One Man's View of the Game

Defensive Line – USC

USC’s line starts with Bear Alexander. He’s the best defensive lineman in this game and is probably a second rounder next spring who could play his way into the first round this fall. The other DT is Nate Clifton, a transfer from Vanderbilt who had a monster season last year in Nashville, including sacks against Georgia, Ole Miss and Auburn. Anthony Lucas, the former Texas A&M 5 star, will line up at DE. He’s been a disappointment thus far and been more of a JAG but has all of the measurables to be a problem. Jamil Muhammad will be the main edge rusher and is going into his sixth year of college football. In contrast, I really hope Da’Shawn Womack, Gabe Reliford and Dominick McKinley can all be diaper dandies because the starting four of Savion Jones, Gio Paez, Jacobian Guillory and Bradyn Swinson is not striking fear in anyone. Hope springs eternal and reports from camp have been glowing, but it’s hard to forget 2023. If our DL cannot get pressure, we cannot expect the secondary (which is largely the same as 2023) to be much better.

Linebackers – LSU BIG

The Trojans LB corp is their biggest weakness. Eric Gentry is an athletic prospect but is weirdly sized at 6-6, 215. Easton Mascarenas-Arnold and Mason Cobb are older transfers from Oregon State and Oklahoma State that Lincoln Riley brought in to plug the leaks. LSU’s linebacker corp on the other hand is its strength. First round pick Harold Perkins, Jr. mans the Will while Greg Penn is steady eddie at the Mike. The Weeks brothers will also be on the field plenty making this group deep and talented for LSU.

Secondary – USC

USC’s secondary has talent, but a lot of them are transfers and we all know that communication breakdowns can be fatal to a secondary. Free safety Kamari Ramsey transferred in from crosstown rival UCLA where last season he had 40 tackles, 4 PBUs and 1 interception. He’s presently viewed as a day 2 NFL prospect. Jaylin Smith is a slot corner or safety and very versatile with 21 games of experience over the past two seasons. Jacobe Covington is their boundary corner and may be their best DB overall but has battled injuries. That said, he’s a little undersized and could struggle against LSU’s WRs. He was USC’s highest rated defensive player by Pro Football Focus last season with a mark of 83.4. John Humphrey is another transfer from UCLA who started 19 games over the past two seasons. Another transfer corner is DeCarlos Nicholson who transferred in from Mississippi State. With LSU’s secondary, we just don’t know. It was so bad last year it’s hard to give credence to the positive practice reports. We don’t even yet know who will be the starters at corner (although that’s because there is a spirited competition ongoing, not because there are no bodies). Hopefully between Stamps, Woodland, JK Johnson, Alexander (if healthy) and Toviano, we can have two guys step up. We do know that Major Burns and Sage Ryan will be at the Star and the slot respectively. They have been disappointing, especially Ryan the former 5 star. We all pray for a light bulb to go off in their final year. Jardin Gilbert will be the free safety. He is versatile and athletic, but has some tackling issues and appears indecisive at times.

X-Factor: USC’s defense on paper should be much improved. But it will rely heavily on transfers who have not played together before, which could be problematic in game one.

Special Teams – USC

Zachariah Branch is an elite return man. Zavion Thomas is close but not at the same level. LSU punting is still unresolved.

Conclusion

Ultimately it is less about how the units compare versus how they compete with their opposite counterparts. While USC has a decent defensive line, LSU’s offensive line will handle them. LSU should be able to run the ball well and exploit a secondary and linebacking corp that are playing together for the first time.
On the flip side, while LSU’s DL is not elite, USC’s offensive line is not scary. This could be a huge reintroduction of Harold Perkins to the casuals. The DBs still scare me and I do worry about Branch returning a kick on special teams. But adding it all up, I think LSU wins it by a TD in a shootout.

Good work and thanks for the details.

But this game won’t come down to whose positions groups are best. Secondaries don’t play secondaries.

It will come down to the matchups and we just have the serious advantage in those key position matchups. Their entire defense is transfers and new. That matches up well with our experienced offense. The online is garbage and that matches up with our unproven but extremely talent defensive front 7.

quote:

---

LSU punting is still unresolved.

---

I still find myself in the "let's simply not field a returner" camp, especially in season openers.

quote:

---

But this game won’t come down to whose positions groups are best. Secondaries don’t play secondaries.

---

Yes, I acknowledge that at the end. And I know it's TLDR!

Need BK to break the game 1 woes that we have seen

USC has sucked on defense since Pete Carrol went to Seattle

Experienced offense? LSU lost 90% of its offense from last year.

I agree on receivers. I think most of that room has elite upside, and theyre all different types of receivers (I personally think Daniels is the one who could turn into an X factor early on)

Lsu will control this game in the 2nd half with the oline and running the football....lsu talent level supercedes usc in the 3 yrs both have been at their respective schools. Lincoln Riley didn't want to play this game and this game is a must win for cbk given he is 0-2 in openers. Expect lsu to destroy usc. This team ain't fricking around this year I promise you that