{"id":63149,"date":"2024-08-29T16:00:24","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T20:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=63149"},"modified":"2025-09-16T21:21:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:21:48","slug":"venom-in-vegas-an-lsu-vs-usc-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/08\/29\/venom-in-vegas-an-lsu-vs-usc-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Venom in Vegas: An LSU vs. USC Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Talking season is officially over, and the loaded week one<\/a> of the college football season is finally here. To preview LSU and USC\u2019s highly anticipated matchup is to examine two programs tied at the hip with a lot to prove in 2024. Both head coaches have said all the right things, exhibiting confidence in some areas while avoiding wholesale declarations. Another one of the many similarities<\/a> between the two is they both know their success ultimately boils down to improved defenses, which brings us to our first point.<\/p>\n

LSU vs. USC Preview<\/h2>\n

D\u2019Anton Lynn’s Dominance<\/strong><\/h3>\n

USC swiped the 34-year-old D\u2019Anton Lynn from UCLA to get its defense back on track. It should come as no surprise that Lynn was a hot commodity after taking a defense that was 102nd<\/sup> in total defense in 2022 to 10th<\/sup> in 2023. It\u2019s impressive to take such a significant step statistically, but it\u2019s even more remarkable to see his defense in action.<\/p>\n

Every coach in America preaches playing \u201cfast and physical\u201d, but of course not every team does it. Lynn\u2019s defense swarmed to the ball last year. There was patience but no hesitation. They aggressively gang-tackled and blitzed freely, resulting in finishing third nationally in tackles for loss in 2023. Lynn\u2019s simulated blitzes seemed to be even more problematic. Several players approached the line in his 4-2-5 defense, often resulting in only four players rushing, but the offense can’t afford to guess wrong on which four.<\/p>\n

Lynn led a formidable run defense at UCLA, and he inherited the ideal defensive tackle for that task in Bear Alexander<\/a>. The 315-pound Alexander takes space but also offers a quick first step, resulting in leading USC in quarterback hurries in 2023. Lynn also brought cornerback John Humphrey<\/a> and safety Kamari Ramsey<\/a> with him from UCLA. Both bring length and ball skills and help their new teammates learn Lynn\u2019s scheme.<\/p>\n

Life After Jayden Daniels<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After waiting patiently for three years, Garrett Nussmeier<\/a> will enter the season for the first time as LSU\u2019s starting quarterback. Nussmeier has a live arm and is thought of as a gunslinger, but much of that reputation is built from small sample sizes in games with nothing to lose. Reckless or not, the Tigers don\u2019t plan to put the entire game on Nussmeier\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n

All-American left tackle Will Campbell<\/a> was emphatic about establishing the run in a press conference earlier this week. \u201cWe\u2019re going to run the ball\u2026I\u2019ll tell everybody right now, we are going to run the football,\u201d said Campbell. LSU\u2019s biggest advantage on paper is its offensive line featuring two potential first-round picks, Campbell and Emery Jones<\/a>, against the Trojan defensive line. Establishing the run takes the pressure off Nussmeier and protects the Tiger defense.<\/p>\n

Although the personnel at USC is different than what Lynn had at UCLA, his Bruins were opportunistic and did not give up many big plays. Nussmeier will need to prove patient and take what he\u2019s given. Kyren Lacy<\/a> is the star of LSU\u2019s receiving group, but shiftier receivers like Zavion Thomas<\/a> and Kyle Parker<\/a> could be the difference in this game. One missed tackle could prove costly for the Trojan defense.<\/p>\n

The Lincoln Riley Effect<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Could Miller Moss<\/a> be Lincoln Riley\u2019s latest Heisman winner? Possibly, but an LSU\/USC preview wouldn\u2019t be complete without Heisman talk. Chances are Moss will be highly productive. Riley\u2019s offenses have never finished lower than 10th<\/sup> in total offense in the past five seasons.<\/p>\n

Schemes are great, but a bigger part of Riley\u2019s success is the skill he acquires. Sophomore wide receiver Zachariah Branch<\/a>\u2019s 2023 numbers might not jump off the page, but his athleticism jumps off the screen. The 5\u201910\u201d speedster is a threat from anywhere on the field. Duce Robinson<\/a> and Ja\u2019Kobi Lane<\/a> are giants on the outside who have the potential to provide matchup problems to an unproven LSU secondary.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see how LSU\u2019s Blake Baker attacks the USC defense, but pressure will be involved. Baker\u2019s Missouri defense did a better job of disguising blitzes than LSU\u2019s predictable 2023 defense. Harold Perkins<\/a> should impact the game as a pass rusher, but he could also create opportunities for another back-seven player like Major Burns<\/a> from the star position. Defensive end Sai\u2019vion Jones<\/a> had an impressive fall camp and could significantly decrease the need for extra rushers.<\/p>\n

How it Plays Out<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Both teams will put up points. Teams don\u2019t add completely new staff to one side of the ball and have it all figured out in game one. Besides, both offensive coaches have shown the ability to recruit, develop, and execute offensively at a high level. The team that can avoid fundamental failures will thrive. Penalties, missed tackles, and blown coverages are an annual week one plague. Which team will be better prepared?<\/p>\n

As always, turnovers will play a part. In a game featuring Branch and Thomas, special teams could also loom critical in this game. Both are unpredictable, so our LSU\/USC preview is going who seems to have an advantage up front. Despite Lynn\u2019s track record, he\u2019ll have to commit so much attention to stopping LSU\u2019s running game that the game will become easier for Nussmeier. Play-action passing and big, athletic tight ends over the middle will help ease Nussmeier into the game and help LSU to its first season-opening win in five years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy: Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

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Talking season is officially over, and the loaded week one of the college football season is finally here. To preview LSU and USC\u2019s highly anticipated matchup is to examine two programs tied at the hip with a lot to prove in 2024. Both head coaches have said all the right things, exhibiting confidence in some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4690,"featured_media":63159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2,35584,35603],"tags":[7983,4504,33187,1746,86,20,84],"class_list":["post-63149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sec","category-featured","category-lsu-tigers","category-usc-trojans","tag-big-ten-football","tag-blake-baker","tag-danton-lynn","tag-lincoln-riley","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-sec","tag-usc-trojans"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4690"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78503,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63149\/revisions\/78503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}