Trojans seek fifth win of season as they play host to Arizona State
After a long defensive battle in Corvallis last Saturday, the Trojans were able to escape with a victory in nail-biting fashion, winning 17-14. USC will return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Saturday to face a struggling Arizona State University team.
Historically, USC has had success against Arizona State, boasting an all-time record of 24-14. But in their previous matchup, the Trojans lost 16-31 in Tempe. The game featured both junior quarterback Kedon Slovis and freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart, who combined for 220 yards, outdoing ASU’s 145 yards through the air. ASU’s run game was dominant, however, posting 282 yards on the ground along with 4 touchdowns. Both teams look very different now.
In a perfect microcosm of the cyclic rotation of the transfer portal, redshirt junior quarterback Emory Jones, who transferred to ASU from Florida over the offseason, has taken the reins from junior quarterback Jayden Daniels, who now plays at LSU.
In his first game of the season, Jones recorded 152 passing yards to go along with 48 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground in a 37-point blowout of Northern Arizona University.
Senior inside linebacker Shane Lee spoke on the Sun Devils quarterback’s rushing and passing ability in an interview with the Daily Trojan.
“I think he’s a great quarterback,” Lee said. “He’s a dual-threat guy, he does both well. So we definitely got to be on our Ps and Qs with him.”
Still, Jones has struggled against the ferocious pass rushes of Oklahoma State and Utah, who combined for 8 sacks, 2 interceptions and a completion rate below 60 percent between the two games.
Heading into this week’s matchup, USC football Head Coach Lincoln Riley has confidence in his team’s run game, especially redshirt senior running back Travis Dye, who racked up 133 rushing yards and a touchdown against Oregon State.
“[Dye] ran the ball well. He’s a very consistent competitor. You know what you’re going to get out of him every single day,” Riley said.
Dye is averaging 7.3 yards per carry and 10.6 yards per catch this season, showing his ability to contribute in multiple ways to USC’s high octane offense.
USC went up one spot in the national rankings after their win and currently sits at No. 6 in the country. One main factor to their success is not only their dynamic offense, but their stellar defensive play. On the season, USC has recorded 14 turnovers (11 interceptions and 3 fumbles), tied for first in the country.
Lee attributes the defense’s success last Saturday to their mindset and responsiveness as a unit.
“Every game we go out, every day we go out, we just try to put our best foot forward,” Lee said. “You try to put together complete practices, complete games. There’s always something to fix, to learn and to build off of. So we went out Saturday and we put our best foot forward and that result is what we got.”
Lee has been a stalwart of the USC defense this season, making a team high of 12 tackles against Oregon State. The Alabama transfer also has a sack and an interception on the season.
While USC has seen improvements in their defensive front this year, their attention must be focused on ASU’s potentially lethal rushing attack, spearheaded by graduate running back Xazavian Vallady. In just four games, Valladay has put up nearly 400 yards and 4 touchdowns while averaging an exceptional 6.5 yards per carry.
On the other side of the ball, the Trojans’ offense has been excellent thus far, posting an average of 42.3 points per game while averaging 7.1 yards per play. On the season, sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams has been superb for the Trojans, averaging 263.5 yards per game with a perfect touchdown to interception ratio of nine to zero and a quarterback rating of 85.1, 10th in the country. In last week’s contest, however, Williams struggled to throw the ball against Oregon State’s strong defense, recording season lows in passing yards, touchdowns and completion percentage. Still, junior wide receiver Jordan Addison commended his leadership skills.
“We need [Williams] on the sideline because no matter how the game is going, he’s going to make sure he’s level headed,” Addison said. “He’s ready to make that play at any given time, so having him on the sideline makes me want to go out there and make plays for him.”
Riley shared a similar confidence in Williams’ ability as a quarterback. The coach and quarterback duo have been together since last season, completing the year at the University of Oklahoma with an overall record of 11-2. Riley does not consider last week’s performance an indication that Williams has lost his mechanics or his abilities as a quarterback.
“He just had one of those nights where he wasn’t his best throwing-wise,” Riley said. “Saw things pretty well, had a couple of missed decisions but just missed a few throws. That’s going to happen. He’s as gifted as they come.”
Despite last week’s clutch win, Riley believes that the team needs to keep improving if they want to continue their ascent into college football relevance.
“I think just refocusing us on operating the way we need to, coaching better, playing better,” Riley said. “I know it sounds kind of boring but it’s the truth. We need to coach better, we need to prep our guys better and we need to play better and play more precise.”
Addison also felt that the team needed to stay focused in order to win their next matchup.
“We’re going harder this week,” he said. “You know, coming off a great win against a great team, we have to make sure we’re preparing and not let this game coming up slip past us.”