On Sunday night, the USC Trojans will take on the LSU Tigers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Both teams come into the game ranked in the Top 25 to start the season. The Trojans are ranked 23rd in the country, as they start their first season in the Big Ten. The Trojans went 8-5 last season, and beat Louisville in their bowl game to finish the season.
For LSU, they won their final game as well. They were able to beat Wisconsin to wrap up the season. That allowed the Tigers to finish the season with a 10-3 record. The Tigers start the 2024 season ranked 13th in the preseason poll.
The LSU Tigers come into this game as the favorite. The Tigers are listed at -4 over the Trojans.
Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans
Lincoln Riley will look to replace the top pick in the NFL Draft in Caleb Williams. Coming in under center is projected to be Miller Moss. He will get the start over Jayden Maiava. Moss got some opportunities behind Williams last season. He finished with 681 passing yards and 7 touchdowns on the season.
His top targets this season will be Duce Robinson, Ja’Kobi Lane and Zachariah Branch. All three are sophomores and were on the roster last season. They will take over for Tahj Washington and Brenden Rice, who led the team with a combined 20 touchdowns last season.
The lead running back for the USC Trojans will be Woody Marks. He will be ahead of Quinten Joyner to start the season. Marks was at Mississippi State, and got 121 carries, but scored just two touchdowns last season. He finished his career with the Bulldogs in the egg bowl with 12 carries and 39 yards against Ole Miss.
Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers
Brian Kelly comes into the season looking to get production of some of the new starters in the offense. The lone transfer projected to start on offense is wide receiver CJ Daniels. He will join in with Chris Hilton Jr and Kyren Lacy. Lacy was third in receiving last season with 558, but well behind Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr.
Josh Williams should get the start at running back. He is ahead of Kaleb Jackson on the depth chart. A season ago, Jayden Daniels, the quarterback, did most of the running, along with Logan Diggs. They picked up over 250 carries. Williams was third with 55 carries, and 5 touchdowns on the season.
Under center for LSU will be Garrett Nussmeier. The Lake Charlest native threw for 591 yards and 4 touchdowns last season for the Tigers. 395 of those yards came in the bowl win over Wisconsin, with three touchdowns.
Trojans Top Tigers
We like USC to win this game. The Trojans should have more fans in attendance in Vegas, but LSU travels well. It will be an interesting game, with two teams looking to get production out of their first year quarterback. Both had really good signal callers last season, and the adjustment will be real. In the end, we like the athleticism of the Trojans to win out in this game. Take USC +4 over LSU on Sunday night!
