USC opened the 2025 season with one of the most important seasons in the Lincoln Riley era with an impressive showing, blowing out Missouri State 73-13. The Trojans offense came out humming as they scored on all but one of their possessions. The offensive scored touchdowns on their first five possessions led by a balanced attack of big plays through the air and an explosive ground attack. Nine players combined to score 10 touchdowns for USC, which hadn’t put up this many points since a 74-0 victory over Californian the year 1930.
Trojan quaterback Jayden Maiava was starting his first opener for the Trojans and played well. He threw 295 yards and two touchdowns all in the first half, including a 64-yard touchdown pass to tight end Lake McRee. Running back Eli Sanders caught a screen pass from Maiava and took it 73 yards for a second quarter score.
The top four running backs for USC each finished the game with a touchdown score. Waymond Jordan, King Miller and Bryan Jackson along with Sanders found the end zone and helped the Trojans get to 233 yards on the ground.
“That shows some of the versatility of this team,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “We were able to get a lot of different guys involved. We (also) scored off defense. It was exciting to see. I anticipated that we would play something like this. It’s kind of what I’ve seen on the practice field.”
The talk of the night in the Coliseum press box was the play of true freshman quarterback Husan Longstreet who played the entire second half. Longstreet completed all nine of his passes for 69 yards and rushed for 54 yards and two TD. “Husan was pretty steady,” Riley said. “Obviously want the fumble back, but he ran with the ball well, and you see some of his athleticism, so a good start for him.”
The offense erupted but the defense also played well. The Trojans defense collected five sacks and had three takeaways on the night. In the second quarter, transfer from NC State safety Bishop Fitzgerald, jumped in front of an errant pass and took the 39 yard interception to the house for a touchdown. A few freshmen got some playing time in the blowout win and made plays on the defense as well. Freshman safety Isaiah Rubin picked up the defense’s final takeaway of the game when he scooped up a fumble to halt one of Missouri State’s final drives.
USC will look to duplicate this performance on Saturday, September 6, when they host Georgia Southern at the Coliseum at 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, September 13, the Trojans travel to Purdue for a 12:30 p.m. game.