QB-turned-safety Bishop Fitzgerald is coming up big for USC
The former JUCO player and North Carolina State transfer returned an pick 39 yds for a TD in the season-opening massacre of Missouri State
USC S Bishop Fitzgerald answers questions at the team’s preseason media day on July 28, 2025. (Photo by David Crane, LADN/SCNG)
Haley Sawyer (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — USC’s Bishop Fitzgerald had been a quarterback most of his life. But when he received no Division I scholarship offers coming out of high school, he had to make a change. Defensive back was calling.
“That was one of the best decisions I made,” Fitzgerald told reporters after practice on Wednesday.
He was one of the most dynamic defensive players in the season opener against Missouri State on Saturday, coming up with four total tackles, a pass breakup and an interception returned for 39 yards and a touchdown.
The safeties were in a friendly competition throughout fall training camp to see who would get the first interception of the season, and no one expected it to be Fitzgerald.
“I dropped every (potential) pick in fall camp,” he said. “So nobody thought it was going to be me. I showed them I got the jitters out of me.”
Bishop Fitzgerald returns a pick for a first half score against MO ST on Saturday at the Coliseum. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Fitzgerald switched to defense when he got to Coffeyville (Kansas) Community College, where he also rose to become the No. 10 JUCO prospect and No. 1 overall JUCO safety by 247sports.com.
“Both my years in JUCO, it was just a whole switch of mentality and culture and footwork,” he said. “JUCO is a whole different mentality and kind of like a dog-eat-dog world, so I think that kind of heightened everything and the sense of urgency to learn it. I think that helped me, too.”
The Trojans’ secondary locked down the defensive backfield against Missouri State. Safety Christian Pierce had three tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass breakup and cornerback Marcelles Williams recorded three tackles.
Redshirt freshman safety Marquis Gallegos had even gotten into the game and had three tackles in addition to two tackles for loss.
“Marquis is my dog,” Fitzgerald said. “When you come in, you have to drop all your pride. So I’m asking some of the young guys who have been here for stuff and where’s stuff at and how do you adjust and he was one of the main guys who I bonded with.”
USC rotated in multiple cornerbacks, including Braylon Conley, DJ Harvey, Kevin Longstreet and Decarlos Nicholson. Defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn mentioned Nicholson as someone who particularly stood out.
“I thought all of them did good things,” Lynn told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s still a very tight competition. I think the more reps we can get all those guys in actual games, the better.”
Ryon Sayeri thrives in spotlight
USC never punted in Saturday’s game, but redshirt freshman punter/kicker Ryon Sayeri put in plenty of work on kickoffs and PATs.
The Chaminade College Preparatory product completed 11 kickoffs for 698 yards and nine touchbacks with an average of 63.5 yards per kick. He also made a 32-yard field goal with 10:51 left in the game.
“Eleven kickoffs was a good amount, but I’ll do it every game if I have to if we’re winning like that,” Sayeri told reporters after practice on Wednesday.
Sayeri took over kicking duties after sophomore kicker and UNLV transfer Caden Chittenden was ruled out due to an undisclosed injury. The only game he played in last season was the Las Vegas Bowl against Texas A&M, when he punted just once for 57 yards.
Head coach Lincoln Riley has attended nearly every special teams meeting this season, which is appreciated by Sayeri and others.
“Anytime someone needs coaching, he’s the first one to go up to them and coach them on it,” Sayeri said. “Having the head coach in meetings like that, he’s taking so much account for special teams this year. As he did last year, too, but this year he’s in there every meeting coaching people up. It’s really great to see.”
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I did see some clips of MICH’s 5-star frosh QB Bryce Underwood, whom USC will be hosting on Oct. 11, and he is truly a magnificently gifted thrower.
IOWA looks like it has major problems with its passing offense again. It produced less than 50 yds vs FCS opponent UALBANY. Highly touted transfer QB Mark Gronowski disappointed.
We play ILL in Champaign on Sept. 27. Should be a fantastic contest.
Michigan-OU the big game of the week. For SC fans, early looks at Michigan St, Illinois, Iowa and Oregon. I see UCLA is only favored by 2.5 over UNLV. Miller Moss tonight, 4pm, ESPN2.
