USC defense posts historic shutout, two safeties in 39-0 rout of Fresno State

No. 14 USC dominated Fresno State from wire to wire on Friday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, rolling to a 39-0 victory that marked the program's first shutout since September 2024 and only the second since 2011. The performance was fueled by a suffocating defensive effort under first-year coordinator Gary Patterson, who guided the Trojans to one of the program's finest defensive outings in its 138-year history.

USC limited Fresno State to just 116 total yards — the fewest allowed by the Trojans since they held Notre Dame to 91 yards in 2008. Prior to the Bulldogs' final possession, USC had surrendered only four completions for 38 yards through the air and 56 total yards on 33 plays, a rate of 1.3 yards per play. The defense recorded five sacks, seven tackles for loss and forced two turnovers.

Two Safeties, a Program First

The signature moment of the evening came when the Trojans recorded two safeties in a single game — a feat that had never occurred in USC program history and one that no team had accomplished in all of 2025. Junior safety Kennedy Urlacher, son of NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher, delivered the first when he slammed Fresno State quarterback Jayden Mandal out the back of the end zone in the second quarter, capping a sequence in which defensive tackle Jide Abasiri beat a double-team up the middle to force Mandal out of the pocket. The second safety came in the third quarter after a Fresno State fumble left the Bulldogs pinned deep. Urlacher finished the game with two sacks, a forced fumble and the safety.

I don't know that for as long as I've been a coach if we've ever had two in a game. That was pretty darn cool.

— USC head coach Lincoln Riley

Quarterback Jayden Maiava was equally sharp on offense, completing 23 of 25 attempts for 349 yards and three touchdowns — a 92 percent completion rate that bested his own program record of 86.2 percent set the previous week against San Jose State. Freshman wide receiver Trent Mosley caught all four of his passes for 104 yards and two scores, including a 68-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Fellow freshman Kayden Dixon-Wyatt led the team with six receptions for 102 yards, while Deshonne Redeaux and Waymond Jordan each added rushing touchdowns. USC's only blemishes on offense were two lost fumbles and a failure to convert in the red zone on one early possession.

The shutout was sealed in the closing seconds when defensive end Jadyn Ramos sacked Mandal on fourth-and-goal from the USC 8-yard line, preserving the clean sheet. Patterson, who posted the nation's top total defense five times during 22 seasons at TCU, joined Riley's staff in January. Riley acknowledged there is still work to do — citing penalties and turnovers as areas needing improvement — but praised the team's overall growth heading into its third game of the season.

He makes things challenging on the other side, and I think what you saw was our belief in it was even higher than it was in week one. Our guys played fast and confident.

— Lincoln Riley on coordinator Gary Patterson