MarShawn Lloyd flashes his five-star talent for Trojans on Saturday

A week ago in his USC debut, running back MarShawn Lloyd knew he was off in the first half, and he had an idea of why. But he wanted a second opinion, so at halftime he went to senior offensive analyst Kliff Kingsbury for his perspective.

"I'm wondering why am I slipping? Why am I missing holes? I know I'm missing holes. But Coach Kingsbury, it's great having him -- it's great having him because he'll tell you straight up," Lloyd shared earlier this week. "I went to him, asked him, I said, 'What do you see from me?' He said, 'Too fast.' And I knew that in my head already. ... When he said that, I watched the film and that's exactly what happened. I was missing holes because I was just a little too fast."

It may have flown under the radar of a highlight-filled second half in that win over San Jose State, but Lloyd settled down and had a couple of nice gains midway through the third quarter that flashed the talent that made him a five-star prospect out of high school and one of USC's marquee transfer additions (from South Carolina) this offseason.

This Saturday against Nevada, Lloyd didn't just flash his elite talents -- he emphatically introduced himself to the USC fan base while rushing for 76 yards and a touchdown on just 7 carries and catching 2 passes for 59 yards.

That included a 30-yard run and 24-yard touchdown scamper on USC's second possession and a 54-yard reception down the seam in the second quarter to set up another touchdown.

"MarShawn's ridiculous. You can see what MarShawn brings to this team," defensive end Solomon Byrd said when asked what Lloyd showed Saturday. "MarShawn is absolutely ridiculous, super elusive.'

Said wide receiver Mario Williams: "He's got homerun speed. If you let him get to the second level, it's over."

That much was clear Saturday.

This is the player Lloyd was always supposed to be, after all. He was ranked the No. 4 RB and No. 33 overall national prospect in the 2020 recruiting class out of DeMatha High School in Maryland.

A torn ACL leading into his freshman season at South Carolina changed the course of his career a bit.

After redshirting that season, Lloyd returned to the field during the 2021 season for the Gamecocks, but he wasn't himself. He averaged just 3.6 yards per carry while rushing for 228 yards and a touchdown. He said that it wasn't until his second year back, last season, that he was over both the physical injury and the mental hurdles that come with it. He rushed for 573 yards on 5.2 YPC, added 176 receiving yards and scored 11 total touchdowns in just nine games last season.

Still, he believed he could do more and he thought a change of scenery might be the best thing to bring that out of him.

His new USC teammates saw early on just what they had added to the offense in Lloyd.

Three days into spring practice, Trojans linebacker Mason Cobb proclaimed, "MarShawn Lloyd, he's the real deal. I'm telling you guys right now, he's the real deal. ... You guys just wait -- I'm already telling you guys."

Mario Williams reflected back Saturday on his first impressions of Lloyd as well.

"He broke a run in practice and I was like, 'Damn.' Everybody was like 'Woah, he's going to be really good,'" he recalled.

And Lloyd's performance Saturday should be just a tease of what's to come.

Both of his big runs in that first quarter drive came as a combination of great blocking up front and Lloyd reading the field in front of him while cutting left and turning on the jets.

Lloyd's long reception, meanwhile, came as Caleb Williams faked the handoff to him as Lloyd cut up the seam, turning back to the ball to haul in the catch near midfield while somehow not losing stride at all as he spun back around to add another 25 yards or so after the catch.

Lloyd also had one other impact play that must be noted. It wasn't a rush or a reception but rather a heads-up block on Tahj Washington's 22-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter.

As Washington catched a crosser over the middle he slowed up to wait for help, as Lloyd darted 17 yards to pick up a block, moving before Washington had even secured the catch and getting out in front of him to take out a would-be tackler at the 7.

It was an all-around performance for Lloyd and look at his full arsenal of abilities.

On this day, he was fast at all the right times and in all the right places for the Trojans.

"Honestly, just taking coaching. Just patience. That's my main thing, just patience and being able to just take coaching," he said afterward. "Being able to be put in the right position. So coming into this week [the focus] was just be in the moment, not worry about anybody else, focus on nothing on the outside and just focus on everything that's on the inside. Just being the best I could be and being coachable."

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