Week 2 Preview: Georgia Southern at USC

Garrett Armbrust September 4, 2025 3 minutes read

Georgia Southern will once again be in California this weekend as they will head to Los Angeles to face USC for the first time in program history.

This will be Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton’s first time back in the LA Memorial Coliseum since leaving the USC program during the 2021 season.

The Eagles will look to be getting back on tract this weekend after a 42-14 loss last weekend against Fresno State. The loss was Georgia Southern’s largest margin of loss since the ODU game last October.

Georgia Southern

Georgia Southern had a rough go of it last week at Fresno.

After falling behind 10-0 to start the game Camden Brown caught an 18-yard touchdown pass to get the Eagles on the board. River Helms was able to catch a 4-yard pass to then make it 14-10 Georgia Southern. After a Fresno State fumble and Georgia Southern recovery followed by a Fresno State field goal a few possessions later the half came to a close with a 14-13 score.

The second half ended up being all Bulldogs as Fresno State outscored the Eagles 29-0 in the second half. All five of Georgia Southern’s drives in the second half came up empty, all ending in punts.

Georgia Southern quarterback JC French IV ended the game 17-of-28 with 158 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.

Georgia Southern enters Week 2 as a 28.5-point underdog. This will Coach Helton’s first time back to coach against his former team where he was head coach from 2015-2021.

USC

USC started their season about as good as they could have last weekend, as they defeated Missouri State, 73-13, and welcomed the Bears to the FBS.

After Missouri State was able to score the first points of the game on a 44-yard field goal, it was all USC. The Trojans started their onslaught with a 5-yard rushing touchdown from Waymond Jordan, followed by another TD on the ground from Bryan Jackson to take the lead 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.

USC would then score 28 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 42-10 lead into halftime. The Trojans would score 31 more points in the second half.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava finished the game 15-of-18 for 295 passing yards and two touchdowns. He recorded a QBR of 96.1.

USC’s ground game was on full display as it gained 233 rushing yards and six touchdowns— and almost eight yards per carry. Through the air, the Trojans picked up another 364 yards and three scores.

Projected first-round NFL Draft pick Makai Lemon led USC receivers with 90 receiving yards.

USC finished with 597 yards of offense without getting some of their best playmakers, like Ja’Kobi Lane, Eli Sanders, and Waymond Jordan, involved much. The Georgia Southern secondary will most definitely be tested from the deep USC receiving corps.