USC Football: 5 Trojans who earned Blitz Stickers in UNLV victory

USC football started the year off right with a 43-21 win over UNLV at home. We award the top five Trojan players the honor of a Blitz Sticker for Week 1.

What’s Week 1 without a little drama? The USC Trojans got a slow start against the UNLV Rebels, going down 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.

The Trojans were first on the board with a Chase McGrath field goal following up a fumble recovery giving USC a 3-0 lead. After trading punts, USC would drive 60-yards up the field to set up McGrath once again for a 38-yarder to give them a 6-0 lead with 3:23 left in the first. On UNLV’s next drive, Lexington Thomas would break off a 71-yard run for a touchdown and give the Rebels their first lead of the game.

The offense couldn’t capitalize at the start of the second quarter and once again settled for a field goal to round off a 12 play, 66-yard drive. Armani Rodgers wouldn’t accept the Trojans lead and hit Kendal Keys who ran 30-yard for a touchdown giving the Rebels a 14-9 lead. After cutting the lead to two, USC would capitalize off of a missed Rebel field goal and Vavae Malepeai scored the first USC touchdown of the day on a two-yard punch in. USC would maintain a 19-14 lead going into the half.

After a scoreless third quarter, It wouldn’t take long for USC to pad their lead as JT Daniels too the Trojan offense 69 yards on four plays and hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 43-yard touchdown. This was just the spark that USC needed as they outscored UNLV 17-7 to end the game.

JT Daniels had an efficient first outing going 22-35 with 282 yards and a score. His only real sign of nervousness was a miscommunication on a hand-off to Stephen Carr which he turned into a five-yard gain on the ground.

The race for the starting role at running back is still very much alive with Aca’Cedric Ware, Stephen Carr, and Vavae Malepeai all getting substantial carries for a combined 201 yards.

Amon-Ra St. Brown shined in his debut with 98 yards and a score on seven receptions and led the team in all three state categories.

With that being said, here are the Blitz Stickers for Week 1 of the USC Trojans’ season.