Football flips script, hangs on in win over Spartans
Despite allowing its most points in a game this season, No. 21 USC still sent the crowd home with another victory.
By BENNETT CHRISTOFFERSON
After back-to-back Spartan touchdowns cut USC’s lead to 31-24 in the third quarter of Saturday’s game against Michigan State, Trojan fans across Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum shared the same terrifying thought: It’s happening again.
Amid defensive woes and inconsistency at the quarterback position, the 2024 USC football season was defined by a series of blown leads: Of the six games the Trojans lost last season, they held a fourth-quarter lead in five of them. For those familiar with the 2024 team, the sight of a late lead slipping away was one all too familiar.
Thankfully for fans of No. 21 USC (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten), this year’s squad is not the 2024 team. Instead of crumbling under the mounting pressure, the Trojans thrived off of it, staving off the Spartans (3-1, 0-1) in a 45-31 win to remain undefeated in the season.
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“It’s hard not to be excited about what you see out of this football team,” Head Coach Lincoln Riley said in a postgame news conference. “We’re excited about the win. We’re not satisfied. We know we’ve got to get better.”
With the win, USC grabbed the all-time series lead against Michigan State, improving to 5-4 after the teams’ first matchup since 1990. The Trojans also secured their second consecutive Big Ten victory, a feat they accomplished just once across nine conference games in 2024.
Maiava, Lemon lead the way for Trojan offense
For the fourth time in as many games, redshirt junior quarterback Jayden Maiava put on a show, this time throwing for a season-high 20 completions on 26 attempts for a total of 234 passing yards. In addition to three passing touchdowns, Maiava ran the ball into the end zone himself twice, including a perfectly executed fake handoff to junior running back Waymond Jordan that left the quarterback wide open for the score.
In what would spell disaster for many teams, junior wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane — one of Maiava’s top targets this season, with 239 yards on nine receptions across three games — did not play Saturday after being listed as questionable before the start of the game. However, in the absence of one star wide receiver, another rose: in this case, junior Makai Lemon, who leads the Trojans with 311 receiving yards on the year.
Maiava and Lemon connected eight times throughout Saturday’s game, with Lemon picking up 127 yards — more than the rest of the team combined — and a 40-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. Lemon also got some action on the run game, recording his first career rushing yards and a touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“He was just ready to play,” Riley said of Lemon’s performance in Lane’s absence. “Any time something like that happens, other guys gotta be ready to step up.”
Aside from Lemon, Maiava also found sophomore tight end Walker Lyons and freshman wide receiver Tanook Hines in the end zone, both of whom notched the first touchdowns of their respective collegiate careers.
Running backs shine despite scoreless outing
Amid the eye-popping numbers from Maiava and Lemon, it can be easy to overlook the impact of USC’s top two running backs: Jordan and redshirt senior Eli Sanders.
While the two teams were roughly even in terms of passing yards, USC nearly tripled Michigan State’s rushing yards — totalling 286 to the Spartans’ 108 — primarily thanks to the Jordan-Sanders duo. The two combined for 241 yards on 31 carries, with the remaining yards coming from none other than Maiava and Lemon.
Jordan continued his impressive start to the year by tacking on 157 yards across 18 carries — including two of 35 or more yards — though he failed to score a touchdown for the first time this season. Sanders picked up 84 yards of his own, his highest mark in a game since transferring to USC from the University of New Mexico during the offseason.
The Trojan running back brigade was notably lacking redshirt freshman King Miller, who didn’t play for the first time this season despite averaging nearly 14 yards per carry over his first three games.
Trojans, Spartans unite to support linebacker
With less than a minute to play in the first half, Michigan State redshirt senior linebacker Wayne Matthews III went down with a severe injury after colliding with another player during a tackle attempt on Jordan.
The game experienced a lengthy delay for medical personnel to assist Matthews, during which players from both teams lined up on the field and knelt to show him support. After several minutes, Matthews was carted off the field, with his thumbs-up to the crowd receiving a loud ovation from the stadium.
Following the game’s end, a large group of players gathered in the center of the field to join in prayer for Matthews, led by a USC coach. Matthews’ exact condition is unknown, but his motor skills are intact, according to a Michigan State representative. Matthews posted an update to his X account Sunday, writing that he was “doing a lot better” and will “be back in no time.”
Ana Hunter / Daily Trojan
USC and Michigan State players lined up on the field and knelt to show support to Michigan State redshirt senior linebacker Wayne Matthews III as he received aid from medical personnel. (Ana Hunter & Ethan Thai / Daily Trojan)
Defense overcomes penalties, miscues
After being called for eight penalties against Georgia Southern University (2-2) and nine against Purdue (2-2, 0-1), USC showed no signs of backing off from its belligerent approach: The team took nine more across Saturday’s game, including a third-quarter stretch that saw three defensive penalties in just four plays and gifted the Spartans a total of 25 yards.
The Trojans’ aggression paved the way for a Michigan State touchdown that brought the score to 31-17, and after redshirt freshman wide receiver DJ Jordan fumbled the ball on USC’s very next play, the Spartans soon found themselves in the end zone once more to make it a one-possession game.
Though the Trojans would go on to win the game regardless, their carelessness in racking up penalties could have doomed them to defeat had the offense gone cold in the game’s final minutes. However, Riley said he wasn’t as concerned with the penalties, calling the style a “balance” with playing the game too safely.
“Go look up the least penalized teams in the country. Typically, it’s a bunch of teams with shitty records,” Riley said. “You have to play this game aggressive, and I’m not going to put a team out there at USC that does not play this game aggressive.”
Because of its aggression, the Trojan defense succeeded in controlling the run game, limiting Michigan State to just 3.5 yards per rush — less than half of USC’s mark of 7.6. The defense also heavily stifled the Spartans’ last-chance attempts, allowing them to convert just five of their 12 attempts on third or fourth down.
“Every game we’ve played up to this point, you feel the presence of our defensive line, you feel our depth,” Riley said. “That group’s got a great vibe about them. They’re hungry, and I think they’re going to keep getting better.”
On the special teams end, redshirt freshman kicker Ryon Sayeri recorded a field goal and six successful extra point attempts, finishing his fourth game at a perfect 25-for-25 to start his collegiate career.
The Trojans will head back east next weekend for the season’s first ranked matchup against No. 23 Illinois (3-1, 0-1). The game will kick off at 9 a.m. Saturday in Champaign, Illinois.
