The Point After: Gustin’s leadership will be missed


In pretty much every respect, Saturday night was a major victory for USC football. In a season tarnished by turmoil, berated by bad breaks and filled with calls for the heads of nearly everyone in the front office, a win at home over a ranked, previously undefeated Colorado squad could prove to be a major turning point in the team’s 2018 fortunes.

With that said, USC was still left with a deep, lasting scar from the Pac-12 battle in the Coliseum when defensive captain senior linebacker Porter Gustin was forced out of the game in its closing moments. Gustin fractured his ankle and saw his injury-plagued USC career end in a flash, in a situation the team shouldn’t have been in.

After playing in just four games in 2017, Gustin had managed to put together easily the most complete season of his career. With seven sacks on the year, including 1.5 in the Colorado game alone, the captain was tied for sixth in the nation in that statistic.

A truly gifted pass rusher, Gustin leaves his playing days as a Trojan as one of the best linebackers over the past decade at USC. With 21 sacks over his injury-limited career, Porter will prepare for the 2019 NFL Draft. Considering his status as a top-10 prospect at his position, he is expected to go within the first few rounds of the draft.

An outpouring of love for the senior linebacker has come from former Trojans Kenny Bigelow Jr. and Antwaun Woods, yet the team will need more than well wishes to fill the void left in Gustin’s absence.

Veterans such as juniors defensive lineman Connor Murphy and linebacker Oluwole Betiku Jr. will have to find a way to produce and take advantage of the additional snaps that will come their way.

However, no one will have as much pressure to step up to the task as junior defensive end Christian Rector. With Gustin injured and on the sideline for much of the 2017 season, Rector flourished as a pass rusher and racked up 7.5 sacks to help put USC atop the nation in the statistic. Through the first six games in 2018, Rector has been relatively silent, picking up one tackle for loss and failing to bring down the quarterback once. While he no longer has the advantage of lining up across from former Trojans Uchenna Nwosu and Rasheem Green, the Loyola product will need to return to last season’s form if USC’s defense is to remain dominant and capable.

For as much as the absence of a top-10 pass rusher will cost USC in terms of production, it may lose even more in terms of leadership and team chemistry. Last year, USC was able to survive Gustin’s absence due to the experience of players such as Green, Nwosu and Chris Hawkins. This year, however, the squad isn’t afforded such a luxury and will now turn to its seniors in cornerbacks Iman Marshall, Ajene Harris, linebacker Cameron Smith and safety Marvell Tell III to help fill in what is lost by Gustin’s injury.

In many ways, these four players represent a major generational gap on the USC team. Along with veterans such as Toa Lobendahn and Chris Brown, these are essentially the only remaining players that had an impact role on the 2016 team that won the Rose Bowl. With impact players like Adoree’ Jackson, Sam Darnold and JuJu Smith-Schuster long gone, it is up to the lasting veterans to lead by example the way those before them did.

Even before Gustin’s injury, USC was facing an uphill battle in the division, if not the conference. Even after taking the Pac-12 South lead with the win over Colorado, USC will need to find a way to win in Salt Lake City against the Utes, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since Marqise Lee put up nearly 200 yards on the Utes in 2012.

Now, with Gustin permanently on the sideline, USC’s veteran leadership will be asked to step up and deliver for the Trojans one final time. The fate of the South, the Pac-12 and the future of USC football just might be at stake.

Jimmy Goodman is a junior majoring in communication. His column, “The Point After,” runs every other Tuesday.