Week 1 keeps rolling on with No. 13 LSU and No. 23 USC meeting on Sunday night in one of the 2024 college football season’s most intriguing nonconference matchups. The Tigers and Trojans are set to meet in Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium for the second Vegas Kickoff Classic.
LSU is no stranger to opening its season in a neutral-site game. The Tigers played Florida State in New Orleans and Orlando, Florida, in Week 1 of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, both losses for LSU. In fact, the Tigers haven’t won a season-opening contest since 2019’s 55-3 triumph against Georgia Southern.
To be fair to the Tigers, each of their last four first games have come against Power Four competition. They shook off last year’s early loss to win 10 games for a second consecutive season under Brian Kelly.
Lincoln Riley is 2-0 in his two season openers as USC’s coach, though this will be the first time in his tenure that the Trojans begin the year against a power conference team. They’re looking to shake off an 8-5 2023 campaign — the worst record of Riley’s career — and make a big impression as they transition to a loaded Big Ten Conference. A primetime game against a top-15 SEC opponent certainly provides that opportunity.
Follow along with LIVE updates from USC vs. LSU here.
How to watch USC vs. LSU live
Date: Sunday, Sept. 1 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Allegiant Stadium — Las Vegas
TV: ABC | Live stream: fubo (Try for free)
USC vs. LSU: Need to know
Both teams replacing a Heisman winner: It’s not every day that we get to see a game between two teams that have to open their season by replacing a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. For USC, the Trojans have to navigate without Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Tigers are turning to longtime backup Garrett Nussmeier to take the mantle from reigning Heisman winner Jayden Daniels, who was drafted right after Williams at No. 2 overall. It will be fascinating to watch USC’s Miller Moss and Nussmeier operate with such lofty expectations hanging over this game.
USC trying something new on defense: As with the quarterback transition, both teams featured in this game also made major changes on the defensive side of the ball. USC’s decision to move on from coordinator Alex Grinch, a longtime collaborator of Riley’s dating back to the Oklahoma days, provides particular intrigue. The Trojans went across town and poached D’Anton Lynn to replace him. Lynn has long been seen as a rising star in the industry. The Bruins led the Pac-12 in total defense (299 yards per game) and finished second in scoring defense (18.1 points per game) under his guidance a year ago. By comparison, USC allowed almost twice as many points (34.9) and just under 140 more yards (438.8) on average.
Resetting expectations: Both Riley and Kelly are entering Year 3 at their respective programs and there’s the sense that neither has quite achieved as much as they may have set out to. Neither has won a conference championship. Neither has so much as come close to making the College Football Playoff. With a combined 39 wins between the two over a two-year span, it’s hard to say that their tenures have been bad. There’s just a lot that each have left on the table, given their track records, the programs that they’re coaching and some individual player performances that they’ve had under their guidance. A new 12-team playoff gives each coach an increased opportunity to finally break through. A win Sunday will go a long way towards helping their chances.
USC vs. LSU prediction, picks
Given how Moss and Nussmeier performed in their respective bowl games last season, both should hit the ground running as full-time starters. It helps that USC and LSU are perpetually stacked at the skill talent positions, with plenty of flashy weapons to help smooth the transition over. The Tigers, in particular, are also buoyed by one of the nation’s best offensive lines. And there’s a reason that each team decided to make a change at defensive coordinator: both of these defenses were really bad last season. While it may not take long for the new quarterbacks to acclimate, it could be at least a few games before each new defensive coordinator is able to seamlessly implement their gameplans. All this to say, expect a lot of points to be scored. Pick: Over 64.5
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