While Missouri State University opened the scoring of Saturday’s season opener with a field goal, it was USC’s offense that looked unstoppable. Scoring a touchdown on all but two drives, one of which ended in a field goal, the Trojans cruised to a 73-13 win at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The 73-point performance was the most in a game since 1930 for USC.

While redshirt junior quarterback Jayden Maiava was plagued with inconsistency last season, he showed great efficiency in the first half Saturday, completing 15-of-18 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns to go along with a three-yard rushing touchdown. Every USC drive with Maiava at the helm ended in a touchdown.

True freshman quarterback Husan Longstreet took over in the second half and hit most of his major milestones, including completing his first collegiate pass, scoring his first touchdown on a five-yard run and throwing his first touchdown pass. While Longstreet sported a perfect completion percentage on nine attempts for 69 yards, his two-touchdown performance on a team-high eight rushes overshadowed his passing game.

While the Longstreet-led Trojans were not as dominant as the Maiava-led version, sporting the only drive that didn’t result in a USC score midway through the third quarter following a Longstreet fumble, his debut still showed a glimpse of USC’s future.

Six different USC rushers — four running backs as well as both Maiava and Longstreet — scored touchdowns, including an explosive 75-yard rushing touchdown from redshirt freshman King Miller in the third quarter and a screen-pass-turned-73-yard touchdown for redshirt senior running back Eli Sanders near the end of the first half. 

Starting running back junior Waymond Jordan and sophomore back Bryan Jackson also contributed rushing touchdowns. Jordan averaged 8.4 yards per carry and ended the night with 42 while getting roughly the same amount of rushes as Sanders and Miller.

Defensive Coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s crew locked the Bears down in the second half, only allowing a field goal after Longstreet fumbled in USC territory midway through the third quarter. Missouri State’s only touchdown came on a 33-yard pass from senior quarterback Jacob Clark in a fourth-and-mid situation partially through the second quarter.

Both redshirt senior safety Bishop Fitzgerald and redshirt junior defensive end Garrett Pomerantz intercepted Clark and ran for at least 37 yards afterwards. Fitzgerald took it all the way to the house early in the second quarter and Pomerantz’s pick set up Longstreet’s second rushing touchdown of the game.