USC football 2019 season preview: Best and worst-case scenario

USC football faces a critical season with Clay Helton at the helm as the head coach tries to cool off his seat and lead the Trojans to a successful 2019.

Sam Darnold’s departure after the 2017 season seemingly left the USC Trojans in shambles. With true freshman JT Daniels replacing him, Clay Helton and the Trojans limped to a sub-standard 5-7 season in 2018. That led to questions about whether or not Helton would remain the man at the head of USC football but that drama was fruitless as he’s back once again entering a crucial 2019 season.

There’s good reason to think that Daniels should progress — assuming he holds off Jack Sears — in his second season as the starter. The quarterback showed glimpses of his talent but was hindered by injuries and poor offensive line play. However, a loaded receiving group led by Michael Pittman Jr. and Amon-Ra St. Brown and an improved offensive line should make the signal-caller’s life easier and allow his natural talent to shine.

Defensive inexperience is a concern for USC this season, particularly in the secondary. Talanoa Hufanga is the only returning starter (though he did so in just five games last year) and there is a bevy of freshman competing for snaps as a part of that unit. The defensive line is stout and Christian Rector is a productive pass-rusher but the linchpins will be the young secondary and a linebacker corps that was up and down last season.

Helton could be coaching for his future with USC football in the 2019 season, which puts real stakes on this year. But what are the best- and worst-case scenarios for the Trojans as their head coach faces that kind of pressure? Let’s take a look at each outcome.

USC football best-case scenario

• Aug. 31 – vs. Fresno State – W
• Sept. 7 – vs. Stanford – W
• Sept. 14 – at BYU – W
• Sept. 20 – vs. Utah – W
• Sept. 28 – at Washington – L
• Oct. 12 – at Notre Dame – L
• Oct. 19 – vs. Arizona – W
• Oct. 25 – at Colorado – W
• Nov. 2 – vs. Oregon – L
• Nov. 9 – at Arizona State – W
• Nov. 16 – vs. California – W
• Nov. 23 – vs. UCLA – W

Record: 9-3 (7-2 Pac-12)

Road games against Washington and Notre Dame — in back-to-back games, no less — aren’t going to do USC any favors in the 2019 season. Even if things start to break right for the Trojans, those two teams are superior in terms of their roster talent. Having to match up with the Huskies and the Fighting Irish on the road is not something that’s going to turn out well for Helton’s team.

If things are going the Trojans’ way, though, they can compete with every team in the conference, particularly if they’re playing at home. With that being the case, they go 1-1 in the best-case scenario in games against Oregon and Utah. Here, they’re losing to the Ducks. However, if they were to lose to the Utes and beat Oregon, the same point would stand.

The best-case scenario playing out hinges both on how Daniels shows up in year two as the starter and how the USC defense is able to come together despite the youth on the back end.

USC football worst-case scenario

• Aug. 31 – vs. Fresno State – W
• Sept. 7 – vs. Stanford – L
• Sept. 14 – at BYU – W
• Sept. 20 – vs. Utah – L
• Sept. 28 – at Washington – L
• Oct. 12 – at Notre Dame – L
• Oct. 19 – vs. Arizona – W
• Oct. 25 – at Colorado – W
• Nov. 2 – vs. Oregon – L
• Nov. 9 – at Arizona State – L
• Nov. 16 – vs. California – W
• Nov. 23 – vs. UCLA – W

Record: 6-6 (4-5 Pac-12)

If this worst-case scenario pans out, Helton can go ahead and buy his plane ticket out of Los Angeles. Yes, this would be a one-game improvement over the mark they set last season but it’s still wholly sub-optimal by the standards of USC football.

Should Daniels still show inconsistency at quarterback, the offense is going to be unreliable. And should the young players on defense not be able to slot relatively seamlessly into their roles, the defense won’t inspire much confidence either. That’s the worst possible outcome for USC and, if it happens, they’re not going to be able to beat any of the best teams on their schedule.

Furthermore, they could struggle in games they should win, hence the loss at Arizona State late in the season. The good news is that the worst-case scenario seems less likely than the best case. However, it’s still a possibility, one that Helton and the men of Troy will have to fight off throughout the 2019 season.