- The injury list is not a pretty picture these days. In case you missed it, LT Chad Wheeler (torn ACL) is out for the season, and OLB J.R. Tavai (sprained knee) is out 3-4 weeks. Plus, FB Soma Vainuku (hamstring) remains doubtful. OL Damien Mama aggravated his early season knee injury in practice today.
- WR George Farmer (hamstring) and WR Ajene Harris (hamstring) were able to get in some practice work. S Gerald Bowman is also back on the practice field.
- Without Wheeler, freshman Toa Lobendahn moved out to left tackle, which slots Khaliel Rodgers or Mama in at left guard. Aundrey Walker is still a candidate to start at left tackle, and Nathan Guertler could be back in the rotation. "Chad went down, I'm going to miss him, but we've got to fill in the spot so coach let me know I was going to play tackle this week," said Lobendahn. "It might change by game time."
- Lobendahn played left tackle throughout high school, but he needs to get back into rhythm having mentally switched to the interior line spots this year. "It felt good, high school memories," said Lobendahn. "It was fun being out there. It's a lot more thinking just because I haven't been playing there all year but it's going to be fun."
- If Walker is going to hold off the freshman, he needs to find more "consistency" in his game, explained Sarkisian, who talked to the senior about that today. "He's got a great opportunity this week."
- On the outside, the Trojans are relying on freshman as well, and JuJu Smith has rewarded that faith with touchdowns in back-to-back games. "I've been growing throughout the season very well as a young freshman coming," Smith said. "I'm just doing anything I can to help in any way possible."
- As a team, the Trojans are still in search of the "killer instinct" it takes to finish off opponents. "I have not done a good enough job of developing that yet," Sarkisian took the blame. "We found a way not to win those two games, and that falls solely on me."
- Again, despite a depleted roster, Sarkisian makes no excuses, "We are good enough to win. I feel like we should be a 7-1 football team right now and undefeated in conference play."
- Since the game ended, Sarkisian has been searching in his motivational bag of tricks for ways to inspire the team to play a complete game. "I need to be creative. I need to find ways to reach these guys better than I have," he said.
- Here is Sarkisian's full press conference...
