USC football makes easy work of Utah State in 2024 home opener

On a day when the college football world was treated to one of the biggest upsets in recent memory when No. 5 Notre Dame was beaten at home by Northern Illinois, the No. 13 USC Trojans avoided that fate by dismantling Utah State 48-0 at the Coliseum.

Running back Woody Marks was dominant racking up 103 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries. What's more, all of that came in the first half as the Trojans racked up a 27-0 lead at the intermission.

Meanwhile, Miller Moss was sharp in his first-ever home start. Throwing for 229 yards in limited work, he completed 21 of 30 passes with one TD and no picks.

As we discussed before the game, USC got out to a fast start scoring 17 points on its first three possessions of the game. That put to rest any thoughts of a Utah State upset.

It was a far cry from what we saw from other top college football teams on Saturday. In addition to the Notre Dame upset, No. 7 Oregon had to fight to the end to hold off Boise State 37-34 in Eugene thanks to a last-second field goal. Similarly, No. 8 Penn State got all it wanted from Bowling Green in a 34-27 win in Happy Valley.

No. 17 Kansas State needed a late defensive touchdown to put away Tulane 34-27 in New Orleans. Meanwhile, No. 15 Oklahoma managed just a 16-12 win over a Houston team that was embarrassed at home by UNLV a week ago.

The Trojans are now 2-0 on the season and have a week off before heading to Michigan to take on a Wolverine team that was blown out by Texas at home on Saturday. Fortunately, the Wolverines have a game against Arkansas State next week to allow them to vent their frustrations before facing USC.

Right now, though, the Trojans are playing like one of the best teams in the country and that showed again on Saturday night. It's almost a shame that we have to wait two weeks to see them in action again because 2024 feels like it could shape up to be a fun ride.