The 2019 USC football season, while not one that Trojans fans would necessarily claim as memorable, had its moments nonetheless.
Mostly, it will be remembered for freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis' eye-opening, stat-stuffing arrival.
We take a look back at Slovis' numbers and others that define the campaign and put them in further context.
3,502
-Slovis finished with 3,502 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. That's the ninth most passing yards in a single season by a USC quarterback, and he was only 129 yards away from cracking the top five on that list. Considering that Slovis only played nine full games, plus the second half of the season opener, 2 pass attempts vs. Utah and a little more than two quarters in the bowl game makes that number even more impressive.
282
-The QB's 282 pass completions (on 392 attempts) were just 33 away from matching Cody Kessler's program record of 315 set in 2014.
71.94
And as USC tweeted out, it found that Slovis' 71.9 completion percentage was the highest by a true freshman in NCAA history.
346.25
-Slovis really settled in after his two-game concussion absence, returning to pass for 2,770, 25 touchdowns and 5 interceptions over the final eight games. That works out to an average of 346.25 passing yards per game, which if it reflected his full body of work would rank third nationally behind Washington State's Anthony Gordon (429.2 yards per game) and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow of LSU (372.0). Even with the partial games counting, Slovis still ranked ninth nationally at 291.8 passing yards per game.
4
-Slovis' four 400-yard passing games -- accomplished over the final five weeks of the regular season -- already matches Matt Barkley's USC career record, and Barkley didn't top 400 yards until his third season. Slovis, of course, also broke Barkley's single-game passing record with 515 yards vs. UCLA.
335.77
USC set program records for team passing yards (4,365) in a season and passing yards per game (335.77), besting the previous high of 319.8 set in 2005.
101-1,275
Michael Pittman was recognized as a Biletnikoff Award finalist after putting together one of the best seasons ever by a USC wide receiver, with 101 catches for 1,275 yards and 11 touchdowns. That's the fifth-most receptions in program history and the ninth-most receiving yards in a season.
3
With Pittman and Amon-Ra St. Brown (1,042), USC had two 1,000-yard receivers in a season for the first time since 2011 when Robert Woods (1,292) and Marqise Lee (1,143) accomplished the feat. The Trojans almost had three players reach that mark this year as Tyler Vaughns (912 yards) came up just short while missing most of one game with an ankle injury. But that still qualifies as history as USC had never had three 900-yard receivers in a season before.
118.2
Conversely, the rushing stats weren't so impressive. USC's 118.2 rushing yards per game was the lowest for the program since 2001 (87.7).
503
Vavae Malepeai led the Trojans in rushing with 503 yards -- the lowest total for a USC rushing leader since Sultan McCullough's 410 in 2001.
104
John Houston led the Trojans with 104 tackles -- just the third time in the last 15 seasons USC has had a player top 100 tackles (along with T.J. McDonald's 112 in 2012 and Cam Smith's 112 in 2017).
29.38
While the offense improved significantly in 2019, the defense continued to slide in the other direction, giving up 29.38 points per game. That's the second-wost total all-time for the Trojans behind only the 2000 season when they gave up 30.6 points per game. In fact, the last three seasons -- 27.0 in 2018 and 26.1 in 2017 -- are three of the five worst defensive seasons in program history in terms of points allowed. Not coincidentally, USC will have a new defensive coordinator in 2020.
408.5
To that point, USC's 408.5 yards allowed per game is the worst total in program history.
11.5
On a positive note, defensive end Drake Jackson's team-high 11.5 tackles for loss were the third-most by a true freshman in the country, behind Purdue's George Karlaftis (17.0) and Oregon's Kayvon Thibodeaux (14.0).
67.5
USC ranked 117th nationally in penalty yards, piling up an average of 67.5 per game despite head coach Clay Helton's pledge to improve the Trojans' discipline in that regard.
29.78
USC ranked last out of 130 FBS teams in kickoff coverage, allowing opponents an average of 29.78 yards per return -- including two touchdowns.
-0.77
The Trojans forced 16 turnovers and coughed up 26 to rank 119th nationally in turnover margin at -0.77 per game.
