COLUMN: Perspective on Kedon Slovis' rapid emergence as USC's next star QB

When it was announced over the speakers in the Coliseum that freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis had set the USC single-game passing record Saturday, the offense happened to be in a huddle and Slovis' teammates started congratulating him on the feat.

"He didn't care," right guard Jalen McKenzie shared later. "That's not going to be the only record he breaks."

That's perhaps the most impressive thing about Slovis now -- just nine full games in as USC's starting quarterback, he's made the incredible seem routine.

Slovis completed 37 of 47 passes for 515 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in the Trojans' 52-35 win over UCLA -- breaking Matt Barkley's previous program record of 493 vs. Arizona in 2012 -- and yet it wasn't that different from what the freshman QB has been doing.

This was his fourth 400-yard-plus passing performance in the last five games, and he threw 4 touchdowns in all of them (with 2 combined interceptions in those four contests).

Since returning from the concussion that cost him almost two entire games early in the season, Slovis has passed for 2,510 yards, 23 touchdowns and 5 interceptions over seven games.

And overall, he's thrown for 3,242 yards (the most ever by a USC freshman), 28 TDs and 9 INTs while tying Barkley's program record for career 400-yard games (4), tying another Trojans record with those 37 completions Saturday and passing for the most yards ever by any player on either side of the long-standing USC-UCLA rivalry.

While nothing Slovis does now comes as any surprise, it's important to maintain the perspective that everything he is doing is a surprise based on the expectations he carried into the program as a severely-underrated 3-star recruit.

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"No, I didn't see this coming -- I didn't see him becoming the new superstar quarterback of college football," senior wide receiver Michael Pittman acknowledged Saturday.

Said McKenzie: "I didn't expect him to do all this, but that doesn't mean it wasn't possible. It's just like, wow, he wowed me. But I already knew he had it in him."

So did Trojans offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, of course.

All season as Harrell has been asked to react to Slovis' latest starring performance, he has reminded reporters that he tried to tell everyone back in the spring that the young QB was special. That's always the word he uses -- special.

"The day I stepped out here you knew he was different, and he's done what I expected him to do," Harrell said. "Coming out of spring I thought he was probably as good as any of [our QBs], and then in fall camp he made some freshman mistakes and had some consistency [struggles], but I knew whenever we put him in he was going to be special and he's done exactly what I expected him to do since he's been the starting quarterback."

There's two ways to interpret that -- with neither being that Harrell is an uncommon soothsayer able to see the future like no other. No, he knew what this offense and its stable of playmakers was capable of if it reached peak collective execution (like Saturday), and he saw the obvious physical tools of a very impressive young QB who probably should have had a lot more scholarship offers and stars in his recruiting profile.

To those points, Harrell said that USC's 643-yard offensive performance vs. UCLA is "what it's supposed to look like," and he further emphasized those 515 passing yards were not all about Slovis.

"The thing you also have to acknowledge is he has great players around him, and I thought as a whole unit they did a great job playing together and that's the most important thing. It's not just one guy," he said. "Kedon, he's a special player, and as long as I'm with him I'll tell you that -- he's a good one, but it takes 11 guys playing together to play like that and that's what we had tonight and that's what it's supposed to look like."

Not that Slovis needs any reminder of that. Just like he brushed off his record-breaking achievement in the huddle Saturday, he continued to deflect credit in the postgame media session as usual.

"Obviously it's an honor to be among that list, but I think it just reflects [on] the receiving corps and the players around me. We had four receivers over 100 yards -- I don't think any of those other guys [on the list] had the opportunity to have four of their receivers do that. So it's just a testament to the players around me, I think," he said.

He was asked later if he expects there will come any point where he is able to truly process and reflect on these mounting records and all he's done as a true freshman.

"Maybe, but again, like I think coach Harrell said it a few weeks back, any of you in here could probably throw for over 100 yards with these receivers," Slovis joked. "Yeah, it's exciting to put up numbers and all that, but I think I really have a good team around me that makes it happen."

That is fact -- but it also can't be overstated that USC's playmakers really have a good quarterback leading them. No, make that a potentially elite college quarterback.

This encomium of praise for Slovis could go on and on, but there's plenty of time for that. He is only an 18-year-old true freshman, after all.

But there is one more point that needs to be made -- a trait of Slovis' that has shown itself this fall for those paying close attention, but one that McKenzie put into better perspective Saturday.

The Trojans' starting right guard shared that Slovis picked up the nickname "Field General" at some point along the way -- well before he took over the starting job following JT Daniels' season-ending injury in the opener. All the USC QBs have nicknames, McKenzie said, but Slovis' is telling.

"He has a lot of nicknames, but Field General is one of them because he's really a general out there. A young general, though, but he shows it -- he's a beast," McKenzie said. "I think he [has] the quality of a real leader, a young leader, and his poise is ridiculous. I'd say that.

"For how young he is -- I was a young player once and my position isn't even as stressful as his is -- and his poise is just craz[y]. He could throw an interception, he's going to come down to the whole offense and tell us like, 'F that, we're going out next and we're going to score.' Stuff like that. He's grown up in front of our eyes."

Indeed he has.

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