USC coach Clay Helton confirmed Thursday that the three injured players not expected to play this weekend will indeed miss the No. 21 Trojans' game at No. 17 Washington.
And it's not just three holes to plug -- it's three of USC's most impactful players now officially unavailable as the team heads into one of the biggest games on the schedule Saturday without quarterback Kedon Slovis (concussion), safety Talanoa Hufanga (concussion/shoulder) and cornerback Olaijah Griffin (back spasms/bulging disk).
Third-string QB Matt Fink will make his first career start, although he did play all but two snaps of the win over then-No 10 Utah last week, passing for 351 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.
"Matt Fink is going to be our starting quarterback. He's gotten the reps this week, he's looked really good," Helton said. "Kedon is not cleared for this game and at this point in time we're going to rule him out. [I'm] looking forward to watching Matt going and competing again. He's very excited about the opportunity, as well as our team, and we know he's going to do a great job."
Hufanga's absence is just as significant. He's the Trojans' leading tackler and tied for the team lead with 14 tackles in that win over Utah. More than that, he emerging as perhaps the best overall player on the defense and a potential game-changer who can't easily be replaced.
Redshirt freshman Chase Williams, the Trojans' utlity DB who has played at both nickel and safety, will get the start there.
"[He's] been playing good ball when he's been getting his opportunity. Has practiced well this week at that position and will do a great job," Helton said of Williams.
Griffin, meanwhile, has been USC's top cornerback as a sophomore. His absence means both freshman Chris Steele and redshirt freshman Isaac Taylor-Stuart -- who opened the season as a duo sharing snaps opposite Griffin -- will be locked in as the starters.
Taylor-Stuart missed the Utah game due to a concussion with Steele starting in his place and performing well. In fact, Steele has been very reliable since a rough season debut.
According to PFF College's advanced data, Steele has allowed just 3 receptions for 14 yards on 8 targets his way the last three games combined. He's the third-highest-graded USC defensive player (75.0) and highest-rated DB on the team, according to their metrics.
This will be another big opportunity for both he and Taylor-Stuart to define themselves and likely influence their timeshare moving forward.
Griffin went through stretching and individual agility drills during practice trying to loosen up that back, but it's a tough injury to overcome quickly.
"He's trying as hard as he can, but it needs a little bit more time and I'm not confident in it, he's not confident in it so we're going to hold him," Helton explained.
With Steele and Taylor-Stuart, Williams and fellow safety Isaiah Pola-Mao and Greg Johnson at nickel, the Trojans are now starting all of the DBs who have played any significant snaps for them.
Veteran backup safety CJ Pollard (26 snaps for the season) will be the next man up at safety while walk-on Jordan McMillan and freshman Briton Allen are other options there. Helton indicated that 4-star freshman Max Williams could get in for his first action on defense after being slowed by a hamstring injury in the preseason. He was competing at nickel to open fall camp, and if a corner went down and Johnson was asked to slide outside (as he did late in the Utah game), Williams could get the call inside.
"What a bright future for that defense when you have that type of secondary and all of them are young. I mean, all of them are freshmen and sophomores," Helton said. "They're talented kids, they're growing together and they're playing for each other. When one goes down another goes in and he's producing just as much. It's a great thing to see. Have they made mistakes? Yeah, they've made some, but they're learning from it and they're growing from it."
The concern, of course, is that young secondary -- without two key cogs -- is now going against Washington QB Jacob Eason, who is averaging 265.8 yards per game with 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He was 24 of 28 passing for 290 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in a romp of BYU last week.
Slovis timeline
Helton said he is hopeful Slovis, the true freshman QB, would be ready to return on the road against Notre Dame in two weeks, after the bye.
"I would hope. These things, every time you go through concussion protocol, everybody's different, but the good thing for me is I have complete trust in our medical staff. ... Until they clear him he won't take any reps out there," Helton said.
He was also asked if he had actually been holding out any hope this week that Slovis would be cleared.
Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell sounded pretty certain Tuesday when he talked to reporters that Fink would be the starter and the backup plan would be a mix of walk-on Brandon Perdue and getting creative.
"You never know. There's certain times -- you take concussions extremely seriously. You have to make sure you leave it to the doctors, their knowledge and how a kid's feeling," Helton said. "... Anytime you see somebody hit the back of their head like Kedon did you know it's going to take some time. But Matt handled it extremely well and did a great job in practice this week, getting the reps and handling that number of reps, I think it pushed him forward to getting even more ready for this week."
Preparing for the road
USC's only road game so far this season did not go as hoped, as the Trojans took an overtime loss at BYU in Week 3.
This week the team has had fake crowd noise pumped in during practice, and Helton showed the players film from the Trojans' 2016 trip to Washington when they handed a 9-0 and No. 4-ranked Huskies team their first loss -- 26-13.
"We just wanted to show the environment because it is a special environment and it's different when you go on the road and the mentality that has to be had," Helton said. "I thought the 2016 team when they went up there had a really good mentality the way they approached that week. We started that at the beginning of the week. I showed them that at the very beginning and we talked about the approach of what you've got to be able to have when you go on the road -- which is a very good defense, bring your run game, pack your special teams, bring a mental toughness and bring your own energy."
