quarter, only postponed the inevitable.

At that point, the road to the playoffs had cleared considerably for the Trojans, who suddenly had a less busy schedule.

Michigan, the reigning champion and USC’s next opponent, could barely move the ball with a new quarterback and was blown out of the Big House by Texas. Notre Dame lost on a game-winning kick to Northern Illinois, a team it paid $1.4 million to play. Penn State needed a late comeback to beat Bowling Green, while Oregon narrowly edged past Boise State.

With a trip to Ann Arbor looming, this was a crucial week to get itself in order, and USC did.

USC made a point of establishing the run early, and their two backs wasted no time. Marks rolled for 49 yards on his first three carries, before Joyner’s first three went for 53. Each ripped off a run of 30-plus yards before USC completed its second drive. At that point, the Trojans were averaging a cool 14.6 yards per carry.

After USC settled for a field goal on its opening drive, Joyner flagged the next possession, breaking through the Utah State front for a nine-yard touchdown. USC just kept rolling from there. Then it was Marks who drove the ball in from two yards out, capping a methodical 11-play drive with his third touchdown in two weeks.

The Trojans threatened to open the game up from there on multiple occasions, but ultimately put the Aggies out of their misery before halftime. The defense made a fourth-down stop in Utah State territory early in the second quarter, then intercepted a Bryson Barnes pass at midfield two drives later. But USC’s offense fumbled one possession and dropped a certain touchdown pass on another, delaying the knockout blow.

Perhaps those missed opportunities would have hurt USC in previous years. But not Saturday. Not with the dominant defense, which limited Utah State to a meager 101 yards in the half.

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Linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold’s interception gave Moss and Co. another chance with a minute left in the half. And this time, the Trojans finally broke through, as Moss found Makai Lemon for a six-yard score to give USC a seemingly insurmountable four-score lead.

The Trojans (2-0) scored three more times in the second half and continued to wear down the Aggies until there was little left. It was the kind of suffocating performance that would make the Big Ten proud.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.