The first Big Ten game of the weekend was won in the early hours of Saturday, October 26. Most of the country was asleep. Those who decided to stay awake saw USC wear down Rutgers defense and defeat the Scarlet Knights 42-20. Those USC fans who stayed until the end got to see their team win in their first ever matchup with Rutgers. Those Knights fans who stayed awake got to see their team go from 4-0 to 4-4 in real time.

What Went Right For USC

Miller Moss had himself a day slicing up the Rutgers defense. 20 completions on 28 passing attempts for 308 yards and two touchdowns is nothing short of excellent. An average of 11 yards per dropback was supported by USC receivers exposing Rutgers’ weakened secondary far down the field. Makai Lemon had an excellent outing at wide receiver for USC, gashing the Knights for 134 yards on just four catches, one of which he grabbed and scampered 70 yards down the field.

USATSI 24185012 168400545 lowres — Sep 7, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Miller Moss (7) throws a pass against the Utah State Aggies during the second quarter at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Splitting receptions was also a huge lift for USC. The Trojans had 3 pass catchers with at least four catches or more and five with multiple catches on the day. Three of these five averaged catches past the first down marker and the other two averaged around nine yards per catch.

Lincoln Riley USC Trojans — Dec 27, 2023; San Diego, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley (right) celebrates with wide receiver Makai Lemon (24) after the Holiday Bowl against the Louisville Cardinals at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

What went wrong for Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights, for the second week in a row, were beaten in their first matchup against an LA based, former pac-12 school. Also, for the second week in a row, the one unit that should accept most of the blame was the defense. The offense did a lot to give Rutgers a fighting chance in this one. 313 passing yards, 121 rushing yards, and two touchdowns paired with two field goals. They even had a big time of possession tilt in their favor, 36:28-23:32, which kept their defense off of the field.

Oct 12, 2024; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis (16) carries the ball as Wisconsin Badgers safety Preston Zachman (14) pursues during the second half at SHI Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Rutgers wide receiver Dymere Miller also had himself a day hauling in 11 catches for 131 yards.

The big pitfall for Rutgers was their defense. Despite the rest they received from the offense’s efforts, the defensive pass rush produced zero sacks and the entire squad as a whole only had one tackle for loss. The Rutgers secondary was victimized by the USC air attack and only had 4 passes defended on the day, compared to USC’s 9.

Much of this has to do with the injuries to the team as a whole. Rutgers availability report is beginning to look more like a hospital patient logs than an availability report. The Knights had 16 players on the list before the night began. Kyle Monangai, who was on the list but made an appearance, was knocked out of the game early with a blow to the head. Rutgers will most likely have to find a way to replace his production in the coming games.