USC vs. LSU football in Las Vegas: Week 1 kickoff details

The USC Trojans will open the 2024 college football season with their biggest Week 1 game since 2016. Here are the details.
Nov 11, 2023; Eugene, Oregon, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley talks to quarterback Caleb Williams (13) during the first half against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 11, 2023; Eugene, Oregon, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley talks to quarterback Caleb Williams (13) during the first half against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports / Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
facebooktwitterreddit

USC football will travel to Las Vegas and play the LSU Tigers in Week 1 of the 2024 college football season. ESPN will broadcast the contest from Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, September 1, at 6:30 pm PT.

The 2024 Vegas Kickoff Classic is notable because it’s the first time USC head coach Lincoln Riley will face LSU since 2019. Most fans recall the Joe Burrow-led Tigers demolished Riley’s Oklahoma Sooners in the 2019 Peach Bowl. Two seasons later, the coach decided to leave for USC.

The LSU Tigers also changed head coaches during the 2022 offseason, luring Brian Kelly from Notre Dame. Many college football analysts and fans believed LSU coveted Riley to replace Ed Orgeron. However, the head coach from Muleshoe, Texas, clarified that he was not interested in a move to Baton Rouge.

Week 1’s USC vs. LSU matchup marks the return of the Vegas Kickoff Classic. The first and only neutral site kickoff game was a BYU vs. Arizona matchup in 2021. I assume organizers sought a bigger matchup with storied college football programs to create event prestige.

Moving forward, I expect the Vegas Kickoff Classic to remain in rotation for a Week 1 neutral site game.

The 2024 Vegas Kickoff Classic is the only college football game slated for Sunday, September 1. Thus, plenty of fans will be tuning in to see USC football and LSU square off.

2024 is the third consecutive year that the LSU Tigers have opened their season with a Sunday neutral-site game. LSU played Florida State in New Orleans to open the 2022 season, and the schools rematched in Orlando to open the 2023 season. The Seminoles won both games convincingly.

USC fans must expect LSU to enter Allegiant Stadium motivated to overcome their Week 1 woes in the Brian Kelly era.

Next. Story Link. Why fans are taking shots at the USC football facilities. dark

The Trojans have not played a neutral-site game to open their season in eight years. In 2016, Alabama trounced USC 52-6 in Arlington, Texas, a game most of us chose to forget.