Message from SS Su’a Kristopher Cravens (USC 2013 – 15, 53rd overall pick by Washington) on X Now if I screen record these old Facebook and Voxer messages to prove my point, all hell gone break loose lol So I won’t. I’m not in this to land any coach or school in hot water. That’s not my goal here. I’m just tired of certain fan bases acting like the clear disadvantages in talent prior to NIL had zero to do with certain teams and conferences being able to pay under the table, while the NCAA actively made sure to punish… Read more »
IMO……what got me the most upset was not what USC did decades ago……or even the penalties….although that was a load of BS. It was the fact that everyone who was anyone knew exactly what he is saying in the post above……that crooked bum at Miami and his group of jerks knew exactly what was going on everywhere yet they focused on USC…..and after USC was sanctioned it kept going on everywhere else. I love Saban and his abilities but everyone knows why he retired. The trick did not work anymore….everybody could pay…..thank goodness for NIL. It may not be perfect… Read more »
So do you really think a major reason that Nick Saban won so big was because he cheated? He was 72 by the the time he hung up his gloves. Isn’t that a little long in the tooth to be expected to put up any longer with the immense daily grind of CFB coaching when he had already won an incredible seven national championships and had nothing left to prove by any stretch of the imagination? To me, Saban is the greatest CFB coach in the history or the game. He was/is wicked smart and certainly left the game when… Read more »
Saban was and is a living legend. A great coach……but the machinery around him ensured he had the raw talents available needed to give the program the best chance at success.
Do I think a certain senator is great….yes…..but most know he was the money bag man for a certain industry.
It’s how it works……the point of my post was that USC was treated differently.
Well, we can’t have those surfer boys going around and winning NC’s in college football. We recommend that they dump their famous fight song and replace it with ‘Surf City USA’. They might even want to replace their mascot Trojan Warrior with a teeny boper on a skate board
Yeah, Huntington Beach…..part of SoCal…..which is a contraction of Southern California….whose main university is The University of Southern California….where skinny surfers abound and monster football players are rare…..at least that’s what the rest of the country thinks.
Now that you bring it up, a lot of surfers do tend to be “skinny”, or at least on the slimmer, lighter side of the human race. Very wiry athletes, unless you’re talking about the buffed Greg Noll variety.
Big wave legend Greg Noll in his trademark black and white striped shorts at Pipeline’s outer reef in November, 1964 (Surfer mag) — My fave surf photo ever. Taken by John Severson, who also described it as the best shot he ever took.
I never tire of seeing it, and wondering what Noll, aka “DaBull”, was thinking at this exact moment..
How to watch Georgia Southern at USC: TV and streaming options for Sept 6 Data Skrive (The Athletic) — The USC Trojans (1-0) take on the Georgia Southern Eagles (0-1) at L.A. Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Sept 6, 2025. How to watch Georgia Southern Eagles at USC Trojans Venue: L.A. Memorial Coliseum Time: 4:30 p.m. PT Streaming: Fubo TV: Fox Sports 1 Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub. Georgia Southern vs. USC odds (BetMGM) Spread: USC -28.5 (-110), Georgia Southern +28.5 (-110) Favorite Moneyline: USC -5000 Underdog Moneyline: Georgia Southern +1600 Total: 60.5 Total Over Odds: -110 Total Under Odds: -110 Stats to know USC, on average, scores 31.0 more… Read more »
USC’s current bad ranking in both the AP and Coaches Polls is indicative of why I feel it’s still important to be top 25 ranked in the pre-season. Since USC was only in the “others receiving votes” category, nobody pays any attention to the Trojans against an admittedly bad and unworthy opponent whom they destroy by 60. Had USC been ranked say at #22 in the pre-season, I bet they’d be top 20 by now, and ready to be moved up even further after beating GA SO on Saturday. Every move helps to get to the playoffs. Of course, you’ve… Read more »
It’s not how your start, it’s how you finish. I believe this USC team will finish very very well, and shine even through the harder parts of the schedule, as long as they stay reasonably healthy.
Allen……I don’t remember all the exact rankings so please accept this post with that in mind. As you know….. Texas lost to the #2 team by one score on the road. Clemson lost to #9 by one score. ND lost to the #10 by a field goal on the road. IMO none of these teams should have been dropped from the top 10. Look what happened to FSU. Now ranked #14 from unranked because they beat one highly ranked team. When USC beats Oregon or Notre Dame (assuming they both go on to win most games) on the road and… Read more »
Hey, I’m all for getting ranked high later. We all want that. What I’m totally against is getting the shaft during the early part of the season because voters don’t like Riley and take it out on our team (which we all feel is undervalued at this point). It never helps to be outside the top 25 at any time during the season, as we are, and it also gives us a much longer path back to the top. More pressure to climb and less margin for error. I care about the entire horse race, and how USC is viewed… Read more »
but…..Riley is part of the team……..when he makes dumb decisions we lose games we should win. This is what the poll folks want to see…..can this guy coach. Undervalued?…..maybe…..let’s see what our OL and DL does against quality teams. Poll folks want to see that …..do we have to change QB’s mid season because the inexperienced OL gets the QB killed and Riley throws when he should run. The Missouri game did not provide answers. Hang loose…..if we win the rewards will be there. The schedule is moderately heavy which helps if we win……and the BIG…..wink…..will do everything to get… Read more »
Frankly, I think most of us Trojan fans are as loose as can be, and for good reason. We have some better people in charge of the team now, and that gives me a lot of confidence which was absent last year. We’ve had a fantastic 2025 so far. I simply don’t like seeing storied USC get ignored when we belong at the top if coached well. As I said, for me it’s not just the rewards at the end. It’s dominating, or at least beating, schools every week and watching the CFB world react to the Trojans as a… Read more »
I listened to the ESPN college football roundup on SiriusXM channel 84 (9am to noon, repeats all day) this past Sunday and zero mention of 73-13. I thought the score alone would at least get a one sentence mention. But no.
