Handing out game balls for USC's victory over No. 13 LSU

Any time a team has such an important win as USC captured over No. 13 LSU on Sunday night, it has to be considered a "team win". That's certainly true for the Trojans who played a cohesive game on both sides of the ball, something that was impressive given all of the new faces that were starting for Lincoln Riley's squad.

One of the signs that USC was playing well as a team was that the Trojans had only six penalties for 50 yards, an impressive stat given how often teams are highly penalized in the season's first game. For instance, consider that the Tigers were flagged ten times for 99 yards on Saturday.

While this win was truly a group effort, there were some individuals who stood out, though. Mason Cobb, for instance, had seven tackles and the game-sealing interception from his linebacker spot.

Woody Marks was as advertised. In a physical game where rushing yards were tough to come by, he willed his way to 68 yards and two TDs on 16 carries to average 4.3 yards per rush.

Zachariah Branch was impactful as a receiver with four catches for 56 yards, both good for second on the team. He also had a 46-yard kickoff return to set up USC's first field goal of the game.

However, there were other Trojans who truly dominated the Tigers and led the way to victory. So let's hand out some fake game balls to three USC players who set the tone for their team.

Miller Moss proved the the Holiday Bowl wasn't a fluke

In his first start as USC's unquestioned QB1, junior Miller Moss put forth a performance that proved that his Holiday Bowl showing against No. 16 Louisville last season was no fluke. Throwing for 378 yards and a touchdown without being picked off, he looked like he'd been a starter for years.

Moss was confident, decisive, and poised in the pocket. What's more, he distributed the ball to ten different receivers.

It was that wide distribution that was impressive. Despite the fact that Moss threw for nearly 400 yards, no USC receiver came near 100 yards and the leading receivers on the night had only five receptions.

Contrast that with LSU. Though the Tigers also had 10 players catch a pass, 14 of Garrett Neussmeier's 29 completions went to just two players. That proved to be a problem for the Tigers in the second half as their star WR, Kyren Lacy was able to be neutralized when the USC defense made adjustments.

As we've said before, Moss is easy to root for because he's earned the opportunity to start at his dream school after having to wait for several years. And in his first game as the leader of the USC offense, he didn't disappoint.

Kyron Hudson's two highlight-reel catches made him an online sensation

Kyron Hudson didn't put up eye-popping numbers as a receiver on Sunday. However, his two spectacular one-handed catches made him a viral online sensation. More importantly, though, each set up crucial USC scores.

First, his leaping one-handed grab in traffic in the second quarter moved USC from the LSU 41 to the 17. Two plays later, following a pass interference on the Tigers, Marks would score the game's first TD from two yards out.

To that point, USC had struggled to get too much going on offense. However, Hudson's heroic grab seemed to spark the Trojan attack.

Then, on the game-winning drive, his second one-handed catch proved to be even more important. In fact, it could be argued that it was the decisive play of the game. Hauling in a beautiful Moss pass while also receiving a helmet-to-helmet hit, Hudson's remarkable play resulted in USC moving from the LSU 42 to the 13 when the penalty yardage for targeting was tacked on to the end of the play.

That was crucial given that USC had only one timeout left at that point and when the play started, there were just 18 seconds left on the clock. Remember, USC had already missed one field goal in the game, at the end of the first half, so no Trojan fan wanted to see this game come down to a long game-winning kick.

Hudson's magnificent catch and the ensuing penalty meant that any game-winning FG try would be a chip shot. However, it didn't come to that as Marks would cap off this drive as well with his second TD of the night. Still, Hudson's masterful play is what put USC in position to get the win.

Kamari Ramsey led a reinvigorated USC defense

On the other side of the football, transfer safety Kamari Ramsey was the leader of a USC defense that proved its naysayers wrong. Yes, the Trojans gave up over 400 yards but what matters most is that they allowed only 20 points to an LSU offense that has plenty of NFL talent on it.

LSU had 64 offensive snaps. Ramsey was on the field for all of them. Along the way, he made a team-high nine tackles, five of which were solo.

The UCLA transfer showed that he knows how to execute new D.C. D'Anton Lynn's defense. That's no surprise given that he played for Lynn last season.

Ramsey also brings elite tackling to a USC defense that has been one of the worst in the country at that aspect of the game in recent seasons. Several of his stops were in the open field where he was able to get the ball carrier to the ground and that had to be refreshing to Trojan fans to see.

As a whole, the USC secondary was terrific in the second half holding Lacy without a catch and limiting the Tigers to just 113 yards through the air. Ramsey was the tip of that spear and he showed why he is going to be a star for the Trojans this year.