Los Angeles, CA – Lincoln Riley’s debut saw the USC Trojans score early and often with the defense scoring 21 points in a dominating 66-14 win over Rice on Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 68 yards on six carries.
USC had three pick six in the game and finished with four interceptions. USC’s three interceptions returned for a touchdown in today’s game tie the school single game record of three also accomplished on Nov. 11, 1982 at Arizona.
“Great first win. Really, really proud of the team,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said. “It’s a fun moment to finally be here. I think the team was anxious and excited just with all the buildup, just ready to finally go play, and I thought we responded well. Obviously, how do you start with anything but the three pick-sixes? I was told its a Pac-12 record and a USC record. They’ve been playing ball around here for a long time. You don’t break records very often.”
The Riley era got off to a hot start as USC drove down the field on its opening possession and scored on a Caleb Williams 5-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison.
Rice responded with a 16-play, 74-yard drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Ari Broussard. Rice evened the score 7-7 with 3:09 remaining in the first quarter.
On their second possession of the game, Stanford transfer Austin Jones scored from four yards out to give USC a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. USC freshman running back Raleek Brown used his speed to get into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead.
The USC defense got in on the scoring when safety Caleb Bullock intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 93 yards for the touchdown and a 28-7 lead in the second quarter.
Broussard scored his second touchdown of the game to cut USC’s lead 28-14 with just under two minutes left in the first half. USC added a field goal and took a 31-14 lead into halftime.
USC linebacker Shane Lee opened the third quarter with a pick six. He returned the interception 40 yards to give USC a 38-14 lead. On the ensuing drive, linebacker Ralen Goforth gave USC its third pick six of the game. Goforth returned the interception 31 yards for the score and a 45-14 lead.
“I think that’s what we set out to do as a defense is to play together, play hard, just run into the ball and be physical, and I think we did,” Lee said. “I think we accomplished that today. Especially by playing together. This is the first day we got to step on the field against an opponent, someone that wasn’t in the same color as us.”
Williams threw his second touchdown of the game to Addison and the Trojans took a 52-14 lead in the third quarter. Jones and Darwin Barlow scored a pair of rushing touchdowns to extend the lead and put the game away.
Next week USC will travel to open PAC-12 play verse Stanford.