Because of the clay Helton storyline, when we break 80 points and set a new scoring record, I suspect we might get a little bit of love on the show
I know. It’s like USC vs MO ST simply never happened.
I religiously watch CBS Sports’ Inside College Football every week. It’s my favorite weekly football show during the season even though it features Aaron Tayor, Rick Neuheisel, Randy Cross and Brian Jones, all Domers and Bruins.
The show lasts two hours and USC was never mentioned even one single time.
If we were ranked, this would not be happening, especially since we won by a world-record 60 points. Out of sight, out of mind.
Bishop Fitzgerald returns a pick for a first half score against MO ST on Saturday at the Coliseum. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
“Eleven kickoffs was a good amount, but I’ll do it every game if I have to if we’re winning like that,” 
Not much of a slate compared to last week.
I did see some clips of MICH’s 5-star frosh QB Bryce Underwood, whom USC will be hosting on Oct. 11, and he is truly a magnificently gifted thrower.
IOWA looks like it has major problems with its passing offense again. It produced less than 50 yds vs FCS opponent UALBANY. Highly touted transfer QB Mark Gronowski disappointed.
We play ILL in Champaign on Sept. 27. Should be a fantastic contest.
Michigan-OU the big game of the week. For SC fans, early looks at Michigan St, Illinois, Iowa and Oregon. I see UCLA is only favored by 2.5 over UNLV. Miller Moss tonight, 4pm, ESPN2.
Never will forget his catch from Darnold in the Rose Bowl to put PSU away.
A moment of absolute Trojan beauty!
Message from SS Su’a Kristopher Cravens (USC 2013 – 15, 53rd overall pick by Washington) on X Now if I screen record these old Facebook and Voxer messages to prove my point, all hell gone break loose lol So I won’t. I’m not in this to land any coach or school in hot water. That’s not my goal here. I’m just tired of certain fan bases acting like the clear disadvantages in talent prior to NIL had zero to do with certain teams and conferences being able to pay under the table, while the NCAA actively made sure to punish… Read more »
IMO……what got me the most upset was not what USC did decades ago……or even the penalties….although that was a load of BS. It was the fact that everyone who was anyone knew exactly what he is saying in the post above……that crooked bum at Miami and his group of jerks knew exactly what was going on everywhere yet they focused on USC…..and after USC was sanctioned it kept going on everywhere else. I love Saban and his abilities but everyone knows why he retired. The trick did not work anymore….everybody could pay…..thank goodness for NIL. It may not be perfect… Read more »
So do you really think a major reason that Nick Saban won so big was because he cheated? He was 72 by the the time he hung up his gloves. Isn’t that a little long in the tooth to be expected to put up any longer with the immense daily grind of CFB coaching when he had already won an incredible seven national championships and had nothing left to prove by any stretch of the imagination? To me, Saban is the greatest CFB coach in the history or the game. He was/is wicked smart and certainly left the game when… Read more »
Saban was and is a living legend. A great coach……but the machinery around him ensured he had the raw talents available needed to give the program the best chance at success.
Do I think a certain senator is great….yes…..but most know he was the money bag man for a certain industry.
It’s how it works……the point of my post was that USC was treated differently.
Who is the senator you are referring to, and for what industry was he a bag man? I’m a little slow on the uptake today. 😂
Not going there.
Sadly, USC has always been treated differently. I’d say it was an egregious supernatural curse if it weren’t driven by humans.
Well, we can’t have those surfer boys going around and winning NC’s in college football. We recommend that they dump their famous fight song and replace it with ‘Surf City USA’. They might even want to replace their mascot Trojan Warrior with a teeny boper on a skate board
Huntington Beach owns the copyright to “Surf City USA.”
Yeah, Huntington Beach…..part of SoCal…..which is a contraction of Southern California….whose main university is The University of Southern California….where skinny surfers abound and monster football players are rare…..at least that’s what the rest of the country thinks.
Now that you bring it up, a lot of surfers do tend to be “skinny”, or at least on the slimmer, lighter side of the human race. Very wiry athletes, unless you’re talking about the buffed Greg Noll variety.
Big wave legend Greg Noll in his trademark black and white striped shorts at Pipeline’s outer reef in November, 1964 (Surfer mag) — My fave surf photo ever. Taken by John Severson, who also described it as the best shot he ever took.
