The ladder stood in front of a rowdy student section crowd, one that had flowed person by person into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum just one week after No. 14 USC was under scrutiny for perceived low attendance.
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Kennedy Urlacher raced toward that ladder after his postgame interview lit up the stadium’s video display, grabbed the sword and thrust it into the air after a two-sack performance Friday night in the Trojans’ 39-0 shutout of Fresno State.
It was a breakout game for the nickelback, and an overall seminal study in what new defensive coordinator Gary Patterson could achieve with the Trojans.
“It felt awesome,” a starry-eyed Urlacher told reporters in the postgame press conference. “Huge props to all my teammates, great team win. It was a great experience.”
USC (2-0) hit defensive marks Friday night that hadn’t been touched in years.
Fresno State’s 116 total yards of offense were the fewest achieved by a Trojans opponent since they held Notre Dame to 91 yards in 2008. The last safety recorded by USC was in 2019, and the last time it racked up two in a game was in 1971.
The occasion had defensive players swarming Patterson after the game, wrapping their arms around him and nearly causing him to lose his headset in the process. Head coach Lincoln Riley greeted fans one on one on his way to the locker room, signing autographs along the way.
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Patterson hasn’t spoken with reporters since USC hosted its in-house media day roughly a month ago, leaving Riley to praise the defense Friday night.
“Our belief in (the defense) was even higher than it was in Week One,” Riley said. “I thought we trusted it more and saw that he’s going to do some things along with our staff to put us in some good positions, and I thought our guys played fast, confident.”
Not only did it seem like the arrival of USC’s new era of defense, but it also showed how much hinges on the nickel position in Patterson’s 4-2-5 scheme.
Alex Graham started at nickel against Fresno State and was a leader on the defense with four tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss of eight yards, a sack and a quarterback hurry. Isaiah Rubin was credited with a tackle for loss.
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Graham and Urlacher were moved around the field throughout the game. Graham played 15 snaps at slot corner, six in the box and five on the defensive line. Urlacher’s snaps were spread more evenly, with seven at slot, seven at free safety and six in the box.
“I feel like the nickel is a big key to this defense, as you’ve seen tonight,” Graham said. “Every nickel that played got a sack. That is amazing. That’s amazing.”
The defense was strong enough to make up for a few offensive slip-ups.
Quarterback Jayden Maiava has had a superior start to the season, and his 92% completion percentage against Fresno State was the highest single-game completion percentage by a USC quarterback since at least 1995.
Maiava has yet to throw an interception this season, but fumbles by running back Waymond Jordan and receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt could be cause for ball security concerns. Maiava also came up short on a fourth-and-1 and failed to convert on a third down late in the game.
“Our drives were pretty complete most of the game,” Riley said. “We had a couple of things that we didn’t like, where we messed up a few things on a couple bad calls and then obviously the turnovers. We played pretty good other than that, but you can’t have that.”
Two games remain until USC hosts Heisman Trophy hopeful Dante Moore and No. 2 Oregon, its first Top 25 opponent of the season. It will be the first serious test for the defense.
Two more weeks of game-by-game development could be all that Patterson and the Trojans need to get the defense exactly how they want it.
“It may sound boring,” Riley said. “But that’s how you get good, right? You just got to keep taking steps.”