And it's not just three holes to plug -- it's three of USC's most impactful players now officially unavailable as the team heads into one of the biggest games on the schedule Saturday without quarterback Kedon Slovis (concussion), safety Talanoa Hufanga (concussion/shoulder) and cornerback Olaijah Griffin (back spasms/bulging disk).
Third-string QB Matt Fink will make his first career start, although he did play all but two snaps of the win over then-No 10 Utah last week, passing for 351 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.
"Matt Fink is going to be our starting quarterback. He's gotten the reps this week, he's looked really good," Helton said. "Kedon is not cleared for this game and at this point in time we're going to rule him out. [I'm] looking forward to watching Matt going and competing again. He's very excited about the opportunity, as well as our team, and we know he's going to do a great job."
Hufanga's absence is just as significant. He's the Trojans' leading tackler and tied for the team lead with 14 tackles in that win over Utah. More than that, he emerging as perhaps the best overall player on the defense and a potential game-changer who can't easily be replaced.
Redshirt freshman Chase Williams, the Trojans' utlity DB who has played at both nickel and safety, will get the start there.
"[He's] been playing good ball when he's been getting his opportunity. Has practiced well this week at that position and will do a great job," Helton said of Williams.
Griffin, meanwhile, has been USC's top cornerback as a sophomore. His absence means both freshman Chris Steele and redshirt freshman Isaac Taylor-Stuart -- who opened the season as a duo sharing snaps opposite Griffin -- will be locked in as the starters.
Taylor-Stuart missed the Utah game due to a concussion with Steele starting in his place and performing well. In fact, Steele has been very reliable since a rough season debut.
According to PFF College's advanced data, Steele has allowed just 3 receptions for 14 yards on 8 targets his way the last three games combined. He's the third-highest-graded USC defensive player (75.0) and highest-rated DB on the team, according to their metrics.
This will be another big opportunity for both he and Taylor-Stuart to define themselves and likely influence their timeshare moving forward.
Griffin went through stretching and individual agility drills during practice trying to loosen up that back, but it's a tough injury to overcome quickly.
"He's trying as hard as he can, but it needs a little bit more time and I'm not confident in it, he's not confident in it so we're going to hold him," Helton explained.
With Steele and Taylor-Stuart, Williams and fellow safety Isaiah Pola-Mao and Greg Johnson at nickel, the Trojans are now starting all of the DBs who have played any significant snaps for them.
Veteran backup safety CJ Pollard (26 snaps for the season) will be the next man up at safety while walk-on Jordan McMillan and freshman Briton Allen are other options there. Helton indicated that 4-star freshman Max Williams could get in for his first action on defense after being slowed by a hamstring injury in the preseason. He was competing at nickel to open fall camp, and if a corner went down and Johnson was asked to slide outside (as he did late in the Utah game), Williams could get the call inside.
"What a bright future for that defense when you have that type of secondary and all of them are young. I mean, all of them are freshmen and sophomores," Helton said. "They're talented kids, they're growing together and they're playing for each other. When one goes down another goes in and he's producing just as much. It's a great thing to see. Have they made mistakes? Yeah, they've made some, but they're learning from it and they're growing from it."
The concern, of course, is that young secondary -- without two key cogs -- is now going against Washington QB Jacob Eason, who is averaging 265.8 yards per game with 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He was 24 of 28 passing for 290 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in a romp of BYU last week.
Slovis timeline
Helton said he is hopeful Slovis, the true freshman QB, would be ready to return on the road against Notre Dame in two weeks, after the bye.
"I would hope. These things, every time you go through concussion protocol, everybody's different, but the good thing for me is I have complete trust in our medical staff. ... Until they clear him he won't take any reps out there," Helton said.
He was also asked if he had actually been holding out any hope this week that Slovis would be cleared.
Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell sounded pretty certain Tuesday when he talked to reporters that Fink would be the starter and the backup plan would be a mix of walk-on Brandon Perdue and getting creative.
"You never know. There's certain times -- you take concussions extremely seriously. You have to make sure you leave it to the doctors, their knowledge and how a kid's feeling," Helton said. "... Anytime you see somebody hit the back of their head like Kedon did you know it's going to take some time. But Matt handled it extremely well and did a great job in practice this week, getting the reps and handling that number of reps, I think it pushed him forward to getting even more ready for this week."
Preparing for the road
USC's only road game so far this season did not go as hoped, as the Trojans took an overtime loss at BYU in Week 3.
This week the team has had fake crowd noise pumped in during practice, and Helton showed the players film from the Trojans' 2016 trip to Washington when they handed a 9-0 and No. 4-ranked Huskies team their first loss -- 26-13.
"We just wanted to show the environment because it is a special environment and it's different when you go on the road and the mentality that has to be had," Helton said. "I thought the 2016 team when they went up there had a really good mentality the way they approached that week. We started that at the beginning of the week. I showed them that at the very beginning and we talked about the approach of what you've got to be able to have when you go on the road -- which is a very good defense, bring your run game, pack your special teams, bring a mental toughness and bring your own energy."
