No. 14 USC throttles Fresno State in all facets

Jayden Maiava completed 23 of 25 passes for 349 yards and threw all three of his touchdown passes in the first half as No. 14 Southern California cruised to a 39-0 rout of Fresno State on Friday in Los Angeles.

The Trojans (2-0) overwhelmed the Bulldogs in the second quarter on both sides of the ball, scoring 23 points. Maiava threw his second touchdown of the night early in the quarter, finding a wide-open Trent Mosley after a play-action fake.

Mosley turned Maiava's deep pass into a 68-yard score, accounting for the bulk of the freshman receiver's game-high 104 yards. Maiava found Mosley for another touchdown later in the second with a 9-yard pass.

The two Maiava-to-Mosley scores bookended the first of two Kennedy Urlacher sacks, both of which led to USC points.

Urlacher's first sack came with Fresno State (0-1) backed up near its goal line. He bull-rushed his way through a blocker and shoved Bulldogs quarterback Jayden Mandal out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

On his second sack, Urlacher jarred the ball loose from Mandal, setting the stage for a 2-yard Waymond Jordan touchdown carry just before halftime. The score sent USC into intermission with a 30-0 lead.

The Trojans' Gary Patterson-coordinated defense overwhelmed Fresno State all night, holding the Bulldogs to just 116 total yards. More than half of their total yardage -- 60 -- came on the final drive, which the Trojans snuffed out on fourth down in the red zone.

USC's late stand preserved the program's first shutout since a 48-0 blowout of Utah State in September 2024.

Fresno State threatened only once before then, moving into USC territory in the first quarter before Prophet Brown intercepted Mandal. Mandal finished with 77 yards on 7-of-15 passing.

The Bulldogs quarterback found himself under consistent pressure, getting sacked five times. Alex Graham delivered a sack in the third quarter for USC's second safety of the night.

Graham's safety and a Deshonne Redeaux 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter accounted for USC's second-half points. The Trojans started the night scoring on a 12-play, 82-yard drive that included a 31-yard connection from Maiava to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt on fourth down.

Dixon-Wyatt caught six passes on the night for 102 yards. Jordan led USC with 67 yards rushing on 11 carries.

--Field Level Media