The proverbial wounded animal element will be present Saturday afternoon in Tempe, as both ASU and USC are not brimming with confidence these days. The Sun Devils are in the midst of a two-game skid while the Trojans are coming off one of their worst losses in conference play. Let’s take a comprehensive look at Arizona State’s upcoming opponent and the keys for this contest.
USC Offense
Presumably, a great deal of USC’s intentions to rebound from its worst season in nearly 20 years rested upon the development of former five-star quarterback J.T. Daniels as he advanced to his sophomore season after serving as the primary starter for the Trojans as a true freshman in 2018.
Daniels’ season ended just about as quickly as it began, as he suffered a season-ending injury in the first half of USC’s opening game.
In his place stepped Kedon Slovis, a true freshman that yielded just a three-star ranking and had Power Five offers from North Carolina State, Oregon State, and Vanderbilt in addition to USC’s. A local product from Scottsdale Desert Mountain High School, according to his Rivals profile Slovis did not have a scholarship offer from either Arizona State or Arizona.
In his first career start and second collegiate appearance, Slovis showed no freshman shakiness as he completed 28-of-33 passes for 377 yards with three touchdowns in a 25-point win over No. 23 Stanford. He endured injury issues of his own that caused him to miss most of USC’s win over Utah and the Trojans’ loss to Washington, but in seven games with six starts, he has thrown for 1,889 yards with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has five games with at least 250 yards including a season-high 406 and four touchdowns in a comeback win at Colorado.
Slovis does, however, enter Saturday on the heels of his poorest game to date as he had a season-low completion percentage (56.1%) and for the second time this year threw three interceptions in USC’s 56-24 loss to Oregon.
The Trojans have had tremendous injury issues at running back of late, and the team’s top three runners on the year all are uncertain for Saturday. Vavae Malepeai (87 carries for 418 yards with four touchdowns), Markese Stepp (48 carries for 307 yards with three touchdowns) and Stephen Carr (47 carries for 266 yards and two touchdowns) are all listed as risks to miss this week’s game due to injuries.
The only rusher that appears to be a certainty to play is true freshman Kenan Christon, who hadn’t played until the past three games but has collected 258 rushing yards on 37 carries with two touchdowns and has a touchdown reception as well. He had 103 rushing yards on eight carries with two touchdowns in his college debut against Arizona, then 14 carries for 76 yards along with a touchdown catch against Colorado and most reception 79 rushing yards on 15 carries against Oregon. He averages 7.0 yards per carry through his three games and has averaged no fewer than 5.3 yards per carry in any of those three.
Few teams in the Pac-12 boast a trio of potential NFL receivers like USC’s group of Michael Pittman, Tyler Vaughns, and Amon-Ra St. Brown, three next-level athletes who give the Trojans equally qualified targets for their version of the Air Raid offense.
Pittman and Vaughns tie for the team lead with 58 receptions, with Pittman gaining 792 yards and eight touchdowns while Vaughns has 713 yards and four scores. For their careers, Pittman and Vaughns have combined for 301 career receptions at USC entering Saturday’s game.
A five-star recruit, the top receiver prospect and number three overall recruit of the 2018 class, St. Brown has 47 catches for 493 yards and four touchdowns so far as a sophomore.
On the season, Vaughns has three 100-yard games, while St. Brown and Pittman each have one – though Pittman’s was a 10-catch, 232-yard explosion against Utah.
Drake London has 18 catches for 250 yards and a touchdown at wide receiver, while Erik Krommenhoek starts at tight end and has 10 catches for 115 yards on the year.
The Trojan line figures to start tackle Austin Jackson, a Phoenix native, guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, center Brett Neilon, guard Jalen McKenzie and tackle Drew Richmond from left to right.
This exact group of five has started all but one game together this season. With the exception of Richmond (eight starts), the other four have started all nine games.
USC Offense Summary
Statistically, USC ranks third in passing offense (292.6), fifth in total offense (432.7), seventh in scoring offense (30.4) and eighth in rushing offense (140.1).
