Game Preview: USC vs. San Jose State
It's never too early to get excited for some college football. That's why we will be previewing USC's upcoming 2021 schedule week by week.
The 2021 season opener for the Trojans kicks off on September 4 against the San Jose State Spartans. This game will be held at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The kickoff time is TBD.
Both teams had undefeated regular seasons in 2020.
USC went into the Pac-12 Championship with a 5-0 record, until they fell short to Oregon 31-24 and incurred their first loss of the season. They finished the season overall 5-1.
San Jose State was able to play two more games than the Trojans, and had a 7-0 record heading into the Offerpad Arizona Bowl, where they lost to Ball State 34-13 and ended the season with a 7-1 record.
They did, however, win the Mountain West Championship game against Boise State.
USC QB Kedon Slovis
This game will be only the fifth time these two teams have met. USC has won every matchup.
The last time they went head to head was back in 2009 when USC smoked San Jose State 56-3.
The other three times the Trojans and Spartans competed was in 1995, 2000, and 2001.
San Jose State is part of the Mountain West Conference, and this game will replace UC Davis on the Trojans schedule. The original contest vs. the UC Davis Aggies was supposed to be the first time USC took on an FCS (Division I-AA) opponent.
USC, UCLA and Notre Dame are the only schools to have never played an FCS opponent.
USC Athletic Director, Mike Bohn, explained the change in schedule back in early 2020.
"We recognize the long-standing tradition that USC has only played FBS schools and we heard passionately from our fans about how important that is to them. So when this opportunity to schedule San Jose State arose, we listened and made it happen." [Bohn]
San Jose State has quite a few seniors returning to the field in 2021 due to the NCAA-granted extension year. This included the Spartans' starting quarterback and fifth year graduate transfer from Arkansas, Nick Starkel.
USC will return with junior starting quarterback, Kedon Slovis. Seniors RB Vavae Malepeai, RB Stephen Carr, and TE Erik Kromenhoek are also expected to return next season.
The scrappy San Jose Spartans should be a tough matchup to open the 2021 season for the USC Trojans next fall.
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