RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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On Saturday, USC opened up its 2026 season by handling San Jose State 42-26 at the Coliseum . With the victory, the Trojans started off the year 1-0.
In his press conference following the game, San Jose State head coach Ken Niumatalolo praised the Trojans .
“Well, first off, hats off to USC and Coach [Lincoln] Riley,” Niumatalolo said. “That’s a really great football team. We struggled all day trying to find a way to stop them. When you can run the ball like they were doing early on in the game, gaining six yards of play. It makes it tough to play defense. They kind of had the same quality there just because of the run game, big physical line, and a super elusive physical runner. So it kind of had us on our heels a little bit defensively.”
In particular, Niumatalolo had extremely positive things to say about USC defensive coordinator Gary Patterson.
“I know Gary Patterson very well,” Niumatalolo said. “Smart call by Lincoln to hire him. They’re going to get people in trouble in the Big Ten, and that’s just their first game. And as they grow, they’re going to get better with Gary leading their defense. But Gary’s a phenomenal football coach. He’s a phenomenal culture builder, and a credit to Lincoln. To have the humility as a head coach, and the foresight to hire a Hall-of-Famer. A lot of coaches wouldn’t do that. They’re like, ‘No, I’m not going to hire a guy that caliber in my chair.’ But to his credit, Lincoln hired a guy that’s one of the best defensive minds of all time.”
While Riley and USC started off the season 1-0 with the victory, Niumatalolo and San Jose State fell to 0-1. The Spartans will visit Eastern Michigan next week.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: San Jose State head coach Ken Niumatalolo praises USC after loss
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