Oddly, USC has the lowest red zone conversion percentage in the Pac-12 (78%) though the Trojans are slightly better by tying for seventh in the league in red zone touchdowns (20). On third downs, USC ranks fifth in the conference with a conversion rate of 45%.
Undoubtedly, USC will try to exploit its trio of top-shelf receivers, paced by Pittman and Vaughns, a duo tied for second in the Pac-12 and tied for 12th nationally in total receptions (58 each).
USC Defense
Up front, the Trojan defensive line figures to consist of tackles Jay Tufele and Marlon Tuipulotu joined by ends Christian Rector and Drake Jackson.
Tufele and Tuipulotu have started all nine games with three players splitting starts at one defensive end spot while Jackson started the first seven prior to an injury that forced him out of the lineup the past two games.
Tuipulotu leads all Trojan linemen with 38 tackles including 4.5 for loss with 1.5 sacks. Much to the chagrin of Sun Devil fans, Jackson, believed to be a heavy Sun Devil lean last winter before signing with USC, is trending toward becoming the conference’s Defensive Freshman Player of the Year as he has a team-high 8.5 tackles for loss and shares the team lead of 3.5 sacks among his 30 total tackles despite missing two games.
Tufele adds 30 tackles including 5.0 for loss and a share of the team lead with 3.5 sacks on the year.
At linebacker, John Houston, Jr. starts in the middle with Hunter Echols on the strong side and Palaie Gaoteote IV on the weak side.
Houston, one of only four defenders to have started all nine games for the Trojans, leads the team with 79 tackles in nine games, ranking second on the team in both tackles for loss (6.5) and sacks (2.5). Gaoteote is tied for third on the team with 50 tackles in just seven games, while Echols, who has started two games at defensive end but is listed as a linebacker on this week’s depth chart, has nine tackles including 1.5 sacks in nine games.
In the secondary, cornerbacks Olaijah Griffin, son of rapper Warren G, is paired in the starting lineup with Isaac Taylor-Stuart with Phoenix native Isaiah Pola-Mao at free safety, Talanoa Hufanga at strong safety and Greg Johnson as the nickel defensive back.
Pola-Mao, the only defensive back on the team to have started all nine games so far, ranks third on the team with 50 tackles including 4.5 loss with a team-high two interceptions.
Hufanga and Johnson have suffered through injury issues of late, though at least Hufanga is likely to play at Arizona State.
Hufanga ranks second on the team with 51 tackles in just six games, Taylor-Stuart has 31 tackles and four pass breakups, Griffin has 26 tackles with a team-high seven pass breakups while Johnson has 24 tackles and an interception in eight games.
USC Defense Summary
Statistically, the Trojans rank around the middle of the Pac or so in a few key defensive categories – fifth in pass defense (242.7), seventh in scoring defense (28.3) and total defense (426.7). The Trojans struggle a bit against the run, ranking 10th in the league (89th nationally) allowing 184.0 rushing yards per game but rank third in the conference (tied for 32nd nationally) with 24 total sacks.
USC has been quite banged up of late on defense but appears to be healthier this week than the past few. Time will tell if those injuries are fully healed or if players back in action have any resonating physical limitations.
USC Special Teams
Kicker Chase McGrath is trending toward postseason conference accolades as he’s connected on 9-of-10 field goal attempts with a long of 52 yards. He is tied for 13th nationally in field goal accuracy (90.0%). Punter Ben Griffiths averages 41.5 yards on 37 punts on the year.
Speedy Velus Jones is always dangerous with his 24.5-yard averaged on kick returns and has a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown to his credit. Tyler Vaughns averages a modest 6.6 yards on seven punt returns but returned one 82 yards for a score last year in the Coliseum against ASU.
Overall Summary
A program that dominated ASU – and the conference, and most of college football – for the first decade of the 2000s, USC won every meeting with the Sun Devils from 2000-10. More recently, the two teams have split the past six as ASU claimed back-to-back victories in 2013-14, then lost three straight before escaping Los Angeles with a win last fall.
