Hernández: USC has become a Big Ten power and should reach the College Football Playoff

Suddenly the fantasy feels grounded in reality. Suddenly the best-case scenario feels entirely possible.

USC can reach the College Football Playoff.

Let’s put it another way.

USC should reach the College Football Playoff.

The 13th-seeded Trojans’ road to the 12-team championship began Saturday as one of those giant holes that running back Woody Marks ran through to beat an outclassed Utah State 48-0 at the Coliseum.

The lopsided victory over a visitor from the Mountain West Conference wasn’t exactly informative. What happened elsewhere in college football was.

No. 10 Michigan, which hosts USC in the Big Ten season opener in two weeks, further added to the offense’s concerns with a 31-12 loss to No. 3 Texas.

No. 8 Penn State, another Big Ten opponent that USC hosts on Oct. 12, had to come from behind to win 34-27 over Bowling Green.

Read more: USC dominates Utah State, sparks playoff conversations, believes it can do better

No. 5 Notre Dame, where USC plays its final regular-season game, was defeated 16-14 by Northern Illinois.

The Red Sea splits. The road to the GVB becomes visible.

So much has changed in two weeks.

Before the season started, a pessimistic look at the schedule might have yielded visions of a six-loss season. The Trojans erased one of those potential Ls in their season-opening win over Louisiana State in Las Vegas. A week later, the teams representing their three biggest challenges revealed their vulnerabilities.

Michigan has no quarterback. Penn State has no defense. Notre Dame just stinks.

The Trojans proved nothing by beating the four-touchdown underdog, but they also didn’t raise any alarm bells and that counts.

They didn’t win the kind of game they won last year against Colorado or Arizona, the kind of win that hinted at the deficiencies that would ultimately ruin their season. In other words, they didn’t do what Martin Jarmond University did last week in their near-humiliation in Hawaii.

The Trojans did what they had to do against the Aggies. The defense that led them to their victory over LSU was dominant again under first-year coordinator D’Anton Lynn. The shutout was USC’s first since a 50-0 blanking of UCLA in 2011.

“It’s a new staff,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “There’s a lot of new players, more new players on that side of the ball than on the offensive side of the ball. Just to see that group come together early and play as one is really important.

“There’s still a long way to go, man, but we couldn’t be happier with what they’re doing, the way we’re playing defensively right now.”

If their win last week was a testament to improved defense and Miller Moss’ willingness to replace Caleb Williams, the win over Utah State was a testament to the Trojans’ ground troops.

With their starting offensive line players averaging 300 pounds, the Trojans had no problem running the ball.

They rushed for 249 yards, an average of 6.7 yards per attempt.

Marks, a senior transfer from Mississippi State, rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Quinten Joyner, a redshirt freshman, had 84 yards and two scores on 10 carries.

Read more: USC finally has a defense under Lincoln Riley. Let the playoff dreams begin

The Trojans led 27-0 at halftime. By the end of the third quarter, backup quarterback Jayden Maiava was in the game. The Coliseum stands were largely empty in the fourth quarter.

Asked about the potential of the attack, Moss said: “I don’t think we want to get carried away with where we can go. I think we’re more focused on the present moment.”

Moss pointed to “what we left out in the first half”: some dropped passes and throws.

“I think the offensive line played their asses off,” Moss said. “I think that showed in the balance we had offensively … but skill players, myself included, had to clean up some things.”

But Moss still hasn’t given the ball away. In fact, USC’s only turnover this season came on Saturday when tight end Lake McRee fumbled at the end of a 34-yard reception in the second quarter.

Moss threw for 979 yards in his first three starts, including last year’s Holiday Bowl.

“I don’t know how much it says about me,” Moss said. “I think I’ve been in really good situations.

“Lincoln Riley is the best offensive coach in college football, if not the best coach, but we’ll leave that open for debate for now.”

Riley joked last week that his team was playing “pretty good Big Ten football,” and he was right.

His team has a new identity. What was once a soft team that was overly dependent on Williams has transformed into the most physical group this program has fielded since Pete Carroll was the coach.

These Trojans will not beat themselves. These Trojans can win a game where they are not at their best. These Trojans should reach the CFP.

The road is clear.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.