2018 Season recap:
Last season:
The USC Trojans started the 2018 season going 4-2 in the first 6 weeks including a win over #19 Colorado. The Trojans struggled in the second half of the season going 1-5 in their final 6 games with their only win being over 2 win Oregon State. 2018 was expected to be a transition season with a lot of underclassmen starting.
JT Daniels started 11 of 12 games at quarterback as a true freshman. Michael Pittman, Tyler Vaughns, and Amon Ra St Brown started every game at wide receiver for the Trojans and all three are back in 2019. St Brown led the team in catches as a true freshman with 60. Senior running back Aca’Cedric Ware led the team in rushing while splitting caries with sophomore Vavea Malepeai. On defense USC had a core of seniors who led the team at every level. Senior pass rusher Porter Agustin led the team in sacks with 7. Linebacker Cameron Smith was a leader at the center of the defense and led the team in tackles. Defensive backs Marvell Tell and Iman Marshall led the team in interceptions and pass deflections. Coming out of 2018 the Trojans had a lot to look forward to on offense with most starters returning, but the defense had a lot of questions for the future after losing key players to the NFL.
2018 Offense:
26.1 Points Per Game, 2990 passing yards, 1602 rushing yards, 18 passing TDs,
17 rushing TDs
2018 Defense:
27 Points per Game, 3291 passing yards allowed, 1973 rushing yards allowed, 20passing TDs allowed, 20 rushing TDs allowed
2019 USC Trojans:
Head Coach: Clay Helton (32-17 career record)
Offense:
During the off season Offensive Coordinator Tee Martin became the O. Coordinator at Tennessee. Kliff Kingsbury was hired to replace him but was then offered the head coaching job for the Arizona Cardinals. After a long search USC eventually hired Graham Harrell to be the new offensive coordinator and switch the team to an air raid offense. The Trojans returned their starting quarterback and their six leading receivers from 2018. However QB JT Daniels was injured in week 1 and backup QB Kedon Slovis was taken out of last weeks game with a concussion. They are now down to third string QB Matt Fink who came in last week and threw for 351 yards and 3 TDs to upset #10 Utah. Fink is expected to start this week vs the Huskies coming off a good game against a good defense in Utah. The Huskies will get the benefit of game planning for Fink something Utah didn’t get. Switching to the air raid offense has seemed to help the Trojans who have improved to 33.25 points per game from 26 points per game a year ago.
Defense:
The defense had to replace a lot of key players from 2018 but like usual the Trojans have a group of 5 star recruits to replace them. Sophomore Safeties Talanoa Hufanga and Isaiah Palo Mao have stepped up as difference makers in the defensive backfield. In the front seven the Trojans are led by senior LB John Houston Jr, Sophomore LB Palaie Gaoteote IV, and sophomore DT Marlon Tuipulotu. True freshman DE Drake Jackson has made an early impact, he leads the team with 3 sacks. The Trojan corners are young but very talented, starters sophomores Olaijah Griffin and Greg Johnson along with freshman Isaac Taylor-Stewart and Chris Steele rotating in. The USC defense is full of freshman and sophomores but most of them are former 5 star recruits. Four games into the season the defense is down to 24 points per game allowed from 27 points per game last season.
Season Results:
Week 1 the Trojans played Fresno State at home, in the second half JT Daniels tore his ACL ending his season. USC was able to hold on winning 31-23. Week 2 USC played #23 Stanford at home, Kedon Slovis started his first game throwing for 377 yards in a 45-20 victory taking the Trojans to 2-0. Week 3 USC traveled to BYU, the Cougar defense rushed 3 and dropped 8 into coverage all game and gave the Trojans lots of trouble intercepting Slovis 3 times and USC lost in overtime 30-27. Last week USC hosted tenth ranked Utah, Slovis went down early in the first quarter with a concussion. Matt Fink came in and threw 350 yards and 3 TDs to lead the Trojans to a 30-23 victory on Friday night. The Trojans come into Husky Stadium with an extra day of rest ranked twenty-third in the country with 3 wins 1 loss.
