We’ve finally made it, the first week of the college football season is here. There are a lot of good matchups to keep an eye on this weekend, and one you won’t want to miss is on Sunday between USC football and LSU football. The Trojans and Tigers are both ranked to start the season, and this is a crucial year for both teams. They’ll play at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
The new college football year kicked off with Week Zero on Saturday, and it got off to a full throttle as #10 Florida State was beaten by Georgia Tech. It was a fantastic start to the season (sorry, Seminoles fans) as the game remained tight down the stretch, but now we have a full schedule of college football to experience over the course of five days.
Week 1 action begins Thursday and there are plenty of exciting matchups to watch. Deion Sanders and Colorado will face North Dakota State and some top-ranked teams are in action as well. NC State, Kansas, Utah and Missouri also kick off their season on Saturday.
There’s no doubt about it, Sunday’s matchup between USC and LSU is one of the best of the week. Let’s take a look at where these two teams stand heading into the first week of the 2024 college football season. You may find that they’re in a similar boat.
USC football head coach Lincoln Riley is under pressure this year after a disastrous 2023 season. The first year went well for Riley and the Trojans, as they made it to the Pac-12 title game in 2022 and won 11 games in the regular season. In the second year, they were expected to once again compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff, but they fell far short of expectations.
The Trojans had the best player in the country last year in quarterback Caleb Williams, who was also the reigning Heisman winner, and finished with a 7-5 record. This was not Williams’ fault at all. He had a good year, but the defense was one of the worst in all of college football. The Trojans just couldn’t stop their opponents, and even in games where Williams and the offense played their best, it was incredibly difficult to win.
Now things are getting tougher for USC. They’re in the Big Ten and the competition is a little tougher than in the Pac-12. It certainly doesn’t help that they have to play a top-15 LSU team to start the season. This is going to be a challenging year and unless the defense has drastically improved, it’s going to be one that USC fans will want to forget.
Lincoln Riley is under a lot of pressure this year, and if the Trojans have another disappointing season like last year, he’s going to be in trouble.
Brian Kelly also had a successful third year
Brian Kelly and Lincoln Riley made similar moves before the 2022 season, leaving top schools and transferring to other top schools. Riley went from Oklahoma to USC and Kelly from Notre Dame to LSU. Both had good first years and both had disappointing second years. However, the Tigers’ disappointing 2023 season was much better than USC’s.
The LSU football team made it to the SEC title game in Brian Kelly’s first year, and that was a huge accomplishment. They beat Alabama and won their division. Because of that, expectations were huge for the second-year team. They started the season in the top five, but were embarrassed in week one by Florida State. The Tigers finished the regular season with a record of 9-3. Not bad, but certainly not as good as fans had hoped at the beginning of the year.
Brian Kelly has a great third year ahead of him, as does Lincoln Riley. Both guys need to have good seasons. Year three is really when you can tell if someone is the right person for the job, so this season is incredibly important.
Both coaches are under pressure and are going head to head in the season opener. It should be a great game and whoever wins will breathe a sigh of relief. Here are three predictions for Sunday’s clash:
Both teams score 40 points
Don’t be surprised if this game ends up being a shootout. Both teams had explosive offenses last season with defenses that couldn’t perform as they wanted in their biggest games. Both teams will be breaking in new quarterbacks, but they should have the weapons around them to be successful. Both new quarterbacks started in their bowl games last year and both put up impressive numbers.
With Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels in the NFL, this quarterback matchup isn’t as good as it would have been last year, but Garrett Nussmeier and Miller Moss could end up putting on a great show.
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Miller Moss with throw over 300 yards
When Miller Moss played for USC Football in the LA Bowl last year against Louisville, he ended up throwing six touchdown passes and over 300 yards. He showed in that game that he is capable of running an explosive offense and it will be exciting to see him back in action this weekend. Expect Moss to have a great opening game.
LSU will win by two points
Unfortunately for the USC football team, it doesn’t look like the defense can make the drastic changes needed. The Trojans defense was bad last season. They need to make big improvements. They will probably be better, but USC will probably still have a really good offense that can’t win big games because of their defense. The LSU football team will get a few more stops than USC and pull out a comfortable win on Sunday.
USC and LSU will face off at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ABC and the Tigers are currently favored by 4.5.
