USC vs. Arkansas State: Who Were the Studs and Duds?

USC vs. Arkansas State: Who Were the Studs and Duds? by Reign of Troy Staff

Saturday night’s USC vs. Arkansas State score should please Trojan fans, as Steve Sarkisian’s team started off the season in the win column, beating the Red Wolves 55-6.

RELATED: 10 Best Season Opening Wins in USC Football History

The lowdown: The Trojans got off to a quick start to the 2015 football season, scoring just 74 seconds into the game on a 61-yard pass from Cody Kessler to JuJu Smith-Schuster. From then on, USC cruised to a big win.

The takeaway: It wasn’t always pretty and the score line looks more kind to the Trojans than the game played out, but USC started the season about as good as Steve Sarkisian would have liked.

They scored a lot of points, found a rhythm on offense at times and played a ton of freshmen. Tre Madden eclipsed the 100-yard mark as he’s accustom to, Steve Mitchell got in the end zone and Ronald Jones II scored a 44-yard touchdown. Plus, backup quarterback Max Browne played the entire fourth quarter.

hat said, there’s a lot of work to be had, as the Trojans stalled out on drives and the offensive line struggled mightily, with trouble protecting Kessler.

Player of the game: Despite facing a fair amount of pressure throughout the game, Kessler had another banner season opener under Steve Sarkisian. He finished going 19-of-26 for 236 yards and four touchdown passes.

Stat of the game: USC surrendered five sacks of Kessler in the first half, for a loss of 35 yards.

Next on tap: The Trojans will now get Idaho next Saturday night at the Coliseum, to complete the second half of two-straight games against Sun Belt teams. The Vandals struggled in their season opener, losing at home to Ohio 45-28.