In the USC Trojans’ 27-20 win over the LSU Tigers on Sunday night in Las Vegas, Trojans defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn stole the show. Lynn took the job as USC defensive coordinator at USC this offseason after departing from cross-town rival UCLA.

The Trojans’ defense has been one of the worst in the country the last few seasons. They looked anything but that against LSU tonight. This was Lynn’s first game as USC’s defensive coordinator.

Defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn had his side of the ball flying everywhere. USC showed right away that this wasn’t going to be the same story as last year. After LSU drove into the red zone on its opening drive, the Trojan defense stepped up. They forced a turnover on downs after linebacker Mason Cobb was unblocked on a blitz, and forced Tiger quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to throw the ball away on fourth down.

Even on drives that LSU scored, nothing came easy. The Trojans limited big plays all night, something they couldn’t do last season. Giving up just 20 points to a team with the offensive firepower of LSU is a huge accomplishment.

Down 20-17 at the end of the 4th quarter, LSU was on a path to tie or take the lead. They got back into the red zone with just a few minutes left in the game. The Trojan defense held its own again, holding the Tigers to a field goal to tie the game at 20-20.

From there, the USC offense, led by Miller Moss, went on a touchdown-scoring drive to take a 27-20 lead on a touchdown run by Woody Marks with eight seconds left. The USC defense put the finishing touches on the victory with an interception by Mason Cobb just before time expired.

Kudos to D’Anton Lynn, he showed off his defense tonight.

Last season, USC’s defense gave up an average of 34.9 points per game, tied for 123rd among FBS teams. Even with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Caleb Williams, playing well for the Trojans, USC only had an 8-5 record.

Number one on the list of offseason priorities was finding a coach to improve the defensive issues. Granted, it’s only one game into a long season, but coach Lincoln Riley appears to have found a very good defensive coordinator in D’Anton Lynn.

This was the first game in a long time where there were no players constantly out of position. There were also very few missed tackles. It was a breath of fresh air for Trojans fans who are tired of such a bad defense.

Next up, the 1-0 Trojans host Utah State on Saturday night at the Coliseum. Utah State won their first game of the season on Saturday with a 36-14 victory over Robert Morris. USC will look to keep their defense rolling and improve to 2-0.