2019 Stanford Thursday: Notes

The Trojans held their final practice before Saturday's Pac-12 opener against Stanford.

At the four-week mark of Jordan Iosefa's 4-to-6 week recovery time, Helton still did not have a clear return time. "He's still rehabbing," Helton said. "It's just basically strengthening and recovering from surgery. He is progressing nice but we are not going to rush it." Iosefa is recovering from a dislocated patella that he suffered during summer practice.
Helton had a clear message going into this week's game. "It's really about us, it's about our standard of play and how we execute," Helton said. "No matter who the quarterback is for us, it's about executing. It's about doing the things we did last game and improving on them."

After the injury to JT Daniels in last week's game, Helton acknowledged the team's ability to get the job done. "You walk in at halftime, 17-13, you just had 53 plays, 300 yards, you're up and you're in a battle, and you just lost your quarterback and they find a way," Helton said. "Offensively, defensively, and special teams combined to win that ball game. It was really cool to be able to watch and now we have to be able to improve on what we did last week against a good football team that's coming in here."

Right guard Andrew Vorhees will play after sitting out of practice the early part of the week with a foot injury. "He practiced yesterday, he practiced today, expect him to be available." Helton expects the team will also continue to use Jalen McKenzie at right guard. "We've got a great situation there with Jalen, with Drew (Richmond), having an Andrew (Vorhees) and a Liam Jimmons right there to be guys who can go in at any time, we're in a good position."
Helton expects Brandon Perdue to be the team's third quarterback. "He runs our scout team also and he's comfortable with a list of plays," Helton said. "We've also got Scott Harris and Trevor Scully and they can finish a game out, but I think going in right now it would be Brandon."

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