USC QB Woes Could Help Utah Break 103 Year Streak Of Losing At Coliseum
Sep 4, 2019, 12:25 PM | Updated: 12:34 pm
JT Daniels #18 of the USC Trojans in crutches, celebrates a 31-23 win over Fresno State Bulldogs at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 31, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Beating USC can go a long way when a team is trying to win the Pac-12 South like the Utah football team is. It may have just gotten easier after the Trojans lost their starting quarterback.
JT Daniels tore his ACL during the final minute of the opening half of the Trojans’ opening game against Fresno State.
Utah takes on USC on September 20 in a Friday night matchup at the LA Memorial Coliseum, a venue Utah has not won at in 103 years.
JUST IN: #USC quarterback JT Daniels is done for the season, according to multiple reports saying the QB tore his ACL against Fresno State.https://t.co/EdpaVe9ujN
— Reign of Troy (@ReignofTroy) September 1, 2019
Daniels was a highly touted prospect coming out of Mater Dei High School. A school known for its uncanny ability to produce some of the best quarterbacks to ever play college football. He was a five-star recruit that could have gone wherever he wanted.
Last season, during his freshman campaign, Daniels struggled, completing just 59.5 percent of his passes while throwing for 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
The abrupt ending to his much anticipated sophomore season will likely have an impact on the Utes’ Pac-12 hopes.
Not only could the injury to Daniels derail USC’s entire season. It could also indicate the beginning of the end to USC head coach Clay Helton’s career in LA.
Next Trojan Up
When Daniels went down, true freshman Kedon Slovis made his debut in the Trojan gold and cardinal. Slovis went 6-8 for 57 yards and one interception for a quarterback rating of just 21.3. Slovis struggled, looked uncomfortable and seemed overwhelmed.
Slovis was a three-star prospect out of Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona. His only other power five offer outside of USC was Oregon State, with his remaining offers coming from Hawaii, N.C. State, New Mexico State, San Jose State, SMU and UC Davis. A strange offer list to say the least.
Time for Kedon Slovis to step up.@YogiRoth gives his early impressions of the @USC_FB quarterback who's set to fill JT Daniels' shoes at starter.
Watch Inside Pac12 Football ➡️ https://t.co/ZhZuI5ezsa pic.twitter.com/r3pLSGxrJX
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 4, 2019
The other quarterback on the USC roster is Matt Fink, a redshirt Junior who has struggled to find the field over his three-year career at SC. Fink has played in seven games where he has completed 13-18 passes for 89 yards and one touchdown while carrying the ball 14 times for 106 yards and one touchdown.
Fink’s offer list as a prospect coming out of high school is more impressive than Slovis. He received offers from the likes of Washington, Washington State and Notre Dame.
On August 27, former four-star quarterback out of San Clemente High School, Jack Sears, released a statement on Twitter signifying his intentions to enter the transfer portal. Sears saw action against Arizona last year where he completed 20-28 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns.
People close to the USC program thought Sears would be the back up to Daniels entering the 2019 season.
If the plan doesn't work, change the plan, but never the goal.
The following statement is to clarify the situation and avoid speculation: pic.twitter.com/Ukv3CTR9vp
— Jack Sears (@jackpsears12) August 27, 2019
Sears stated that he “told Coach Helton that I am available if the team needs me.” However, his reasoning to enter the portal was a direct result of his plummet down the depth chart at USC. It seems as though, despite the Daniels season-ending injury, Sears will continue to look elsewhere to further pursue his collegiate career.
USC In Trouble
If Utah is going to break their 103-year curse at the Coliseum, it seems as though the opportunity this year will be as good as it has ever been.
Granted, we are still three weeks away from kick-off and a lot can change in a week as USC has found out the hard way. As it stands currently, Utah is healthy and USC is in disarray.
In the meantime, Utah will face Northern Illinois and Idaho State at home. USC plays Stanford at home and then travels to Provo to take on the BYU Cougars.
