COLUMN: Enjoy the special moments, accept the rookie ones from Kedon Slovis

TEMPE, Ariz. -- There are passes that average college football quarterbacks just don't make, moments that foretell legitimate and tangible high-end potential.

USC freshman Kedon Slovis makes those throws.

He did it again Saturday at Arizona State. For that matter, Slovis had a number of big throws in that 31-26 win -- that's how a guy piles up 432 passing yards and 4 TDs -- but there is one in particular that reinforces the point here.

It was the end of a masterful first quarter for the true freshman from nearby Scottsdale, a third-and-7 with the Trojans backed up all the way to their own 5-yard line. Slovis did a quick drop-back and scan of the field and honed in on Amon-Ra St. Brown down the seam as if plugging in precise coordinates. It didn't matter that three Arizona State defenders had the wideout nearly flanked from all sides -- only that St. Brown had just enough of a step on the coverage that a perfect throw could lead to a big gain.

So Slovis unleashed one, whistling the ball as accurately as could be done -- as needed to be done -- for St. Brown to catch it in stride and pull away from the chasing defensive backs for a 95-yard touchdown.

"It was a great throw. He put it right in the sweet spot. He throws that really good ball," St. Brown said. "... I looked book and there wasn't much pressure on him, so I said I'm going to continue on my route. I figured he was going to throw it because I ran past the down safety. He made a great throw."

Explained Slovis: "I mean on that play you have a good option either way you go, so you kind of work towards Pitt [Michael Pittman] and the safety kind of widened and Amon just kind of ran past him. He made a great play, I just gave it to him. You don't expect him to make a 95-yard reception like that. It was a great play."

That put Slovis at 297 yards passing and 4 touchdowns by the end of the first quarter.

It wasn't all great for the strong-armed freshman. He threw one interception on a deep overthrow early and almost threw a calamitous pick-6 late that was fortunately negated by a penalty on Arizona State away from the pass.

Neither he nor the Trojans could sustain their strong start, as USC scored only 3 points the rest of the way after jumping out to that 28-7 first quarter lead and Slovis finished 29 of 39 for 432 yards and those 4 TDs. To be fair, he also missed about a quarter of play in the second half with cramping in his calf. ("They gave him three bags of fluid," head coach Clay Helton revealed afterward).

The point is not to excuse the QB's mistakes or the sluggish second half overall when USC couldn't seem to buy a first down when it really needed it. The point is to accept them. Hear me out ...

The Slovis bandwagon has had to install turnstiles to facillitate the frequency of supporters jumping on and off this fall -- many going all in on his potential and annointing him the QB of the future (over injured starter JT Daniels) at times and overcorrecting the overreaction at others.

While Slovis' season may seem inconsistent, it's actually been exactly what one should expect from a QB of his obvious talent and relative inexperience. He's going to have brilliant moments on the field because his potential is that great, and he's going to play like a true freshman at other times because, well, that's what he is.

Remember, Slovis' 3-star recruiting ranking -- which we know now to be off the mark -- was due in part to him havingto wait until his junior season of high school to become the starter and playing for a Desert Mountain HS team low on D1 talent and wins. He wasn't exactly expected to play this season for the Trojans with Daniels a year more experienced and named the starter to open the fall.

So yes, Slovis is learning on the job still -- as should have been expected all along. He's not a finished product and he's not going to make all the right decisions all the time. He is going to hold on to the ball too long in spots, he is going to take too many risks and he's going to make some errant reads.

But he's also shown he's going to make his share of incredible plays while proving that the Trojans got a steal in the 2019 recruiting class in what was supposed to be a lower-priority sandwich year at the position between 5-star Daniels and then-4-star 2020 commit Bryce Young (who is now committed to Alabama).

Slovis beat out two older QBs in the preseason to earn the No. 2 job. He was then thrust into the starting role two quarters into the season. And he already has more 400-yard passing games in the last three weeks (two) than the great Sam Darnold had in two seasons as the Trojans starter and as many as Cody Kessler had in three years as the starter before that. Darnold threw for 26 TDs and 13 INTs his last season at USC -- Slovis has 20 TDs and 9 picks in his first year with three games to go (including the bowl game).

No, that's that a defining comparison nor is it meant to be one -- it's a different offense, those are cherry-picked stats to make a point and Darnold delivered the Trojans to collective heights with a Rose Bowl victory and a Pac-12 title those years. USC's QB play has not reached that bar in the two seasons since he left.

The point is merely to lend some perspective to the numbers Slovis is putting up and remind that he has shown a ton already this fall even if it's been a rocky ride at times.

Earlier this week, offensive coordinator Graham Harrell offered his own perspective on Slovis' performance and potential, noting the QB's need to protect the football better but also to emphasize that this is just the early stages of what he can be.

"Really the only true freshman quarterback I've been around was Mason [Fine] at North Texas and his improvement from year one to year two was unbelievable. So Kedon with a full year under his belt and obviously you've got to go earn the job -- whoever's here, that's the thing about us, we're going to make people compete -- but when you have a full year under your belt the improvement from year one to year two is unbelievable from what I've seen. Really, that's in any system and any quarterback," Harrell said.

"... I think the sky's the limit for that kid. He's as talented of a kid as I've ever been around and mentally he's really, really sharp. I don't think you're around kids like that real often, so for him the sky's the limit and that will be the expectation for him as long as I work with him, to be really special, because he's capable of being really special."

Slovis has three games left this fall if he stays healthy. He'll probably throw some more picks in that span. He may well lose another fumble trying to extend a play in the pocket. He'll learn from all of those moments.

But there are a lot of teams around the country that would love to have a QB with the confidence, arm strength and touch to throw that strike to St. Brown for the 95-yarder. Or any other number of highlights this season.

USC has a very interesting situation ahead next summer if Daniels is cleared to return from his knee injury to compete for his old job with a year older and more refined Slovis.

It will be entertaining to watch, but so too is Slovis' trial by fire this fall as long as one can appreciate the great moments and acknowledge the freshman ones are to be expected.

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