I never tire of seeing it, and wondering what Noll, aka “DaBull”, was thinking at this exact moment..
What a schedule the #13 ranked Gators have. Talk about a gauntlet. They started by beating their cupcake 55-0.
Brutal.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like it.
No message
Napier will have no fingernails by the end of the season.
Dayam!
How to watch Georgia Southern at USC: TV and streaming options for Sept 6 Data Skrive (The Athletic) — The USC Trojans (1-0) take on the Georgia Southern Eagles (0-1) at L.A. Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Sept 6, 2025. How to watch Georgia Southern Eagles at USC Trojans Venue: L.A. Memorial Coliseum Time: 4:30 p.m. PT Streaming: Fubo TV: Fox Sports 1 Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub. Georgia Southern vs. USC odds (BetMGM) Spread: USC -28.5 (-110), Georgia Southern +28.5 (-110) Favorite Moneyline: USC -5000 Underdog Moneyline: Georgia Southern +1600 Total: 60.5 Total Over Odds: -110 Total Under Odds: -110 Stats to know USC, on average, scores 31.0 more… Read more »
USC’s current bad ranking in both the AP and Coaches Polls is indicative of why I feel it’s still important to be top 25 ranked in the pre-season. Since USC was only in the “others receiving votes” category, nobody pays any attention to the Trojans against an admittedly bad and unworthy opponent whom they destroy by 60. Had USC been ranked say at #22 in the pre-season, I bet they’d be top 20 by now, and ready to be moved up even further after beating GA SO on Saturday. Every move helps to get to the playoffs. Of course, you’ve… Read more »
It’s not how your start, it’s how you finish. I believe this USC team will finish very very well, and shine even through the harder parts of the schedule, as long as they stay reasonably healthy.
Not true at all.
Ask ND, CLEM and TEXAS how they all feel about still being in the top 10 while losing their games. USC won huge and still is barely in the top 30.
That matters a lot. Maybe not to you. But with all due respect, to a lot of us it does.
Allen……I don’t remember all the exact rankings so please accept this post with that in mind. As you know….. Texas lost to the #2 team by one score on the road. Clemson lost to #9 by one score. ND lost to the #10 by a field goal on the road. IMO none of these teams should have been dropped from the top 10. Look what happened to FSU. Now ranked #14 from unranked because they beat one highly ranked team. When USC beats Oregon or Notre Dame (assuming they both go on to win most games) on the road and… Read more »
Hey, I’m all for getting ranked high later. We all want that. What I’m totally against is getting the shaft during the early part of the season because voters don’t like Riley and take it out on our team (which we all feel is undervalued at this point). It never helps to be outside the top 25 at any time during the season, as we are, and it also gives us a much longer path back to the top. More pressure to climb and less margin for error. I care about the entire horse race, and how USC is viewed… Read more »
but…..Riley is part of the team……..when he makes dumb decisions we lose games we should win. This is what the poll folks want to see…..can this guy coach. Undervalued?…..maybe…..let’s see what our OL and DL does against quality teams. Poll folks want to see that …..do we have to change QB’s mid season because the inexperienced OL gets the QB killed and Riley throws when he should run. The Missouri game did not provide answers. Hang loose…..if we win the rewards will be there. The schedule is moderately heavy which helps if we win……and the BIG…..wink…..will do everything to get… Read more »
Frankly, I think most of us Trojan fans are as loose as can be, and for good reason. We have some better people in charge of the team now, and that gives me a lot of confidence which was absent last year. We’ve had a fantastic 2025 so far. I simply don’t like seeing storied USC get ignored when we belong at the top if coached well. As I said, for me it’s not just the rewards at the end. It’s dominating, or at least beating, schools every week and watching the CFB world react to the Trojans as a… Read more »
I listened to the ESPN college football roundup on SiriusXM channel 84 (9am to noon, repeats all day) this past Sunday and zero mention of 73-13. I thought the score alone would at least get a one sentence mention. But no.
Because of the clay Helton storyline, when we break 80 points and set a new scoring record, I suspect we might get a little bit of love on the show
I know. It’s like USC vs MO ST simply never happened.
I religiously watch CBS Sports’ Inside College Football every week. It’s my favorite weekly football show during the season even though it features Aaron Tayor, Rick Neuheisel, Randy Cross and Brian Jones, all Domers and Bruins.
The show lasts two hours and USC was never mentioned even one single time.
If we were ranked, this would not be happening, especially since we won by a world-record 60 points. Out of sight, out of mind.
Sam Darnold (Seahawks) and Caleb Williams (Bears)
Bill Belichick has idiotically banned Patriots coaches/scouts from UNC practices to evaluate his players.
Another example of a former “so-called football genius” making you wonder what is wrong with this guy now?