Yoav’s Top-10: Ten things that I love in USC sports from the last two weeks


By
 in ,

Ever felt like you needed a succinct breakdown of all the incredible things happening around USC sports? Look no longer, because you’re reading the first edition of my bi-weekly “Top Ten Things I Loved in USC Sports” (in no particular order). 

There’s a hefty dose of football this week as we get back into the swing of things, with a nice dollop of soccer standouts and basketball news on the side. Let’s roll.

Kedon Slovis’ underrated running

Modern football is all about quarterbacks who can do it all. From Patrick Mahomes to Lamar Jackson, having a player under center who can throw and run is key to a successful team. Junior quarterback Kedon Slovis did just that against Stanford, breaking out the wheels and racking up yards in between throws. Although ultimately overshadowed by the loss, Slovis is a crafty runner who can find the seams in the defense, and he went for 25 yards on five attempts against the Cardinal. Despite a poor performance on Saturday, I’m confident Slovis can become more of a dual-threat quarterback. 

Heating up

After starting the season with back-to-back losses, women’s soccer rebounded with six straight wins creating a combined scoreline of 19-3. The team is playing free-flowing soccer and they look ready for conference play. Keep an eye out for the Trojans as they hope to continue their winning streak later this week against Pac-12 rivals Arizona and Arizona State.

A Star in the Making

Junior midfielder Croix Bethune has led the way over the Trojan’s recent win streak, grabbing a pair of assists to go with five goals scored. Croix capped off a win in Santa Barbara with a pretty chip over two Gaucho defenders to seal the game.

New Beginnings

For the first time since
mid-2015, football kicked off without former head coach Clay Helton at the helm. Helton’s tenure with the team started brightly with a Rose Bowl victory highlighting his second season. Since that initial success, the Trojans have failed to finish higher than No. 12 in the AP poll and have gone 0-2 in bowl games.

The embarrassing upset loss to Stanford was the final straw for a university looking to return to the top of college
football. Cornerbacks coach Donte Williams, named the interim head coach, led the Trojans to a win against Washington State in his first game as interim but said he was out-coached during the Trojans’ loss against Oregon State. 

Jaxson Dart

Is it too early to call him the greatest of all time?

Basketball Loads Up

5-star recruit Vince Iwuchukwu committed to USC a couple of Fridays ago, joining the recent tradition of elite Trojan big men. Standing 7’0 tall with a lanky frame and strong defensive instincts, Iwuchukwu will hope to emulate Evan Mobley and Onyeka Ogonkwu’s success on the interior. Personally, I think he’s got the upside to dominate in the middle for years to come.

Back in Business

There’s nothing like college
football. The tailgates, chants and marching bands combine to great effect, creating an unparalleled experience across all of athletics. Over this past year, though, we saw what the sport looked like without fans filling the stands. Empty seats can’t quite match the volume and atmosphere of the real thing, and it’s great to be back in the Coliseum cheering on our Trojans.

Trojan Defense’s Dominant Day in Washington

You’d be forgiven for thinking you walked into a recording studio for the new NCAA Football game listening to USC play Washington State on the radio last week. Every play down the stretch ended in calls of “USC ball” or “Sacked!” The Trojan defensive unit snagged two interceptions and logged three sacks in a complete effort that saw the Cougars struggle to produce anything after an initial two-touchdown lead. The entire defensive-line looked revitalized, which didn’t really transfer to Saturday’s game against Oregon State. However, USC faces a Colorado team this Saturday that failed to score a single point against Minnesota a couple of weeks ago.

ICYMI: Persistence

Women’s volleyball faced off against Hawaii earlier this month, suffering a 3-1 defeat Friday. Undeterred, the Trojans came back the next day and flipped the scoreline, bringing a 3-1 victory home to cap off their trip.

The Epic Highs and Lows of Intramural Soccer

Very often, the focus of this column will be the bright lights and brighter stars of Division I athletics. Rarely, I’ll dive under the bleachers of this vaunted school and tackle perhaps the most underreported sports topic of our times: intramural sports. I recently witnessed firsthand the incredible drama of one such game, a tense 1-0 soccer match last Tuesday. The players were fired up, frustrated after the crushing loss. Coach Mac Dilatush  remarked after the game, “The boys are buzzing, but we’re just going to keep taking it day-by-day.”

Yoav Gillath is a freshman writing about his ten favorite things that happen in USC sports. His column, “Yoav’s Top-10,” runs every other Monday.