In the first game of the season on Aug. 29, the Trojans nearly allowed a comeback from San Jose State University in the fourth quarter after giving up just three points in the three previous quarters. While the time eventually ran out, one thing was for certain: Defensive Coordinator Gary Patterson was not happy.

“I know [Patterson’s] pissed right now about the fourth quarter, as you can imagine,” Head Coach Lincoln Riley said in an Aug. 29 postgame news conference. “The guy’s standards are so high; that’s how it is for our defense.”

Riley was right, and he was also right about hiring the Hall of Fame coach this January, as Patterson helped propel No. 14 USC (2-0) and its defense to a 39-0 shutout Friday night against Fresno State University (0-1).

The shutout marks USC’s first since Sept. 7, 2024, when the Trojans silenced Utah State nearly two years ago. Junior safety Kennedy Urlacher and redshirt freshman safety Alex Graham headed Friday’s effort, each recording a safety and at least one sack in the win.

“The safeties, those are hard to get. I don’t know that as long as I’ve been a coach, we’ve ever had two in a game,” Riley said. “That was pretty darn cool.”

Sacks, safeties showcase Trojan defense 

While there were certainly several standout players for USC, one of the most impressive was Urlacher. The junior transferred from rival program Notre Dame (1-0) last year, competing for playing time during his first season with the Trojans.

In Friday’s game, Urlacher put to rest any doubts about his playing time this season as he forced a fumble, recorded two sacks and tacked on a safety in an all-around dominant game. One of those sacks was a strip sack near the end of the second quarter that gave the ball back to the Trojan offense, which scored within minutes and contributed to USC’s 30-point halftime lead.

“Coach [Patterson] sent me on the blitz [and I] just went out there and executed the call,” Urlacher said in a postgame news conference. “That’s just great coaching. Honestly, Coach [Patterson] knows what to call in certain situations, and we go there and execute the call.”

Urlacher drew several similarities to his father in the win: NFL Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, who recorded 41.5 career sacks with the Chicago Bears and won the 2005 Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Graham was the other Trojan with a safety, securing his first collegiate sack along the way. The freshman took down Bulldog junior quarterback Jayden Mandal in the end zone during the third quarter, resulting in USC’s only points that quarter.

The last time college football saw a team record two safeties in one game was the University of Michigan in 2023. The Wolverines went on to win the national championship that year, and it has not happened again until the Trojans did it on Friday. In USC’s history, it was the first time the feat has ever occurred since records started in 1971 and is just the 16th time in college football history.

During Fresno State’s first drive, redshirt senior safety Prophet Brown picked off Mandal for the first interception of Brown’s career. Mandal threw a deep ball downfield to Bulldog senior wide receiver Josiah Freeman, which Brown dove to get, securing USC’s first interception of the season in the process.

“It meant everything. I can’t put it into words,” Brown said about his interception. “Getting after the quarterback, not letting him be comfortable, that makes our job in the back end a lot easier because he has to get the ball out quick and throw it up.”

The Trojan defense did its job and then some, limiting the Bulldogs to only 116 yards of offense, more than half of which came in the last drive. USC forced three three-and-outs and two turnovers in a historic defensive showing.

Maiava finds success with freshmen receivers

After winning the AP Player of the Week Award for Week 0, redshirt senior quarterback Jayden Maiava followed an impressive season-opening performance with an even better showing, earning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Maiava connected on 23 of his 25 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns. This season, Maiava has the same number of incompletions at six as total touchdowns, with five passing and one rushing.

“I think a lot of the trust that I have in the guys and the relationship I have with Coach Riley [and] Coach [Luke] Huard allows me to go out there and play ball,” Maiava said in a postgame news conference.

One of Maiava’s most frequent targets and connections so far has been freshman wide receiver Trent Mosley. On Friday, Mosley caught four passes for over 100 yards, with two of them going for touchdowns.

The true freshman broke loose and caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Maiava early in the second quarter, juking the only defender in his way for an easy score.

Another 100-yard receiver was freshman wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt. The true freshman secured six catches for 102 yards, quickly establishing himself as a top target for Maiava.

While Dixon-Wyatt racked up a lot of yards, one glaring part of his game was his fumble in the third quarter. Redshirt senior running back Waymond Jordan also fumbled the ball earlier in the game, which could be a concerning sign if issues of ball security persist.

“There’s still a lot to clean up. Obviously, some of the turnovers … disappointing thing,” Riley said. “We had two fumbles, [but] we played pretty good other than that. But you can’t have that. That’s just not good enough. We got to be better there. We’re still a little sloppy early in the run game … but we got a little work to do.”

USC will look to clean up some of its miscues against University of Louisiana at Lafayette (1-0) on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.