Kedon Slovis' record-setting day powers USC past UCLA
There was a moment of trepidation for USC fans in the second half Saturday, a moment that could have swayed the balance of this rivalry showdown with UCLA.
No, not when the Bruins reeled off back-to-back long touchdown drives with ease against the Trojans defense late in the third quarter.
Earlier in that quarter freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis looked to take a knee to the helmet while scrambling and he remained down on the field for several minutes as the home crowd held its breath.
Losing Slovis was about the only way the Trojans weren't going to win this game because UCLA and its 123rd ranking pass defense had no answer for him.
Fortunately for USC, Slovis returned the next series and picked right up where he left off, leading the Trojans to a 52-35 win while passing for 515 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
Slovis has played only nine full games this fall, but he nonetheless set a single-season USC record for passing yards by a freshman while pushing his total to 3,242 for the season. He also broke the program’s single-game passing record Saturday, surpassing the previous mark of 493 set by Matt Barkley vs. Arizona in 2012.
"I think it just reflects [on] the receiving corps and the players around me," Slovis would say afterward. "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."
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Those weren't the only records he claimed Saturday -- the star freshman also piled up the most passing yards by any player on either side in the history of the USC-UCLA rivalry series and he tied a USC record with his 37 completions.
It was his fourth 400-yard-plus passing performance in the last five games -- tying Barkley's USC record for career 400-yard games -- and he just seems to be one-upping himself week after week.
As for that other moment of suspense Saturday for USC (8-4, 7-2 Pac-12), Slovis made quick work of that.
Again, UCLA (4-7, 4-4) had scored on a 53-yard touchdown from Dorian Thompson-Robinson to Devin Asiasi to cap a 2-minute scoring drive and then moved 73 yards in 8 plays and 2:54 for another touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Thompson-Robinson to Chase Cota, cutting USC's lead to 38-28 with 1:54 left in the third quarter.
Slovis had briefly exited the game just before those two scores, but he had a only a brief stay in the medical tent before starting to get loose again on the sideline.
"You lose your breath for a second and you hope that everything's all right, -- arms are moving, legs are moving," coach Clay Helton said. "He got a little whiplash there, nothing concussion-wise. They fully checked him out, just took a deep breath and he was like, 'Coach, I'm fine. I got hit good, got a little whiplash, I'm ready to go.' ... Yeah, you hold your breath for a second."
With the Trojans defense crumbling, it was clear Slovis and Co. would have to keep answering.
And on the first play of the fourth quarter, Slovis took a couple steps to his right and uncorked a strike downfield to Tyler Vaughns, who had found a gap in the defense, for a 49-yard touchdown to push the lead again.
"[The defender] was playing me a little bit outside, I gave a little head move, he fell for it and I just took off," Vaughns said. "He threw a perfect ball, just where I could get it and go."
Overall Saturday, Slovis had completions of 24 yards (to Amon-Ra St. Brown), 22 (Drake London), 20 (St. Brown), 46 (London), 21 (St. Brown), 32 (London, TD), 49 (the TD to Vaughns) and 21 yards (Carr).
The 46-yard hookup to London -- released as Slovis was about to get hit and thrown perfectly down the right seam dropping into the receivers' hands -- set up a 1-yard Vavae Malepeai touchdown for an early 10-7 lead.
The 32-yard touchdown strike to London came early in the third quarter when the freshman receiver got wide open downfield and waited for the on-the-money throw that gave the hosts a 31-14 lead.
Slovis is becoming not only the story of USC's football season, but also one of the great stories in college football this fall -- the once-underrated 3-star prospect who wasn't expected to play this year and is now rewriting the USC record book.
"I'm proud of what he's become," Helton said. "Most importantly, I'm proud of how coachable he is and learns from mistakes and gets better with each time."
And as usual of late, Slovis' band of playmakers stuffed the stat sheet as well.
London had 8 catches for 142 yards and a touchdown for his second straight 100-yard game while scoring a touchdown in a fourth straight game.
St. Brown had 8 catches for 128 yards, Vaughns had 6 catches for 106 yards and a TD, Michael Pittman had 13 catches for 104 yards and 2 TDs, running back Stephen Carr had 87 rushing yards and a TD and a 21-yard catch and Vavae Malepeai rushed for 60 yards and 2 TDs in his return after missing the last five games due to a knee injury.
It marked the first time in program history that four receivers each tallied at least 100 yards through the air. Overall, USC's 643 yards were its most since putting up 737 on Idaho in 2015. And the Trojans needed that kind of performance with UCLA piling up 540 yards, led by Thompson-Robinson's 367 passing yards and 3 TDs to go with 64 rushing yards and another TD.
USC has won five of its last six games and remains a game behind Utah in the Pac-12 South, needing the Utes to lose next week against Colorado to open a path to the conference championship game. If not, the Trojans still have a bowl game awaiting regardless after rallying from a 5-4 crossroads.
"We just don't listen to outside noise. People are going to talk whether you're 10-0 or whether you're 5-5. There's always going to be people talking, so we just close out that noise and we just keep fighting," Pittman said. "Because I think it's all about us -- we just fight as a team."
With no more games on the schedule, Helton said the team will practice Monday and Tuesday before taking a break for Thanksgiving. The Trojans will also start taking another look at Pac-12 North leader Oregon just in case that unlikely Pac-12 title game scenario falls into place.
"It's going to give us a chance to be able to get re-energized, get healthy, put some work in towards Oregon and, like I said, just have the belief that something great's going to happen for us in December because of this win today," he said.
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