Ohio State Buckeyes at USC Trojans

Ohio State brings its national title defense to the Coliseum, and Lincoln Riley doesn't have many more chances to prove USC belongs in that conversation too.

Bush’s Picks

OSUUSC

OSUUSC

OverUnder

Best BetOhio State

Ohio State's the more proven commodity here — a defending national champion with the best receiver in the country and a quarterback who was one of the most efficient passers in the sport as a true first-year starter. USC's ceiling is real, but until Gary Patterson's defense shows it can hang with an offense this talented, the safer moneyline lean is the champs.

Ohio State

• +Defending national champions off a 14-2 season
• +Jeremiah Smith is a true No. 1 receiver
• +Sayin completed 77% of passes as a first-year starter
• −Sayin looked overwhelmed in a few marquee moments
• −Replacing key pieces off a title roster
• −Road trip to a hostile, well-coached environment

USC

• +Big Ten's best offense last season (465.5 ypg)
• +Maiava returns with a full year of starts
• +No. 1-ranked 2026 recruiting class incoming
• −Defense was the program's clear weak spot in 2025
• −Brand-new coordinator still installing his system
• −Riley under real pressure with no CFP appearance yet

This one's about the two quarterbacks nobody's fully sure about yet. Julian Sayin was terrific efficiency-wise as a first-year starter for Ohio State — 32 touchdowns and a 77% completion rate — but the redshirt freshman looked like a freshman in a few of the biggest spots down the stretch. Across the field, Jayden Maiava returns for USC with a full season of Big Ten reps under his belt, running an offense that led the conference in yards per game a year ago. Both guys have shown flashes. Neither has fully answered the question of whether they can be the guy in a game this loaded.

The bigger swing factor might be on the other side of the ball entirely. USC brought in Gary Patterson to fix a defense that was the program's clear soft spot, and while the pedigree is real — the guy won six conference titles across three leagues at TCU — installing a new scheme takes time, and this is exactly the kind of opponent that exposes any lingering rust. Ohio State, meanwhile, is trying to replace pieces off a team that went on an FBS-record 16-game run to a title, which always means some early-season unevenness even for a roster this deep.

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OSU Ohio State

USC USC

Jeremiah Smith is still the best receiver in the sport not named a Heisman winner yet, and that's the matchup USC's rebuilt secondary has to answer for. If Patterson's defense is still finding its footing by late October, this is the kind of night it gets tested hardest.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Oct 16?@ Indiana—

Oct 9?vs Maryland—

Oct 2?@ Iowa—

Sep 25?vs Illinois—

Sep 19?vs Kent State—

Sep 12?@ Texas—

Sep 5?vs Ball State—

USC Trojans

Oct 9?@ Penn State—

Oct 2?vs Washington—

Sep 25?vs Oregon—

Sep 19?@ Rutgers—

Sep 12?vs Louisiana—

Sep 4?vs Fresno State—

Aug 29?vs San José State—

Riley is in year five in Los Angeles and year three in the Big Ten, and the patience for near-misses is gone — anything short of real playoff contention this season gets talked about as a program-level problem, not just a rough year. Beating the defending champs at home would be the loudest possible answer to that noise. For Ryan Day, it's a different kind of test: proving last year's run wasn't a peak but a new baseline, on the road, against a team with a No. 1-ranked incoming class and a defensive coordinator with something to prove.

Ohio State Buckeyes

(0)

Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

USC Trojans

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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

Both programs enter this one with real momentum behind them — Ohio State off a championship, USC off the best offensive season the building has seen in years — which is exactly why this has the feel of one of the Big Ten's marquee nights well before kickoff. The Coliseum hasn't hosted a game with these kinds of stakes in a long time.