BYU Tuesday: Notes

The media came out in large numbers to talk about the big win over Stanford, but the Trojans have turned their attention to BYU.

Freshman QB Kedon Slovis was mobbed by a media scrum made up mostly of reporters who did not know who he was just a week ago. "Quite a bit more than I'm used to, but it doesn't change anything," Slovis said about the attention. "At this point, we have to keep our eyes forward and focus on BYU."

After the game, Slovis immediately called his dad and then put his phone away for the rest of the night. He has been bombarded by text messages of support, and he was particularly grateful to USC legend Matt Leinart for reaching out.

Head coach Clay Helton is not worried about Slovis dealing with the spotlight. "I have been thoroughly impressed with his maturity, not only in his preparation, but in his execution on game day. He's always been a very humble kid."

Slovis deferred the credit for his performance to his offensive line, which kept him upright all night long. "My guys came out there and did a great job for me," he said. "When the guys do such a great job up front, it's not really that difficult. You're playing 7-on-7 practically out there."

OC Graham Harrell preaches to his quarterbacks, "Do the simple things well," and that's what impressed him about Slovis on Saturday night. He took what was there and let the playmakers make plays. And when nothing was there, he did not force the ball. Instead, he ran for positive yardage and got down before taking the big hit. "When the bullets are flying, either you've got it or you don't," Harrell said.

While the offensive performance against Stanford was impressive, the Trojans need to prove they can do it again on Saturday in Provo. "We just have to stay consistent and build on what we did last week," Harrell said. "You're judged on a week-to-week basis, so we have to continue to perform at a high level."

Asked about the possibility of a trap game, Helton said, "We are not here to win one big game. We are here to have a great season." And, he's asked his team to show the maturity it takes to handle prosperity.

The Trojans have proven they can handle adversity through two games, bouncing back from losing JT Daniels in game one and then coming back from down 14 points in game two. "We knew that we had to fall to our training when we were down. We didn't panic," said WR Tyler Vaughns. "We know we can do it. We just have to go out there and do it."

Helton explained that the "training" this summer involved putting the players in adverse conditions during the offseason workouts to see if they could rally together and work as a team. Against Stanford, the coaches saw the fruit of that plan.

The teamwork mentality also relates to the Air Raid spreading the ball around. USC is loaded with talented skill position players, many who could be the No. 1 target on other teams, but this group has to be selfless to make the offense work. "Just knowing that we can have 70 snaps a game, everybody's going to touch the ball," Vaughns said. "You don't have to really worry about the ball. Just worry about your brother eating and once one person's eating, you can just feed off of it. It feeds back and forth."

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