#13 Louisiana State University vs. #23 USC
September 1, 2024 at 4:44pm
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV: 63,969 (of 65,000)
Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

On a sweltering normal temperature day in Vegas, the marketing team for the Modelo Vegas Kickoff Classic would have you believe this was the beach vs. bayou showdown.

Instead, they had a really huge missed opportunity in not calling it LA vs LA. But for the fans, the true matchup was Miller vs. Modelo, as they stumbled drunk to and from the Strip. The game also boasted a record crowd, which, statistically, also probably means record number of drunks in attendance. However, I was unable to find evidence to support that claim. Apparently they don’t keep track of important stats like we do here at City of Angles. And there are none more important than the pettiness of proving people wrong.

Lincoln Riley had become the target for a lot of hate in recent years. Some of the common ones were some form of:

• Left OU because he was scared of playing against SEC teams
• Begged to back out of the LSU game
• Can’t play defense
• Needs transfer QBs that were developed by someone else

It really only took one game to shut all of those up. Maybe LSU collapses somewhere down the road or maybe they were pretenders all along, but you can’t honestly tell me that the defense of last year wouldn’t have let this LSU team score 40. The LSU offensive line returned four starters, with two that are projected to be top 10 draft picks. These were the same four that blocked for 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels. Regardless of how you cut it, this was a convincing victory against a tough SEC opponent that could’ve easily been lost by a mediocre team.

This B1G-SEC matchup proved that USC was always being held back by the Pac-12…even though there really hasn’t been time for the change in conference to make a material difference in the program. This is basically equivalent to Chuck E. Cheese going by Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings on food delivery apps. They had quality, but the brand had a poor image that they needed to get rid of. I just wish we didn’t have to get rid of all the traditions and good parts of the Pac in order to get rid of the (numerous) bad parts.

Speaking of bad parts, this game was not without them. The sketchiest part was when LSU scored their first touchdown of the second half to take the lead. This was followed by: a botched reverse that resulted in a fumble (luckily, an attentive offensive lineman was there to recover it again), a false start, which all ultimately led to a three-and-out. It seemed like the team was on the verge of an implosion. With the still lopsided time of possession, the defense had every excuse and reputation of collapsing. They held out not just once, but with a three-and-out of their own the second time. The offense not only squandered it the first opportunity, but managed to burn two timeouts in what we all knew would be a very close game. Being able to rely on the defense to only give up 3 points on those last three to four drives (does the final 4 second drive count?) was a huge difference maker.

Good/Badisms

• GOOD: Punter, Eddie Czaplicki, averaging 55.3 yards per punt (#3 in the nation)
• GOOD: The coverage team able to limit a punt return to 1 yard despite the 57 yard kick
• GOOD: A very casual sub-two minute drive, capped off by the former SEC running back, Woody Marks, scoring the go-ahead touchdown
• GOOD: H-backs showing springing big plays, like the aforementioned touchdown run. You all know how much a like fullback usage, but H-back is close enough
• GOOD: Miller Moss in his two total starts, had to throw under duress into tight coverage against top 15 teams yet managed to throw 370 yards a game and only one total interception. His quick thinking and ability to release the ball quickly and accurately, earned him Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.
• GOOD: Defense able to make lots of open field tackles, limiting potentially large plays
• BEST: Kyron Hudson’s amazing catch making the ESPN Sports Center Top 10…as the top play
• BAD: Offense centering the ball for a short field goal try in the middle, which was missed. Could have been costly in such a close game
• BAD: No offensive rhythm at the beginning, which made them grow dependent on explosive chunk plays to score
• BAD: Offense wasn’t able to establish run game early on
• “BAD”: Zachariah Branch getting tackled by the kicker on the big kickoff return. Remember when Baxter told Robert Woods “never let the kicker stop you“? Joking though, that was a great play.
• GOOD/BAD: Bad is a player getting hit in the head. Good is Kyron hanging on to a 20-yard pass to get an additional 14 yards tacked on by penalty, a free time out, and ejection of their redshirt junior starting safety.
• GOOD/BAD: Good is me making a post again after 2 years. Or maybe that’s bad LOL. Bad is I make absolutely no guarantees for consistency during this season. I will publish as my schedule allows. Or, again, maybe that’s good.

CommBro Breaker

“Here’s to the ones who dream
Foolish as they may seem”:
Notre Dame-Texas A&M
Georgia-Clemson
USC-LSU

Kudos to all these teams taking on tough matchups in their first game despite it being historically more beneficial to play a cupcake to bolster their playoff chances, especially in the expanded 12-team playoff format.

Misleading Stat of the Week #1: USC is undefeated against SEC teams in the ’20s (both the 1920s and 2020s combined!). They have literally only played LSU in those two decades.

Obscure Stat of the Week: In both starts. Miller Moss has completed passes to exactly 10 receivers, with none getting 100 or more yards. There must be some conspiracy theory we can contrive from this.

Misleading Stat of the Week #2: The defense has allowed 18 plays of 10+ yards, which is 114th in the nation. Luckily allowing some larger plays doesn’t necessarily equate to allowing points