University Southern California Trojans
2018 ASU Wednesday: Notes
October 24, 2018 | Football, USC Ripsit Blog, Features
The Trojans endured another day of preparation for their game versus Arizona State on Friday.
- Injury report, per USC head coach Clay Helton: TE Tyler Petite (held out with sore shoulder), OT Chuma Edoga (limited with sore knee), DL Caleb Tremblay (out with tendonitis).
- USC QB JT Daniels remains in concussion protocol and is being evaluated every day. "If we get to Friday and it's not happening, then I'll go ahead and say Jack [Sears] is going to be the starter," Helton said.
- The Trojans will likely be without senior linebacker Cameron Smith, who missed the Colorado game and was very limited at Utah. Smith has been dealing with a hamstring issue and had fluid drained from his knee on Tuesday. "Thank goodness we've got [Palaie Gaoteote IV] and Reuben [Peters] playing good ball right now," said Helton.
- Without Smith, who leads the team in tackles, the USC defense struggled to contain Utah. Missed tackles allowed the Utes to exert their will offensively, so the Trojans are working this week to improve. "We had a tackling circuit that Coach Clancy [Pendergast] set up," said DL/LB Christian Rector. "Three stations: open field tackling, using the sideline to our advantage and getting the ball carrier out of bounds and getting him down."
- Rector said ASU QB Manny Wilkins has dual-threat capabilities similar to Utah QB Tyler Huntley, but "he's not looking to run as much" and "he has a better deep ball."
- Senior CB Ajene Harris, who will be tasked with slowing Wilkins down, is playing through a difficult personal loss. On Friday before USC's game at Utah, Harris' father passed away. "It was crazy just how it happened randomly," Harris (pictured below) said. "Lot of emotions. It was tough. But [playing against Utah] was something I wanted to do with my team. Just to get my mind off of it. And just try to help this team as much as possible."
- Helton knows the Trojans will need to bring their A-game on Saturday, despite ASU having lost four of their last five games. "When you look at their performances at Washington and at Colorado, I thought it was ultra-impressive," Helton said. "I think they're doing a great job defensively, giving up just 21 points a game. And that's keeping their offense in games and keeping games close."
- A win on Saturday would keep USC in the running for the Pac-12 South title. "This is an ultra-important game in our season to be able to keep pace with Utah and Colorado, so it's kind of a 'Whatever It Takes' game to get this done versus a good team," Helton said.
Players Mentioned
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ILB
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