No. 4 USC Football Welcomes Texas To The Coliseum

*Two of college football's bluebloods meet when No. 4 USC welcomes the Big 12's Texas to the Coliseum, the first time the Trojans and Longhorns have tangled in that iconic stadium in 50 years. *It's also the first time USC and UT have met anywhere since the instant-classic BCS Championship Game in the 2006 Rose Bowl. *The 1967 Coliseum meeting ended in a tight Trojan victory, helping USC to the national crown. *One of the key participants in the 2006 Rose Bowl meeting, Matt Leinart, will be honored during Saturday's contest for his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. *The game, shown live nationally on FOX, is approaching a sellout in the 92,348-seat Coliseum. *USC head coach Clay Helton, who grew up in Texas, has his squad on an 11-game winning streak after its decisive Pac-12 opening home win last week over No. 14 Stanford (Troy also has captured 11 straight home victories and 13 in a row in Greater L.A.). *The Trojan offense, which has produced 12 straight games with at least 400 total yards, is in the nation's Top 20 this week in total, scoring and rushing offense. The Stanford win saw a 300-yard passer (Heisman Trophy candidate QB Sam Darnold), a pair of 100-yard runners (TBs Ronald Jones II and freshman Stephen Carr) and a 100-yard receiver (WR Deontay Burnett). Darnold is completing 75% of his passes this season, Jones has run for a TD in each of the last 9 games and Burnett has had 3 straight 100-yard receiving outings. USC's O-line was impressive against Stanford, helping Troy pile up 623 total yards and allowing just 1 sack and no tackles for loss. Troy's defense, which limited Stanford's ground game to 25 yards in the second half, is headlined by ILB Cameron Smith, OLBs Uchenna Nwosu (5 deflections versus Stanford) and Porter Gustin, DL Rasheem Green, S Chris Hawkins and CB Iman Marshall. *Texas, under new head coach Tom Herman, bounced back in a big way from its season-opening home loss to Maryland by shutting out San Jose State last Saturday in Austin, 56-0. The Longhorns' offense can put up points and yards, especially on the ground (it ranks in the national Top 25 in scoring, total and rushing offense). QB Shane Buechele, who is 11th on UT's career pass yardage chart, sat out last week with a shoulder injury, but true frosh QB Sam Ehlinger filled in capably. The ground attack is keyed by RBs Chris Warren III (a 250-pounder averaging 9.0 a carry) and Kyle Porter, while the receiving corps includes WRs Reggie Hemphill-Mapps, Armanti Foreman and Collin Johnson. OT Connor Williams was a 2016 All- American first teamer. The Texas defense features LBs Malik Jefferson and Naashon Hughes, S Brandon Jones and CB Holton Hill (2 interception returns for TDs). Australian P Michael Dickson was the 2016 Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year when he had a school record 47.4-yard punting average. *Those attending the game should smile during the coin toss, as a 360-degree panorama photograph of the Coliseum will be shot from the field and made available to fans.

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Players Mentioned

Deontay Burnett

Sam Darnold

Rasheem Green

Porter Gustin

Chris Hawkins

Ronald Jones II

Iman Marshall

Uchenna Nwosu

Cameron Smith