Lincoln Riley assesses Gino Quinones' first start at RG, latest at LT

USC was without starting right guard Justin Dedich on Saturday night against Arizona State due to an undisclosed, apparent leg injury, so redshirt junior Gino Quinones made his first career start.

Really, it was Quinones' first significant OL action of any kind as he had played just 18 career offensive snaps prior (16 coming in the season opener vs. Rice).

Riley did not give any indication as to whether he expects Dedich to play this week, though he said after practice Tuesday that the redshirt senior is improving.

"He's better. He's better. It was good that we were able to hold him. Where that leave us, we'll see. We'll keep evaluating him throughout the week. We're trying to be smart," Riley said. "Obviously, we'd love for him to be able to play, but the flip side of it is we've got a lot of the season left and you've got to be smart with him. And obviously if he's not out there it's just a, he didn't break a toenail."

PFF graded out Quinones at a 56.4 (on a 0-100 scale) overall, with a notably low pass protection grade (36.6), marking him for allowing 4 QB hurries on 45 pass-blocking snaps while also committing one penalty. The 4 pressures allowed tied for the most among the Trojans with right tackle Jonah Monheim.

Riley noted that Arizona State had the best set of interior defensive lineman USC had faced all season and that it wasn't an ideal matchup for Quinones to see his first true meaningful game action.

"I thought Gino Quinones did a good job. That's probably the best set of interior defensive linemen we've played all year -- not probably, it is. To come in and get your first start against a good group like that, he held his own," Riley said Monday night on Trojans Live. "He got beat a couple of times, but he did some really, really good things. We're proud of the way that he played."

Monheim echoed those sentiments.

"I was proud of how he prepared all week and I thought he fought. I thought he held his own for the most part," he said. "And he got a little banged up, which didn't help him, but I was proud of how he fought."