USC football fans will love to hear which commits were at Fresno State game
By Evan Desai
USC football hosted Fresno State on Saturday, and crushed them 45-17. They also, however, hosted their top three commits to witness the Bulldog beatdown. Five-star QB Malachi Nelson was in attendance, five-star WR Zachariah Branch was in attendance, and four-star Athlete Makai Lemon was in attendance.
This is a big deal, as remember that everyone freaked out over Nelson taking an unofficial visit to Texas A&M and claimed that he's going to flip to the Aggies not too long ago.
The worry would then be that his buddy and WR target at Los Alamitos--Makai Lemon--could be flipping to A&M as well, and many unfortunate dominoes could then fall regarding SC's 2023 class. While that was very unlikely already, it's even more unlikely now. Nelson just got a taste of how strong USC has been this season. They're now 3-0 and the No. 7-ranked team in the country.
USC football has won their games by a combined score of 152-59.
USC football has been blowing everyone out, and now Malachi Nelson got to see it in person for himself. That matters. Think back to all the big visit weekends SC had last year, and how bad they looked in all of those games. It was a big reason why the high school class was as lackluster as it was. A lot has changed since then, though.
And one of the best parts is that Texas A&M has been quite the disappointment so far this year. They've already lost a game, and it was to a Sun Belt team in Appalachian State. A&M also barely beat Miami this week despite playing at home. They're the 23rd team in the nation despite signing what was probably the best recruiting class in football history this offseason.
Nelson most certainly has to be taking note, especially when he's seeing what real development looks like. Does he really want to play for a team that just brought in perhaps the best recruiting class in history (that also already had plenty of talent), yet is just the 23rd best team in the country?
Or does he want to play for a team that was 4-8 last year and is now No. 7 in the nation due to the head coach he's committed to twice before (once at Oklahoma and once at USC). The No. 2 overall player in the country for the 2023 class (all recruiting rankings and ratings in article are as of 247Sports) deserves better than to flip to the lesser program.
He's the No. 2 QB prospect in the nation for the '23 class, and him throwing to the No. 1 WR prospect in the nation for the '23 class (Branch) is going to be quite the sight to see. USC fans have every right to expect that, too.
Not only have there not been any more new developments on anybody flipping, but they were all together on the sideline at the Coli on Saturday. If anything, it looks like there's a great chance that they're staying.
Especially because there hasn't been any rumblings at all about Lemon going to A&M. If his QB in Nelson was really considering a flip, there would likely at least be some sort of noise about Lemon following, and there has been nothing. Lemon, the No. 2 Athlete in the country for this class, is another recruit who has committed to Riley twice now (once at Oklahoma and once at USC).
SC will be fine on the recruiting trail. They currently own the No. 14 class in the nation, which leaves a little room to be desired. That being said, winning is always the best recruiter. SC's winning a lot, and even doing it in front of the ones who matter most.