3 takeaways from Utah State’s blowout loss to USC

Utah State football lost its first game of the season Saturday night in Los Angeles, as the No. 13-ranked USC Trojans handled the Aggies 48-0 in the early season meeting.
Here are three takeaways from the Aggies’ setback:
It was clear early on that Utah State’s defense was going to have its hands full with the USC offense.
The Trojans have elite talent across the field, be it quarterback Miller Moss, running back Woody Marks or receivers such as Lake McRee or Zachariah Branch, to name a few.
Utah State’s defense isn’t built to handle an offense like USC’s, which left the Aggies with the difficult choice of deciding whether to try to stop the Trojans’ passing attack or ground game.
Utah State interim coach Nate Dreiling and company elected to try to limit Moss and did, thanks to playing a 3-3-5 scheme that put five defensive backs on the field along with three linebackers.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, the decision left them vulnerable on the ground and USC made them pay.
Marks, a transfer from Mississippi State, ran wild against Utah State, and when he wasn’t getting nearly eight yards per carry, Quinten Joyner was doing even better, averaging nearly 8.5 yards per run.
The Trojans finished the game with 249 yards on the ground as the Aggies proved unable to limit USC in nearly any form or fashion in the run game.
On the flip side, the Aggies’ secondary fared well against Moss and the Trojans’ elite pass catchers, all things considered. Safeties Ike Larsen and Jordan Vincent had standout outings, as did cornerbacks JD Drew and Avante Dickerson.
There wasn’t really a good option for the Aggies’ defense to choose against USC — the Trojans simply have more talent than Utah State — but the decision to focus on the passing game proved a tough one.
For as rough a showing as it was on the final scoreboard for the Utah State defense, the unit never stopped competing and at times looked like it genuinely belonged on the same field as the Trojans.
Larsen and Dickerson regularly made plays in the secondary, and the Aggies’ linebacking corps had a strong night as well. Purdue transfer Clyde Washington was particularly impressive, visibly belonging on the same field as USC.
He was one of only two Aggies to record a tackle for loss in the game, and John Ross Maye made it clear, for the second straight week, that he is up to the task in the middle of the defense.
Utah State’s defensive line was largely overmatched — the Aggies looked too small throughout the night — but behind them Utah State had players making play after play after play.
DJ Graham — a cornerback transfer from Oklahoma — forced a fumble, the only turnover forced by Utah State in the game.
Larsen had an interception, but it was called back because of an offsides penalty. He still managed multiple pass breakups, though.
Meanwhile, Drew made multiple open field tackles against talented USC receivers, and Dickerson had the other tackle for loss for Utah State.
If the Aggies are going to have success going forward this season they will need better overall play from the defensive line, but the Utah State defense clearly has playmakers who didn’t shy away from competing against a much better USC team.
Jalen Royals didn’t look out of place at all in the Coliseum. The Aggies’ senior wide receiver has been projected as an NFL draft pick in 2025 draft and showed why early and often against USC, making catches in traffic, getting separation from Trojan defensive backs and then getting yards after the catch despite being gang tackled time and again.
Neither senior running back Rahsul Faison nor freshman running back Herschel Turner saw a ton of carries with Utah State trailing early, but when either carried the rock they showed real flashes.
Faison had a 20-yard run, the longest play from scrimmage by an Aggie in the game. He averaged six yards per carry, boosted by that run but not by much.
Turner only carried the ball a few times but he didn’t look out of place, his low center of gravity making him a tough tackle even for the talented USC defense.
Kyrese White only had two catches for 15 yards, but the speed he put on display against Robert Morris was still visible against USC.
Tight end Broc Lane, often touted as an underused weapon for Utah State, had three catches for 27 yards, providing a big and effective target for quarterback Bryson Barnes in the middle of the field.
The problem against USC for Utah State’s offense wasn’t that the Aggies don’t have talent on offense. It was that the Aggies couldn’t regularly get the ball to said talent.
Barnes was under fire early and often Saturday as the Trojans’ defensive line frequently overwhelmed USU’s offensive line, and when the Trojans weren’t in the Aggies’ backfield, they were knocking passes down at the line of scrimmage, or worse, tipping them into the air, leading to turnovers.
Utah State’s offense struggled against USC. That isn’t in question. But the pieces are in place for the offense to have a real impact this season.
The key going forward will be quarterback and line play. Neither Barnes nor the O-line could get it done against USC and the offense appeared toothless as a result.