The Trojans face a tough Pac-12 road opener against the Arizona State Sun Devils who are coming into the game fresh off a close loss to fifth-ranked Stanford in their Pac-12 opener. The Trojans will have to travel to the rowdy Sun Devil Stadium focused and ready if they want to escape with an emphatic win.
- Kiffin announced today after practice the loss of three players for the 2013 season. Freshman cornerback Devian Shelton will have season-ending foot surgery, freshman offensive tackle Zach Banner will have season-ending hip surgery, and sophomore defensive end Greg Townsend will have season-ending knee surgery. Kiffin said, "We'll miss them but we'll rehab them and they will be ready for next year."
- Speaking of injuries, Kiffin said that Silas Redd will make the trip to Arizona State this Saturday and that he "hopes to see him play." The senior tailback has missed all of the 2013 season so far due to a lingering knee injury from the offseason. Last season for the Trojans, Redd rushed for 905 yards and had 113 receiving yards providing a huge offensive threat for USC.
- Kiffin was extremely impressed with the passing game at today's light practice saying the team made "very few mistakes." He believes the team will need to continue to work hard tomorrow but is ready to go for a big test on the road. The offense will face a huge test in the ASU defense as it boasts an experienced defensive line.
- Specifically, Kiffin spoke highly of ASU's star defensive tackle Will Sutton saying, "Will really is a dominant force at times. He can really disrupt teams...He just has a ton of ability, very powerful. They move him outside sometimes as a defensive end in some packages so not does he just give your center and guards problems but he can give your tackles problems at times too." Sutton racked up an impressive six tackles in the Sun Devil's 42-28 loss to Stanford last Saturday.
- Pat Haden visited with the NCAA today regarding the sanctions imposed against USC. Kiffin praised the athletic director's efforts saying, "I think that once again it shows what Pat has done and is continuing to do for this university's athletic department...This is just another example of Pat fighting for us."
- In regards to the impact of the NCAA sanctions, Kiffin spoke about how limited the Trojans are especially in terms of numbers. On this trip to Arizona State, the Trojans are traveling with 56 recruited scholarship players. Kiffin provided further detail on these limitations saying that they "have really changed our program, changed our practice field, changed how we practice, and the amount of reps the guys play and at some point that becomes a player safety issue."Â
Here is Kiffin speaking about Thursday's light practice and the NCAA sanctions...
