Mosley scores 2 more as USC shuts out Fresno State 39-0
Trent Mosley caught 2 more touchdown passes and Gary Patterson's defense pitched a shutout as USC opened 2-0, burying Fresno State 39-0 at the Coliseum.
Mosley does it again: 2 more touchdowns in his second college game
One big night from a true freshman is a story. Two in a row is a pattern. Trent Mosley followed his 7-catch, 118-yard debut against San José State with 4 catches for 104 yards and 2 more touchdowns against Fresno State, the biggest of them a 68-yard strike from Jayden Maiava at the 12:27 mark of the second quarter before he added a 9-yard score two drives later.
ESPN's Chris Vannini was watching the tape live and didn't hedge: "The stop-and-start here for Trent Mosley... USC's true freshman WR is gonna be a stud." Saturday Blitz went further, framing Mosley's emergence as a genuine problem for Lincoln Riley to solve — not because anyone is unhappy, but because a receiver room already carrying returning options now has a true freshman playing like a lead option through 2 weeks.
Maiava, who was AP National Player of the Week after game 1, finished this one 349 yards through the air and found his freshman weapon twice more in the process. Two games in, Mosley already looks like the plan, not a wrinkle in it.
The shutout Riley called hard to do, and the QB who couldn't solve it
USC blanked Fresno State 39-0 at the Coliseum, the Trojans' first shutout since 2024, and first-year defensive coordinator Gary Patterson's unit did it by allowing just 116 total yards while forcing 3 turnovers and 2 safeties. "I'm really excited about the shutout, that's hard to do," Riley said afterward, calling it "a pretty complete game" from a team that had needed to survive its own fourth quarter the week before. "Very excited about how we finished it off," he added.
Fresno State39-0
San José State42-26The other sideline told the story just as clearly. Jayden Mandal, making just his second career start in 4 years after two seasons lost to injury, went 7 of 15 for 77 yards with 2 turnovers, including an interception by Prophet Brown, and was sacked for a pair of safeties. Riley had called Fresno State "gritty" and "tough" during the week and warned that Matt Entz's defense was one of the best in the country against explosive plays last season — it was Entz's own offense that never found a rhythm.
USC is 2-0 on the year, and with Maiava's 349 yards and 3 total touchdowns to go with the shutout, this was closer to the complete performance Riley had been chasing since the fourth-quarter letdown against San José State than anything USC had shown through 1 game.
Raymond starts at center again, and the line held up fine without O'Connor
Killian O'Connor's season-ending broken leg is still the backdrop up front, but Tobias Raymond made his second straight start at center against Fresno State — the position he moved to from guard over the offseason, and now the only spot on the line besides right guard he hasn't started at USC. He's played behind Maiava in a 349-yard passing night and a game Riley called complete, which is about the best answer an interior line stepping in for its steadiest veteran could give.
Riley put O'Connor on scholarship in front of the whole team last year and has said he wouldn't be shocked if O'Connor is voted a captain despite never taking a snap this season. Two games into Raymond's audition at the position, with the protection holding and the offense clicking, the loss at center is being managed rather than felt.
Louisiana comes to the Coliseum next, still looking for its first win
USC's next test comes September 12 vs. Louisiana at the Coliseum, and the Ragin' Cajuns arrive at 0-0 for the season after opening with a 13-20 loss at Delaware last year. It's about as favorable a scheduling spot as USC will see all season, sandwiched between the Fresno State shutout and the trip to Rutgers that follows a week later.
The market hasn't priced this one yet, which on its own says something about how lopsided the book expects it to be. For a USC team that just won by 39 and hasn't lost to a team like this in years, the bigger question heading into next week is less about the scoreboard and more about which freshman shows up next.