The USC defense took the game into its own hands, by taking the ball out of Hawaii’s.

A tightly contested first half turned into a USC runaway when junior defensive back Josh Shaw intercepted a ball that bounced off the hands of Hawaii freshman Marcus Kemp and returned it 35 yards for a score, erasing an erratic first quarter in the Trojans’ 30-13 win over the Rainbow Warriors.

A late-arriving Aloha Stadium crowd on a Thursday evening was into the game for much of the first half as Hawaii’s defense bottled up the Trojans, who had only 69 total yards through the opening 20 minutes.

The only problem was, UH had nothing to counter USC’s punishing defense that forced four turnovers and sacked Hawaii quarterback Taylor Graham seven times.

Shaw’s pick-six allowed USC to score 17 points over the final 4:14 of the first half to put to rest any ideas of a UH upset.

"On defense, we played great today," USC coach Lane Kiffin said. "The feeling coming into the game with (Hawaii’s) quarterback making his first start … we felt they would struggle with our defense in being really aggressive and that’s what happened. (We put) a bunch of hits on their quarterback."

Middle linebacker Hayes Pullard had one of USC’s four interceptions, setting up USC’s first offensive touchdown in the second quarter to give the Trojans a 10-5 lead.

The Trojans rarely let Graham check down to his second and third options with a relentless attack against the Ohio State transfer making his first start for the Rainbow Warriors.

"It was similar in a lot of aspects to playing against a team with a freshman quarterback out there," Pullard said. "We didn’t want him to gain any confidence. We wanted to get him frustrated, make him turn the ball over and that was our main focus."

It allowed the Trojans to win despite struggling on offense as they try to find a replacement for quarterback Matt Barkley, who is now in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Sophomore Cody Kessler got the start and played the entire first half, finishing 10-for-19 for 95 yards and a touchdown with an interception.

Sophomore Max Wittek, who started a game as a freshman last season, went 5-for-10 for 77 yards in the second half as USC managed only two offensive touchdowns.

Neither performance stood out, meaning more questions for Kiffin on who will eventually be the team’s No. 1 guy.

"I don’t know the answer to that. … We didn’t play real well there today," Kiffin said. "We’ve got nine days to figure it out."

Kessler found out Wednesday he earned the start but that both quarterbacks would play. The biggest surprise was how much they both struggled.

"My anticipation was both guys would play great," Kiffin said. "(I thought) Cody would go right in there and do really well, and unfortunately that didn’t happen."

Kessler completed only two passes for more than 10 yards.

"I’m not making any excuses, but this was my first game," Kessler said. "I’m glad to get this one under my belt."