Vavae Malepeai in doubt for Pac-12 title game after season-best performance

For the first time all season, USC had a running back top 100 yards on the ground in a game, as Vavae Malepeai rumbled for 110 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries Saturday vs. UCLA.

It was also the first time all season the Trojans had committed to a true lead back, veering away from their otherwise congested running-back -by-rotation formula.

And yet USC may have to come up with a new plan for the Pac-12 championship game matchup with Oregon on Friday.

Malepeai came out of the game Saturday in the fourth quarter and coach Clay Helton said Monday that the redshirt senior has a sprained knee and his status for this week is uncertain.

"We'll see where that goes to, but he did not do anything yesterday -- will continue to be in rehab and we'll monitor through the week. I'll let you know exactly where that's at later in the week," Helton said.

Malepeai got those 19 carries in the win over the Bruins while senior Stephen Carr got 7 and redshirt sophomore Markese Stepp and sophomore Kenan Christon drew 1 carry each.

The previous week against Washington State, it was an entirely different story all around as no RB got more than 5 carries (Stepp) as the Trojans' backs combined for just 25 yards on 16 attempts. For most of the season, it has been a fairly balanced three-way split when all the RBs have been healthy, with Christon often the odd man out.

But the dormant rushing attack was the subject of persistent scrutiny through last week, and it seems the coaching staff was indeed motivated to try something different in condensing that backfield split. Overall, Malepeai played 57 offensive snaps to Carr's 23.

Helton indicated that was a premeditated plan.

"Vavae I thought really got hot in that game. We had gone into the game deciding that we would go 29 (Malepeai) and 7 (Carr) for the majority of it, and Vavae really got hot and really was feeling it, you could see. So we rode him," Helton said. "I thought when Stephen came in, it went unseen, Stephen made some unbelievable protection pickups for us, especially on third-down pressures, did a really nice job in some of the bigger plays of the game, to be honest with you. So both those two kids had a big role for us. Vavae got the numbers, but Stephen really was able to get some of the hidden success in pass pro."

Helton didn't directly answer a question about whether Stepp, who entered the game as the Trojans' leading rusher in a rather small sample size, was fully healthy. He had racked up a steady 26 carries through the first two games before missing the Utah game with a pectoral strain and then getting only 5 carries vs. Washington State. He was brought in to convert a third-and-1 in the second half Saturday vs. UCLA while logging only 4 snaps in total.

It sounds like his role could increase Friday, though.

"With Vavae possibly being out, I even met with Markese yesterday and said, 'Hey, this is going to be an unbelievable opportunity if Vavae can't go, and you have to take the approach that each opportunity of being that style of back, that physical style of back, we're going to need in this game,'" Helton said. "So it's a great opportunity for him and Kenan Christon and Stephen to help us go win a championship if Vavae can't go."

Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, meanwhile, was also asked about the plan to lean more heavily on one back.

"I think that Vae's obviously a very good player that we like a lot and he does everything well. Like I said since the beginning, he's a consistent guy that knows how to do everything and does everything at a high level, and so he's a guy we trust and that is a really good football player," Harrell said.

Malepeai had consecutive runs of 11, 8, 1 and 7 yards at the end of the first quarter while starting to get things going. But his biggest contribution came late in the third quarter and early in the fourth after USC started mounting a comeback from a 35-23 deficit. He opened the ensuing possession after a long UCLA touchdown with a game-high 19-yard burst up the middle, followed immediately by a 9-yard check-down reception and 7-yard run to get the Trojans across midfield. Malepeai would eventually cap the drive with a 10-yard touchdown scamper through the gut of the Bruins defense to give USC some much-needed fresh momentum.

"To have him be as successful as he was was big for us, and like I said, if a guy's playing at a high level, we can keep him in, roll with him and it gives that guy a chance to get in a rhythm," Harrell said. "And that's what Vae did and had a chance to be successful the other day."

Except that really has not at all been the Trojans' M.O. to this point of the season (or last season) as they've seemingly tried to keep everyone happy in the backfield with what has often felt like a preset rotation.

Many have advocated that it would be better for the team to give one back a chance to build some rhythm and flow, and it worked Saturday. It will be interesting to see if the Trojans look to replicate the formula Friday vs. Oregon even if Malepeai isn't involved.

For his part, though, Harrell doubled down on his comments from last week that there was too much outside focus on the running game from fans and media.

"I think y’all look at that a lot more than I do, to be honest with you. We’re always going to do what we’ve got to do to win football games. So I think that getting that going obviously helps the cause. It’s something that we want to do. We want to run the ball at a high level. We have good players there. I think Vae is a really, really good football player. But I think the most important thing is that we have to do whatever we’ve got to do to win football games," Harrell said. "If that’s running the ball every snap, then we’ll run the ball every snap. If they’re going to load the box like Washington State did and try to stop the run and be vulnerable on the perimeter, then we’re going to attack them there. I think the key is to do whatever we’ve got to do to give ourselves the best chance to win. That’s what we’ve tried to do each week.

"I think, UCLA did a nice job of mixing it up. But going in, we thought, if they play soft coverage, we can really run the ball at an effective level, and I was glad to see us do that. ... If we can get a guy averaging over 5 yards per carry [like Malepeai did Saturday], that’s really going to help the offense. That’s going to put us in a position to be successful, and that’s going to help everyone. Some teams, to be honest with you -- I was surprised the way Washington State played us. I figured they’d come in and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to dare these guys to run the football and not let those talented receivers beat us.’ That was my thought going in, but especially in the first half, they loaded the box and dared us to throw the football. That’s how you get a lot of points hung on in you in a hurry. ... At the end of the day, again, we’re going to do whatever we do. We’re going to try and attack them wherever they’re the weakest and whatever gives us the best chance to win football games."