USC Football: 5 things to watch as Trojans seek to lower massive boom on Louisiana

The preseason is almost over for USC.Wait, you mean these games count?The Trojans have dispensed with their first two opponents so easily – save for that meaningless meltdown in the fourth quarter against San Jose State – that one might think the real season hasn’t started.The Big Ten standings say otherwise, with the No.14 Trojans (2-0) alone at the top by virtue of having played one more game than everybody else.Barring an upset of epic proportions Saturday night at the Coliseum, they’ll stay there for at least another week.

A 30.5-point favorite over Louisiana (1-0), USC can continue preparations for the regular season – sorry, there we go again – against an overmatched opponent whose best feature might be its Ragin’ Cajuns nickname.Here are five things to watch in a game televised by the Big Ten Network:Maybe Gary Patterson really will succeed where predecessors Alex Grinch and D’Anton Lynn could not.Patterson’s product looked worthy of an immediate raise for the new defensive coordinator last week after the Trojans notched their first shutout since 2024.“He makes things challenging on the other side,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said of Patterson, “and I think what you saw was our belief in it was even higher than it was in Week 1.”USC has held its opponents scoreless in the first half of back-to-back games for the first time since doing so against Washington State and Cal in 2009.On Saturday, the Trojans will face a Louisiana offense that was incredibly balanced in its season-opening 38-7 victory over Lamar, producing 254 yards rushing and 231 passing.Riley called Ragin’ Cajun quarterback Lunch Winfield “far and away the most athletic quarterback that we’ve seen up to this point.”USC’s run game has been solid, averaging 152 yards per game.One thing the Trojans have lacked: big runs.Waymond Jordan’s longest run has been 16 yards.

King Miller? Just 10 yards.What’s going on here?“We’ve just had kind of small breakdowns,�...