Week 1 retains rolling on with No. 13 LSU and No. 23 USC assembly on Sunday night time in one of many 2024 faculty soccer season’s most intriguing nonconference matchups. The Tigers and Trojans are set to satisfy in Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium for the second Vegas Kickoff Basic.
LSU is not any stranger to opening its season in a neutral-site sport. The Tigers performed Florida State in New Orleans and Orlando, Florida, in Week 1 of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, each losses for LSU. In actual fact, the Tigers have not received a season-opening contest since 2019’s 55-3 triumph towards Georgia Southern.
To be honest to the Tigers, every of their final 4 first video games have come towards Energy 4 competitors. They shook off final 12 months’s early loss to win 10 video games for a second consecutive season underneath Brian Kelly.
Lincoln Riley is 2-0 in his two season openers as USC’s coach, although this would be the first time in his tenure that the Trojans start the 12 months towards an influence convention crew. They’re seeking to shake off an 8-5 2023 marketing campaign — the worst file of Riley’s profession — and make a giant impression as they transition to a loaded Massive Ten Convention. A primetime sport towards a top-15 SEC opponent actually offers that chance.
Comply with together with LIVE updates from USC vs. LSU right here.
Easy methods to watch USC vs. LSU dwell
Date: Sunday, Sept. 1 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Allegiant Stadium — Las Vegas
TV: ABC | Dwell stream: fubo (Strive at no cost)
USC vs. LSU: Must know
Each groups changing a Heisman winner: It isn’t day-after-day that we get to see a sport between two groups that must open their season by changing a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. For USC, the Trojans must navigate with out Caleb Williams, the No. 1 general decide within the 2024 NFL Draft. The Tigers are turning to longtime backup Garrett Nussmeier to take the mantle from reigning Heisman winner Jayden Daniels, who was drafted proper after Williams at No. 2 general. Will probably be fascinating to look at USC’s Miller Moss and Nussmeier function with such lofty expectations hanging over this sport.
USC making an attempt one thing new on protection: As with the quarterback transition, each groups featured on this sport additionally made main modifications on the defensive aspect of the ball. USC’s determination to maneuver on from coordinator Alex Grinch, a longtime collaborator of Riley’s relationship again to the Oklahoma days, offers explicit intrigue. The Trojans went throughout city and poached D’Anton Lynn to switch him. Lynn has lengthy been seen as a rising star within the trade. The Bruins led the Pac-12 in complete protection (299 yards per sport) and completed second in scoring protection (18.1 factors per sport) underneath his steerage a 12 months in the past. By comparability, USC allowed nearly twice as many factors (34.9) and slightly below 140 extra yards (438.8) on common.
Resetting expectations: Each Riley and Kelly are coming into Yr 3 at their respective packages and there is the sense that neither has fairly achieved as a lot as they might have got down to. Neither has received a convention championship. Neither has a lot as come shut to creating the Faculty Soccer Playoff. With a mixed 39 wins between the 2 over a two-year span, it is laborious to say that their tenures have been dangerous. There’s only a lot that every have left on the desk, given their monitor information, the packages that they are teaching and a few particular person participant performances that they’ve had underneath their steerage. A brand new 12-team playoff provides every coach an elevated alternative to lastly break via. A win Sunday will go a great distance in the direction of serving to their possibilities.
USC vs. LSU prediction, picks
Given how Moss and Nussmeier carried out of their respective bowl video games final season, each ought to hit the bottom working as full-time starters. It helps that USC and LSU are perpetually stacked on the talent expertise positions, with loads of flashy weapons to assist easy the transition over. The Tigers, particularly, are additionally buoyed by one of many nation’s finest offensive traces. And there is a purpose that every crew determined to make a change at defensive coordinator: each of those defenses had been actually dangerous final season. Whereas it could not take lengthy for the brand new quarterbacks to acclimate, it may very well be a minimum of just a few video games earlier than every new defensive coordinator is ready to seamlessly implement their gameplans. All this to say, count on quite a lot of factors to be scored. Decide: Over 64.5
Which faculty soccer picks are you able to make with confidence in Week 1? Go to SportsLine to see which groups will win and canopy the unfold — all from a confirmed laptop mannequin that has returned effectively over $2,000 in revenue since its inception — and discover out.
