As shown in USC’s dominant win over Stanford, Kedon Slovis, in Graham Harrell’s offense, can make the Trojans the team to beat in the Pac-12 South.
With JT Daniels out for the rest of the season with a devastating injury, the USC Trojans were forced to turn to freshman Kedon Slovis as they faced the Stanford Cardinal. Losing Daniels for nine to 12 months might end up hindering the Trojans at some point.
However, on Saturday night, it appeared that Slovis is a better fit for Graham Harrell’s schemes.
In the season opener, against Fresno State, Daniels had an efficient yet uninspiring performance. He completed 25-of-34 passes for 215 yards, a touchdown and an interception. While Fresno State was solid in 2018, the Bulldogs aren’t even close to being a national title contender or a standard-bearer for defensive strength.
When faced with the task of trying to beat one of the Pac-12’s best defenses, Slovis excelled, completing a ridiculous 84.8 percent of his passes for 377 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
With Slovis behind center, operating what Harrell designs on offense, the Trojans were borderline unstoppable once they got moving. That sort of efficiency and explosiveness has to be exactly what head coach Clay Helton hoped for when he hired Harrell. It’s definitely what the Trojans need to compete in a chaotic Pac-12 right now.
However, this is hardly the last time that Slovis will be tested. In a couple of weeks, the Trojans will take on Utah for what would be an advantage in the Pac-12 South race. Just one week following that huge matchup, the Trojans head north to face the Washington Huskies.
There’s no guarantee Slovis will continue to perform at the level that he did against Stanford, but Trojan fans have a real reason to be hopeful this season.
Daniels was seemingly struggling to adapt to Harrell’s offense. In his first real test, that didn’t seem to be the case for Slovis. Hopefully, Daniels is able to heal quickly and can return to 100 percent sooner rather than later. But once he does return from injury, he’s going to face an uphill battle trying to get his job back.
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