LAS VEGAS BOWL: USC (6-6, 4-5 Big Ten) vs. TEXAS A&M (8-4, 5-3 SEC)

Friday, 7:30 p.m., Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, ESPN/710 AM, Line: Texas A&M by 4 points

Luca Evans (OC Register)

Key injuries

USC: OUT: DE Anthony Lucas (leg)

Texas A&M: OUT: RB Le’Veon Moss (knee); QUESTIONABLE: CB Jaydon Hill (undisclosed),

Key absences (known or likely)

USC: RB Quinten Joyner (transfer), WR Duce Robinson (transfer), CB Jaylin Smith (NFL draft), RB Woody Marks (NFL draft), QB Miller Moss (transfer), S Zion Branch (transfer), WR Zachariah Branch (transfer), LB Raesjon Davis (transfer), WR Kyron Hudson (transfer), DL Sam Greene (transfer), RT Mason Murphy (transfer), C Jonah Monheim (NFL draft), DT Bear Alexander (transfer)

Texas A&M: WR Cyrus Allen (transfer), OL Kam Dewberry (transfer), QB Connor Weigman (transfer), OL TJ Shanahan (transfer), DL Nic Scourton (NFL draft), DL Shemar Stewart (NFL draft), DL Shemar Turner (NFL draft)

What’s at stake? Well, not much, as appears to increasingly be the case in this modern era of mid-level bowl games in college football. Cosmetically, this USC program will be much different than the version fans saw for the majority of 2024.

Six starters from the Trojans’ final regular-season game against Notre Dame won’t play, either gone to the NFL draft or the transfer portal. Gone, too, are key offensive contributors like Robinson and Joyner; in the midst of widespread offseason overhaul, it will be notable to watch which Trojans put themselves in positions for larger roles in 2025.

Big-picture, though, USC needs a win. Transfer portal departures – Robinson and Joyner included – have cast a damper on the program’s development in another middling season, mitigated slightly by the recent arrivals of some big-bodied defensive linemen.

A return to Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium, where USC knocked off LSU four long months ago, could provide a much-needed bookend to 2024 against another SEC foe.

Who’s better? Even with widespread postseason changes to these rosters, these programs still bear striking similarities in identity. USC and Texas A&M made a midseason change to a more mobile quarterback, with mixed results. The Trojans are 2-1 since Jayden Maiava took over for Miller Moss, averaging 27.3 points per game.

The Aggies are 1-3 since Marcel Reed took over for Connor Weigman, averaging 26.5 points. Both teams are missing significant talent at running back, with Marks gone to the draft for USC and Le’Veon Moss out for the season for A&M.

Both teams are missing starters at the line of scrimmage, with the Trojans’ offensive line depth thinned and Texas A&M’s defensive line depth thinned with the absences of graduating seniors. This one’s a toss-up.

Matchup to watch: USC’s RBs against Texas A&M’s defensive front. Marks is gone. Joyner is gone.

By sheer rushing yards, USC is down exactly 90% of its total 2024 production on the ground in Vegas. True freshman third-string back Bryan Jackson in their stead, is set to shoulder heavy volume.

The role in Riley’s offense is new to Jackson. The role, as a general concept, is not. He’s been the man, growing up in Texas, since his dad coached him in second-grade ball. He was the man in middle school, when he scored “every single touchdown” for his seventh- and eighth-grade teams, as father Bryan said. He was the man at McKinney High, shortly after his high school coach yanked him up to varsity after a single half of JV ball.

One glance at Jackson, and it doesn’t seem the former three-star back is exactly a hand-in-glove fit in Riley’s scheme. The head coach hasn’t deployed a back of Jackson’s sheer size since he had 231-pound Rhamondre Stevenson at Oklahoma in 2020. For the past two years, from MarShawn Lloyd to Marks, USC’s running backs have largely thrived off cutbacks and pockets in a spread-out offense. Jackson’s (21) final two years at McKinney, as father Bryan reflected, were largely spent toting the rock on power runs.

The third-stringer Bryan Jackson, with Woody Marks and Quinten Joyner gone, is poised to step in for the Trojans in the Las Vegas Bowl

A&M, meanwhile, is down three starters – Scourton, Stewart and Turner – to the draft. There’s an opportunity for the 230-pound Jackson to bruise the Aggies up front, and earn himself a long look in USC’s 2025 backfield in the process.

USC wins if: Jackson breaks off early-down chunk yardage and doesn’t miss blocks … linebacker Eric Gentry picks up right where he left off in a brilliant start to 2024 before redshirting due to concussions … and Maiava plays clean and doesn’t have to throw the ball 50 times in a shootout.

Prediction: Texas A&M 27, USC 24.

The Aggies’ defense has stepped up to the task against some of the top programs in the country this year, and USC’s offense is down some key talent. It’s unlikely the Trojans will have quite enough pop to emerge on top against a rugged SEC team.

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