For a demonstration in the geographic peculiarities of the new-look Big Ten Conference, look no further than Saturday’s matchup between Michigan State and No. 25-ranked host Southern California in Los Angeles.
This matchup of unbeaten teams kicks off at 8 p.m. local time, which will peek into Sunday morning back on Michigan State’s campus in East Lansing, Mich., before halftime.
“We’re going to go out Thursday … try to adjust,” Spartans coach Jonathan Smith said. “This is a challenging road environment and a really good team … and that’s not just [for] us.”
Despite an up-and-down debut season in the Big Ten last year, USC (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten) proved to be tough at home no matter the kickoff time. The Trojans finished 3-1 in league games at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with the lone loss coming in a 33-30 overtime decision against College Football Playoff participant Penn State.
USC won its first two home games of 2025 over Missouri State and Georgia Southern by margins of 73-13 and 59-20. Opening Big Ten play on the road last week at Purdue, the Trojans overcame a lengthy weather delay to roll past the Boilermakers, 33-17.
Running backs Waymond Jordan and Eli Sanders carried for 77 and 75 yards to complement quarterback Jayden Maiava’s 282 yards passing. Jamaal Jarrett then scored on a 70-yard pick six late in the third quarter to effectively put the game away.
Smith is in his second season leading Michigan State (3-0), a program that has not played a USC team since 1990. Smith is familiar with USC, however, having coached the Trojans former Pac-12 counterpart Oregon State from 2018-23.
USC went 2-1 in three matchups with Smith-coached Beavers teams, including a 17-14 Trojans win in Corvallis, Oregon, in 2022 – the first season that current USC head coach Lincoln Riley was the helm.
Smith led Oregon State to its first win at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum since 1960 with a 45-27 decision in September 2021.
Michigan State finished 5-7 in Smith’s first season leading the Spartans despite a start similar to this year at 3-0. Week 4 marked a stark downturn, beginning with a 23-19 loss in a nighttime kickoff at Boston College.
Michigan State lost six of seven beginning with that contest, with four of the losses by three-touchdown margins or more.
After opening 2025 with wins over Western Michigan, Boston College and Youngstown State, all at home, Smith hopes to see this season’s Spartans learn from the pitfalls of 2024.
“This year, depth wise, I feel like we’ve progressed,” Smith said. “[There were] learning experiences from every game last year, just like there were learning experiences from the first three games [this season].”
How much lesson can be gleaned from their respective first three games will be revealed on Saturday. In the meantime, quarterbacks Maiavia and Michigan State’s Aiden Chiles have put up some similar passing numbers thus far.
Both have thrown for six touchdowns. Chiles has completed 58-of-81 pass attempts (71.6 percent) and Maiavia has completed 48-of-70 (68.6 percent).
“He’s a returning guy they recruited for that system,” Riley said of Chiles.
Maiavia has thrown for 333 yards more than Chiles, a sum almost equaling Trojans leading receiver Makai Lemon’s 311-yard production.