The overarching storyline in this game is less the Xs and Os between the two clubs and more the job stability – or lack thereof – of Trojan head coach Clay Helton. In the court of public opinion, Helton’s days appear to be numbered at USC, especially if the Trojans suffer a second consecutive loss this week after an abysmal and embarrassing thrashing at the hands of Oregon a week ago.
With four losses on the year so far and at least three games remaining in 2019, USC has tallied 11 losses over the past two seasons – the greatest combined loss total across consecutive seasons since the 13 defeats in 2000-01 (a total still on the table for USC to match or exceed this year). The USC school record for combined losses across consecutive seasons is 14 between the 1957-57 seasons (1-9 in 1957, 4-5-1 in ’58).
Despite the hubbub surrounding the Trojan head man, the Devils cannot rest on their laurels as ASU could really use to cut the bleeding after a pair of frustration defeats in their last two games.
Both teams enter Saturday afternoon’s affair on the wrong side of the pendulum of momentum and both badly need a victory to allow their seasons to slip further away from preseason goals and expectations.
Keys to a Sun Devil Victory
Start Strong. Please.: This season, ASU is 4-0 when it scores first and 1-3 when the opponent scores first. In each of the past three games, the Sun Devils have had to play from behind by allowing opponents to jump on the scoreboard first. In a game featuring two teams in need of short and long-term momentum, to be able to strike first could be tremendously beneficial for the home team.
Rattle Slovis: As generally impressive as he has been, Slovis has two three-interception games on the season including last week’s blowout loss to Oregon. The Sun Devils have had their pass rush struggles on defense through most of the season, but ASU must make life difficult so that the Scottsdale native does not have comfort and space to play pitch-and-catch with his group of next-level wide receivers.
Regain Composure: The recent slew of penalty issues is very uncharacteristic of the brand of Sun Devil football that’s been seen in Tempe under Herm Edwards and even his predecessor Todd Graham. Hopefully a return home from frustration road environments can help do the trick, but ASU absolutely cannot afford to continue to extend opponent drives and kill its own by way of penalties.
Familiar Faces
· ASU DB Jack Jones played for USC in 2017-18
· USC assistant coach Greg Burns coached at ASU from 2008-11
· USC OL Austin Jackson (Phoenix North Canyon High School), OL AJ Mageo (Mesa Red Mountain High School), DL Connor Murphy (Phoenix Brophy Prep), DB Isaiah Pola-Mao (Phoenix Mountain Pointe High School), QB Kedon Slovis (Scottsdale Desert Mountain High School) and WR Zach Wilson (Scottsdale Saguaro High School) are Arizona natives
· USC DL De’jon Benton attended Pittsburg (Calif.) High School, as did ASU DB Willie Harts
· USC QB J.T. Daniels, OL Frank Martin II, WR Bru McCoy, K Chase McGrath, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, and ILB Solomon Tuliaupupu attended Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei High School, as did ASU OL Alex Losoya
· USC WR/CB Dominic Davis attended Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany High School, as did ASU WR Brandon Pierce and OL Dohnovan West
· USC OLB Hunter Echols attended Los Angeles (Calif.) Cathedral High School, as did ASU DL Stephon Wright
· USC DL Nick Figueroa attended San Bernardino (Calif.) Cajon High School, as did ASU QB Jayden Daniels
· USC LB Spencer Gilbert, LB Ralen Goforth, P Will Rose, CB Chris Steele, and TE Jude Wolfe attended Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco High School, as did ASU
· USC CB Olaijah Griffin attended Mission Viejo (Calif.) High School, as did ASU QB Joey Yellen
· USC LB John Houston, WR John Jackson III, S C.J. Pollard, and CB Max Williams attended Gardena (Calif.) Serra High School, as did ASU LB Merlin Robertson
· USC LB Jordan Iosefa and OL Gino Quinones attended Honolulu (Hawaii) St. Louis High School, as did ASU OL Ben Scott
· USC TE Sean Mahoney attended San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty High School, as did ASU TE Tommy Hudson
· USC LB Raymond Scott attended Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne High School, as did ASU LB Darien Butler
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