Battle of the blue bloods: College football titans LSU, USC clash in Las Vegas to kick off the season

Las Vegas has seized a larger share of almost all the biggest sports in the country over the last seven or eight years, and college football is the next frontier. 

UNLV football is improving into a potential Group of Five conference power, the Las Vegas Bowl has climbed the ranks in prestige and Allegiant Stadium has hosted four conference championships. But bigger games are on the way.

Allegiant will reportedly conclude the 2027 season with the College Football Playoff national championship andalso occasionally have the honors of pitting a pair of powerhouse programs against each other to start the year.

That will be the case this season when two of the sport’s most successful programs, USC and LSU, square off at 4:30 p.m. on September 1 in front of a sold-out crowd at Allegiant.

Both the Tigers, No. 13 in the initial Associated Press Top 25 poll, and the Trojans, No. 23, figure to be in the running for a CFP spot in the first year of the 12-team field. One of the two teams will take a big step toward the goal to start the season.

Here’s what else to watch in one of the biggest college football games in Las Vegas history.

HEISMAN SUCCESSORS

The biggest reason why the two schools open the season slightly on the outside of the projected playoff field is they’re each tasked with replacing a player deemed college football’s most valuable in the last two years.

USC’s Caleb Williams won the 2022 Heisman Trophy and became the top overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft; LSU’s Jayden Daniels won the 2023 Heisman Trophy and went second in this year’s draft. It will be up to Miller Moss and Garrett Nussmeier, respectively, to replace Williams and Daniels.

Both players are 22-year-old redshirt juniors who went against the recent trend of transferring and waited their turns at the program they committed to out of high school. They’ve both gotten some action earlier in their collegiate careers, but the Vegas Kickoff Classic will be the first place to see if they live up to the high standard their predecessors upheld.

DEFENSIVE DEVELOPMENT

Both LSU and USC fell short of expectations last year, and it was entirely because of underperforming defenses.

The Tigers sat 98th in the nation in giving up 6.23 yards per play; the Trojans were only slightly better in 90th place while surrendering 6.12 yards per play. Both sides made drastic changes going into the 2024 season, not only raiding the transfer portal for immediate reinforcements but also making coordinator changes.

D’Anton Lynn now heads USC’s defense after leading a suffocating UCLA unit last year. Blake Baker steps in at LSU after helping guide Missouri to one of the best seasons in school history last year.

Keep an eye in the trenches to catch a pair of decorated NFL prospects in edge rusher Harold Perkins Jr. for LSU and nose tackle Bear Alexander for USC.

THE BRANCH SHOW

USC receiver Zachariah Branch emerged as one of the most electrifying players in college football on opening weekend a year ago when he scored back-to-back touchdowns, on a long reception and a punt return, as a true freshman.

The Las Vegas football community wasn’t surprised. Branch, the grandson of Raider great Cliff Branch, was a two-sport star locally in high school at Bishop Gorman where he won state titles in both football and track and field.

He’s expected to be even better as a sophomore, and has drawn some sleeper Heisman Trophy buzz. Zachariah Branch is one of four locals on the USC roster alongside older brother Zion Branch (a safety), fellow Gorman product Garrett Pomerantz (an edge rusher) and former UNLV/Liberty High standout Jayden Maiava (Moss’ backup at quarterback).

RECRUITING BATTLEGROUND

Zachariah Branch’s equivalent on this year’s Gorman team, five-star senior receiver Derek Meadows, will attend LSU next year. USC has long recruited the Las Vegas prep scene given the proximity, but there was a time when schools like LSU and other blue bloods in the SEC skipped over town.

Those days are long gone.

LSU doesn’t currently have a Las Vegas native on the roster, though former Gorman defensive back Jeremiah Hughes just transferred from the Tigers to the Michigan State Spartans this offseason. LSU coach Brian Kelly and his staff make frequent stops in town, adding to the competition for west-coast luminaries like USC coach Lincoln Riley, who used to have an easier path to landing the best prospects in Las Vegas. 

Every little edge in the ever-more-cutthroat world of recruiting matters, and picking up a big win in what’s become a fertile ground for college football stars would be no small feat.

BETTING BONANZA

With its standalone, primetime nature on a Sunday night, USC vs. LSU should be one of the heaviest-bet games of the year in local sportsbooks.

Look for an exhaustive amount of proposition bets and exotic wagers to join the point-spread and total that have been posted since May. LSU was as high as a six-point favorite at publication time with an over/under of as high as 64 points.

Take USC +6, Under 64 points and Branch to score a touchdown at +110 for some action the game. These two top-level programs look pretty evenly-matched once again, and their defenses should be more game than a year ago.

This story originally appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.