Silas Redd looks at home in cardinal

It was all new, except the football.

That felt familiar in Silas Redd’s hands, and he did with it what he does best of all: He ran.

The running back ran straight ahead Saturday, charging between new teammates, 2,800 miles from his old ones.

Defenders he never imagined facing months ago when he played for Penn State threw themselves at him; he gained eight yards, churning his legs like a locomotive before two brought him down.

A Coliseum crowd cheered, and he stood after his first carry in a cardinal and gold uniform and let the roar from thousands of USC fans wash over him.

“It’s a little hard to believe right now,” he said after the top-ranked Trojans beat Hawaii, 49-10, in their season opener.

Redd ran for 56 yards and a touchdown in nine carries, adding one reception for 41 yards.

“I’m still trying to soak it in,” he said. “It’s an incredible feeling to be surrounded by guys like this.”

The junior left behind Penn State, where he rushed for 1,241 yards and seven touchdowns last season, in the aftermath of NCAA sanctions handed down in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal.

And at USC, Redd sought a new start.

His first game wasn’t all smooth. Redd fumbled early in the second quarter after catching a pass and having a defender punch the ball out from behind.

But on USC’s next offensive series, Redd made amends.

On fourth and two from the Hawaii 31-yard line, he started left, following behind a pulling guard.

Then his eyes looked right: open space. He entered a footrace with a defender toward the pylon. And Redd won.

“It was an incredible feeling,” he said. “There’s nothing like it. I feel very blessed right now.”

Redd said having teammates like Marqise Lee, Robert Woods and Matt Barkley “takes a load off my back.”

Barkley returned the praise to Redd after his first USC outing.

“He ran hard, made guys miss, stretched for that extra yard on a couple plays, which we needed,” Barkley said. “He’s a good addition to Curtis [McNeal] back there.”

USC Coach Lane Kiffin said Redd did well in his first game getting comfortable, which has been a process for Redd. The first time he spoke to the media after arriving at USC, Redd said his focus was only on the season opener against Ohio.

His mind was still in part elsewhere, with his former teammates in State College, who faced the Bobcats on Saturday. That game was at Penn State. The Nittany Lions lost, 24-14.

Redd watched the game. “It’s a tough loss for those guys,” he said.

And in the next breath, he showed that his mind is now, truly, here, in L.A., with USC.

“But I know they’re going to bounce back,” he said, “and fight on.”

baxter.holmes@latimes.com

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