COLUMN: Drake London shows he's ready for starring role in USC offense

Drake London was asked after the game Saturday what he thought he had showed people with his performance.

"To be honest, I really don’t know. I just went out there, played my heart out to try and get a W, and that’s what we ended up with," London said in his typically understated way.

Of course, he didn't have to say anything at all at that point.

For at least this game, London was USC's best offensive player, racking up a team-high 8 catches for 125 yards and the game-winning touchdown in a wild 28-27 victory over Arizona State in the Coliseum.

He seemed to be the Trojans' consistent offensive cheat code when little else was going right. USC would score only two touchdowns through the first three and a half quarters, and London helped set up both of them.

First, he had 20-yard reception on third down in the first quarter, choosing to not be content with merely the first down but rather plowing his way past defenders and barreling down the 2-yard line to set up Stephen Carr's short punch-in. And then in the second quarter, London reeled off back-to-back receptions of 26 yards (a alert catch on a bad third-and-8 pass that deflected through a defenders hands) and 13 yards (with a hurdle and spin for good measure) to get the Trojans across midfield on their way back into the end zone.

And, of course, he grabbed the biggest catch of the night, pulling in the go-ahead 21-yard touchdown on a dart from Kedon Slovis that made its way through two defenders and into London's grasp with 1:20 left in the game.

London also asked, based on that catch, if he had been doing any exercises to strengthen the grip in his finger tips.

"I haven’t been doing anything for grip strength, but I be messing around with those forearm squeeze [things.] I’ll be using those sometimes, but that’s pretty much it," he said.

Whatever London is doing, he certainly flexed on Saturday.

USC fans already knew he was a special player -- he showed that with his 39 catches for 567 yards and 5 touchdowns as a true freshman last season -- and he's now scored in each of his last six games.

But what he showed Saturday is that he may no longer just be a complimentary player in this offense -- the unique slot weapon who is a hybrid between a receiver and a modern pass-catching tight end -- but perhaps a true focal point.

This was his third career 100-yard receiving game and second of at least 125 yards, and while it's easy to get caught up in the moment, it doesn't seem a stretch to expect he'll have several of those games this year. He was that good Saturday, seizing the spotlight on a day when junior Amon-Ra St. Brown had 7 catches for 100 yards and redshirt senior Tyler Vaughns managed 7 receptions for 53 yards.

Perhaps it should be no surprise given how offensive coordinator Graham Harrell hyped up London this preseason

"I think that Drake London is as talented of a player as I've been around," Harrell said last month. "To combine the size that he has with his body control and stuff like that and his ball skills, his toughness, I think he creates natural matchup problems for people. ... Coming into this season he should, I think he'll be playing with a whole different level of confidence because of the experience he has and his role in this offense is going to be vital."

Saturday was a particularly poetic step in London's emergence, though.

If it hasn't become clear from the couple of quotes shared in this story so far, he doesn't say a whole lot about himself and keeps his answers pretty concise.

But when he talked to TrojanSports.com back in August, he shared a particularly interesting bit of insight. It was meant as an innocuous question about his favorite highlight from his breakout freshman season. That's not where London's mind went, though.

"What I'm proud of or just one play that's stuck in my head?" he asked. "The Washington play. I feel like after that play it kind of flipped a switch in me. I just didn't ever want to feel like that again, and I told myself 'I don't want to feel like that ever again. So I just went back to practice, put my head down and just tried to grind. And things started opening up. So I just don't ever want to feel that type of pain and hurt again."

The play in question was an the interception from backup quarterback Matt Fink lobbed toward London a couple yards in front of the goal line late in the fourth quarter against the Huskies. USC was down 28-14 on the road with less than 2:30 remaining with a play that started at the 28-yard line, and theoretically a touchdown there would have kept the Trojans in it, but the defensive back got position on London and leapt up in front of him for the pick to effectively seal the game.

While the outcome of that game wasn't on him in the least, London carried that disappointment with him and let it drive his development and progression within the offense.

And on Saturday, London made the game-changing play for the Trojans and ensured none of his teammates or coaches would have to deal with the what-if pain of feeling like a collective opportunity slipped away.

As for that game-winning touchdown, London of course wasn't going to be the one to make a big deal about it.

"The backer pushed out to me, there was no safety over top and the rest is history," he said simply.

Maybe so too are the days of thinking of London as a third receiving option in this offense ...