Football to move forward after injuries
Two days after a dominant 41-14 win over Arizona, USC’s offense focused Monday’s practice on the quick turnaround before its road game against Colorado Friday.
Head coach Clay Helton provided updates on a roster that has been riddled with injuries the past few weeks.
None of the six players injured Saturday are medically cleared for Friday’s game. Both redshirt freshman outside linebacker Abdul-Malik McClain and sophomore safety Talanoa Hufanga are out with shoulder dislocations. Standout freshman defensive end Drake Jackson suffered a high ankle sprain and returned to the sidelines Saturday in a boot.
On the offensive side, junior tailback Stephen Carr is recovering from a hamstring strain and redshirt freshman tailback Markese Stepp suffered a torn ankle ligament that requires surgery and up to five weeks of recovery. Freshman wide receiver Munir McClain requires season-ending surgery for an ACL tear.
Four players missed the Arizona game, including redshirt senior defensive lineman Christian Rector and sophomore inside linebacker Palaie Gaoteote IV, who are both out indefinitely with ankle injuries. The other two, sophomore cornerback Olaijah Griffin and redshirt sophomore cornerback Greg Johnson, practiced Monday.
Helton expressed his confidence in their recovery and the team’s ability to make the necessary adjustments.
“There’s injuries that happen all through the country and all college teams,” Helton said. “As a coach, we’re not paid to make excuses. We’re paid to find answers, and we’ll find those answers.”
The Trojans hope that those answers lie in their deep roster. After a breakout performance with 103 rushing yards and two touchdowns against the Wildcats, freshman running back Kenan Christon was given the green light for the Colorado game. Christon will join redshirt junior tailback Quincy Jountti and redshirt senior cornerback Dominic Davis in filling the void at the position.
Freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis will have to gauge this offense’s new speed while improving his own rhythm, something he expressed as a current weakness. Arizona was the second straight game without an interception for Slovis, who compiled 232 passing yards and two touchdowns after a slow first quarter.
Helton said Slovis will need to improve his decision-making within the pocket moving forward. Going into Slovis’s fourth start, Helton emphasized “letting the game come to him” as he improves his ability to escape the pocket for five or six-yard gains to avoid sacks.
“I feel a lot better [since] I first started playing here from the Stanford game, even getting reps from practice. As the one [quarterback], you get a lot more,” Slovis said.
Colorado will be the fourth road game for the Trojans, who have yet to win a game outside the Coliseum. The narrow loss at No. 8 Notre Dame highlighted some defensive weaknesses but also proved the offense’s potential, with Slovis throwing for 255 passing yards.
“I don’t know if it really matters that much being on the road,” Slovis said. “We haven’t won on the road, but you can see we can play well on the road. We did it with Notre Dame.”
Friday may be the game for USC to finally turn its road struggles around as the Buffaloes are in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Both their offense and defense took embarrassing hits in a blowout loss to Washington State last weekend, meaning the Trojans’ patchwork lineup could still make easy work of the Buffs.
Coming off a short week of rest, the Trojans’ performance in Colorado will provide a solid test of the bench’s ability to keep USC alive until its key players return. “Next man up” is the motto moving forward, but every lineup has an expendable limit. It is yet to be seen if the Trojans have reached theirs.