BIRMINGHAM, England: Pakistan’s new-look team was unable to shake off old problems as it was bowled out for a paltry 133 after being put into bat by England in the third and final cricket test at Edgbaston on Wednesday, before Emilio Gay and Harry Brook carried the hosts further into the ascendancy.
Josh Tongue claimed 4-42 while Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer shared six wickets as Pakistan’s shake-up since going 2-0 down in the three-match series had minimal impact.
Gay and Brook then made fifties to lift England to 156-4 at stumps on day one, leading by 23 despite captain Joe Root being out lbw for the 10th time in 13 innings.
Robinson conceded just 15 runs in 11 overs, as he went from 99 to 102 test wickets, while his average of 19.1 is the best post-war of any bowler with more than 100 dismissals.
England claimed a first breakthrough when the recalled Saim Ayub was trapped lbw for a duck to give quick bowler Robinson his 100th test wicket.
Jofra Archer then forced Azan Awais into offering mid-on fielder Josh Tongue a low, diving catch off a leading edge.
Abdullah Shafique was next to go, caught low down by Dan Lawrence at third slip off Robinson.
Shan Masood became the fourth wicket to fall when he lobbed the ball to mid-wicket off fast bowler Archer following a poor cross-bat stroke.
Fellow paceman Tongue then removed Pakistan captain Babar Azam before dismissing debutants Ghazi Ghori and Imran Randhawa, lbw and clean bowled respectively, before lunch.
Razaullah Khan, another debutant, fell for 11 in the afternoon session. Saud Shakeel, who made a fighting 97 in a losing cause at Lord’s, was the one shining light for Pakistan as he top-scored with 43 before being clean bowled by a sharp inswinging delivery from Tongue.
Archer took the final wicket when he had Mohammad Abbas caught in the slips for 21 to finish with figures of 3-25. Robinson picked up 3-15 in a miserly 11-over stint and Tongue 4-42.
Then, in England’s first-innings reply, Ben Duckett was removed by Mohammad Ali for 11 before Jordan Cox fell to Abbas for 4.
England took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series after beating Pakistan by 194 runs at Lord’s.
The sun hadn’t even set yet over the Coliseum, and already Trent Mosley had broken free, with nary a defender within 15 yards on either side.
It was the start of the second quarter on Friday night, when USC quarterback Jayden Maiava spotted his budding star freshman soaring on a slot post through the wide-open center of the field. And a split-second later the crowd saw it, too — their quiet rumbles rising to a thrilling roar, as if they knew what was coming next.
One ankle-twisting stutter-step is all it took for the true freshman to take off, once again. And it didn’t take much after that for USC to stick a fork in Fresno State.
But while Mosley captivated once again and Maiava came alive, it was Gary Patterson and the Trojans’ defense that really twisted the knife in a dominant 39-0 win for USC.
A week ago, it was Patterson who took the Trojans’ poor finish the hardest after they gave up 23 points in the fourth quarter to San José State. But a week spent looking in the mirror seemed to make a major difference as USC (2-0) managed its first shutout since Week 2 of the 2024 season.
“He loves shutouts,” sophomore defensive back Alex Graham said of the Trojans’ defensive coordinator. “He thinks shutouts are the best thing in the world.”
Patterson must have felt particularly thrilled Friday, considering how thoroughly USC’s defense dismantled Fresno State. The Bulldogs had just 56 yards heading into their final drive, 52 of which they accumulated in the first quarter.
“I told you guys,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said, “he makes it challenging on the other side.”
That was an understatement, given what happened after Mosley’s tide-turning touchdown. With the Bulldogs backed up against their goal line, Patterson dialed up a nickel blitz — and Fresno State didn’t account for it. So defensive back Kennedy Urlacher came flying into the backfield and collided into Bulldogs quarterback Jayden Mandal, who fell out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
“That’s just great coaching,” Urlacher said. “Coach knows what to call in certain situations.”
USC coach Lincoln Riley, center, celebrates during the Trojans’ 39-0 win over Fresno State at the Coliseum on Friday night.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Patterson had no problem pouring it on, as it didn’t get any less demoralizing for Fresno State (0-1) after that. USC’s defense didn’t give up a single yard or a first down in the second and third quarters. And over that stretch, the Trojans gave up just one completed pass.
USC’s defense actually tallied more safeties (two) during that same stretch.
The second, from defensive back Alex Graham, came a quarter later, and it looked quite familiar. This time, Graham came screaming out of the slot on the same blitz and leveled Mandal in the end zone. It was one of three sacks that USC registered off the nickel blitz — and one of four overall.
The combination of an all-around dominant defensive effort, with the Trojans’ usual offensive mastery, offered a glimpse of what USC hopes it can be this season. The question is whether it can actually do it again moving forward.
Maiava might have a hard time staying quite this perfect. The USC quarterback had one of the most precise performances of his Trojans tenure, completing 23 of 25 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns. Through two games, just six of his 54 passes have ended up incomplete.
“It’s more than perfect,” wideout Corey Simms said. “It’s amazing playing with a quarterback like Jayden Maiava.”
It certainly doesn’t hurt to have Mosley, who notched his second consecutive 100-yard game, tallying all of his 104 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter. Or what about Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, his freshman counterpart? He had 102 yards on six catches.
USC was all but unstoppable through the air. But on a night where there was little to nitpick, the Trojans weren’t exactly efficient on the ground. Their ballcarriers averaged under four yards per carry, and Waymond Jordan, USC’s leading rusher with 67 yards, lost a fumble.
But with Maiava doing most of the heavy lifting, USC barely needed its backfield.
Maiava completed 19 of his first 20 passes, picking up where he left off last week when he connected on 25 of 29 in the opener. Faced with an early fourth down, he heaved a pass deep down the sideline for Dixon-Wyatt, who leaped over a defender to reel in a 31-yard reception. Three plays later, he found sophomore wideout Tanook Hines streaking across the end zone, uncovered, and hit him for an opening score.
USC running back Deshonne Redeaux scores a touchdown after Fresno State defensive back Taylor Powell, left, fails to tackle him during the second half of the Trojans’ 39-0 win Friday night at the Coliseum.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
He didn’t take his foot off the gas. After Jordan fumbled away a screen pass, Maiava later found Mosley for that 68-yard score. Then he didn’t miss a single pass for another two quarters.
By that point, USC’s defense had found another level.
It wasn’t until the final drive that Fresno State managed to move the ball. The Bulldogs tallied more yards on that possession (60) than they had the rest of the game combined, and they managed to march to the Trojans’ eight-yard line.
But that was as far as Fresno State would go. This time, on fourth down, a pack of Trojan defenders descended. They piled on Mandal for a game-ending sack.
On the sideline, players crowded around Patterson, jumping for joy. And in the center of the chaos, the Trojans’ new defensive coordinator cracked a smile.
