LAS VEGAS — The first one-hander was a beauty, an instant-classic that will live on highlight reels in USC lore for years to come.
The second, quite literally, won USC a football game, the most massive catch of Kyron Hudson’s life.
For three years, the elder in USC’s receiver room had languished in depth charts and snap counts, a sure-handed Mater Dei product waiting for an opportunity that never quite materialized. He started, after a standout fall camp in 2023, lining up alongside Caleb Williams. But he caught just 15 passes, and it seemed as if his career in a Trojans uniform could simply drift away past 2024, a host of sophomore receivers vying for quarterback heir Miller Moss’ attention.
Hudson seized that attention, and then some, in a star-making performance as USC gutted out a 27-20 win over LSU on Sunday afternoon in Vegas.
After a revamped USC defense held LSU at bay — and vice versa — in the first quarter, a combined zero only festering the energy inside a packed-out Allegiant Stadium, Moss locked into a rhythm in the second quarter on a variety of screen looks and pretty route concepts. And on USC’s first drive, as Moss uncorked a toss up the seam to a draped Kyron Hudson, the USC redshirt-junior reached up for a miracle.
Somehow, twisting in midair across his body, Hudson reached over his head and full-extension plucked Moss’ toss out of thin air, bobbling it slightly in both hands before cradling it as he crashed to the turf.
It seemed impossible, so much so that the play went under-review, no physical explanation for how Hudson was able to not only palm-cradle Moss’ toss but also tuck it down to earth. Allegiant roared, then paused, then erupted once more after the catch was upheld, sophomore defensive end Braylan Shelby positively freaking out with the rest of USC’s sideline.
“I said ESPN Top 10, off the muscle,” Shelby said postgame, beaming from ear to ear. “Like, he was — I mean, that catch was in-sane, man.”
For nearly the entire second half, to come, USC’s offense was stonewalled and pinned deep next to its own turf in Vegas, a raucous Louisiana crowd delighting in glee as Lincoln Riley’s offense sputtered for a stretch hardly seen in his USC history. But new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s unit dialed up a bevy of massive third-down stops on Sunday, none more massive than linebacker Eric Gentry stuffing a third-down run in the fourth quarter from LSU back John Emery Jr. And Moss, a gamer who has never shied from a massive spotlight, went to work.
First came a 20-yard strike to Hudson. Then came a 16-yard dart up the middle from Mississippi State transfer back Woody Marks, held in check for most of the night outside of a second-quarter short touchdown run. Then, on a first-and-10 from the 28-yard-line, a yellow flag flew as Moss dropped back. Free play.
Unencumbered, a gunslinger all to himself, Moss saw sophomore buddy Ja’Kobi Lane streaking in a one-on-one down the right side of the field and uncorked a moonbeam. It fell, softly, into the 6-foot-4 Lane’s hands, the receiver turning in the end zone with USC suddenly holding a 20-17 lead and flashing three fingers on either hand to the stands.
Six.
LSU countered with a field goal, giving Moss the ball back with 1:47 left in a 20-20 ballgame. And Moss went back at the Tigers, a technician who took what was handed to him all night long, finishing 26-of-37 for 378 yards. A few-yard toss to Ja’Kobi Lane here, and a 10-yard out to Hudson there, and USC found itself in a second-and-15 with 18 seconds to go from the 47, still needing a big play to break through.
Hudson, again, took center stage.
Racing down the left sideline, he reached out his left hand — this time — and snagged a one-hand laser from Moss, his sideline erupting, absorbing a helmet-to-helmet targeting blow from LSU’s Jardin Gilbert. Marks capped off the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run, his second of the day.
And Moss went streaking down the sideline, sprinting with no end in sight, just pure glee as confetti fell minutes later in Vegas on a program with a true signature win in a new era.
For all the fodder for national talk shows in the offseason, USC’s win Sunday validated Riley’s offseason emphasis on the program’s “rebuild,” in year three since his arrival from Norman, Oklahoma. It validated the defensive-staff overhaul. It validated the program-wide weight gain.
And it elevated USC, a year after the same hopes were quickly dashed, back into the early-season College Football Playoff conversation.
“Regardless of what happened today,” Riley said postgame, “it’s still not going to change what we’re building, the thing we’re doing. We’re just so committed to it. And nothing’s going to change it.”
