LOS ANGELES — – Quinten Joyner rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns and No. 13 Southern California’s new-look defense shutout the Trojans for their first time since 2011 in a 48-0 win over Utah State on Saturday night.

Miller Moss threw for 229 yards and a touchdown while playing only the first 2 1/2 quarters in his first home start for the Trojans (2-0).

USC controlled the Coliseum all night, building on its impressive win over LSU in the season opener, further demonstrating the profound transformation from last season’s pathetic defense.

“It’s really hard to shut people down in modern college football, so I’m really proud of the way we kept our game going defensively all night, and the complementary ball was really good,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “The offense did a good job with the ball. That was a big focus, so we were proud of the way the guys responded.”

After USC limited the Tigers to 20 points last week in Las Vegas, defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s group allowed just 190 yards to the Aggies (1-1), including 40 yards to the Trojans’ reserves on a final drive that ended with a missed 52-yard field goal attempt with 1:08 to play.

“I think it’s just a good visualization of our defense and how much growth we’ve had,” said USC linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, whose interception late in the first half led to the Trojans’ third touchdown. “The scoreboard and the stats don’t really show how well a defense could have done, (but) it’s exciting for our whole team. We know what we have to do and we executed it well today.”

The Trojans’ first-half shutout was the school’s first in a half since the 2022 season. They held on to complete the school’s first shutout in 153 games since a 50-0 win over UCLA in the final game of the 2011 season.

Makai Lemon caught a touchdown pass just before halftime, while Woody Marks ran for 103 yards and a touchdown, also hauling in three passes in the Mississippi State transfer’s home debut for USC. He caught a pass in his 47th consecutive game, extending the nation’s longest active streak.

Bryson Barnes threw for 103 yards for the Aggies, but the transfer QB couldn’t win for the second time in his football career at the Coliseum. Barnes led Utah to a dramatic 34-32 victory over USC last season while filling in for injured Utes starter Cam Rising, and sent Riley and Caleb Williams to their first loss at the Coliseum.

It was the first loss for Aggies interim head coach Nate Dreiling, the former defensive coordinator who took the job two months ago after Blake Anderson Logan left in a storm.

“This offense (is) just so hard to stop because they’re so explosive, but now they have a defense that’s always been talented but is so solid,” Dreiling said. “It’s unbelievable how well they teach their players to play. They have length, and now they know how to use that length. So they have a chance to not only be one of the best offenses in the country, but potentially one of the (best) defenses, so that’s a complete football team that’s going to be around for a long, long time.”

UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava completed the game for Moss, with a fourth-quarter touchdown and 66 yards passing. He led two scoring drives in USC’s 544-yard offensive performance.

A power outage on the north side of the Coliseum forced the teams to start the second half in lower than normal light. Additionally, the game was delayed several minutes in the fourth quarter when all the lights on the north side went out.

“Just when we were thinking about stopping playing, the lights came on, so that was good,” Riley said.

Eventually, power was restored to the two main light poles.

“They were talking about calling the game, right?” Dreiling said. “So I asked Lincoln Riley, ‘Is that going to be a tie for both teams?’ He didn’t think it was as funny as I did.”

The takeaway meal

Utah State: Not every defense the Aggies face will be as good as USC’s group, so they’ll be hoping to return to the form that saw them pass for 343 yards in the season opener against Robert Morris, rather than the lackluster offense that managed just 103 yards through the air at the Coliseum.

USC: Everything looked good, aside from a few short-yard execution errors and a costly fumble by Lake McRee deep in Aggies territory. The Trojans are about to begin a brutal four-game series in the Big Ten, but they couldn’t feel much better about their progress thus far.

Implications for the poll

USC is expected to continue to rise and a top 10 spot seems a possibility if enough voters stay up extra late to watch this game.

Next

Utah State: Hosts No. 11 Utah on Saturday.

USC: On Saturday, September 21, the Trojans will make their Big Ten debut against No. 10 Michigan.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football