USC interim head coach Donte Williams said he doesn't care if it takes until the end of the week to decide on a starting quarterback, he wants third-year starter Kedon Slovis and impressive freshman Jaxson Dart to battle for the job in practice after Dart's breakout debut.
Slovis, who was knocked out of the game at Washington State on Saturday on the first series by a punishing sack, is expected to be cleared to practice this week. Williams has never specified the exact injury, though the television broadcast of the game referred to it as a neck injury. Williams did say Slovis passed all tests.
"Yes, I expect him to be over there at practice tomorrow and to continue to get better. He did some X-rays and an MRI and everything came back negative, so I expect him to be out there as soon as possible and join the quarterback battle," Williams said during his Sunday night Zoom call with reporters.
If it wasn't clear from that statement, Williams doesn't mince words.
It's a stark change from former head coach Clay Helton in terms of the bluntness and authoritative approach Williams maintains in assessing and evaluating all facets of his program.
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Less than a full week into the job, he's already faced with perhaps the biggest decision he'll have to make all season -- what to do at quarterback after Dart set a USC record for passing yards in a debut, coming off the bench to complete 30 of 46 passes for 391 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions plus a team-high 32 rushing yards (with a fumble).
It was the most passing yards for a USC QB since Slovis' 515 against UCLA in 2019, which capped a stretch of four 400-yard performances in the span of five games for the then-freshman.
Slovis got his job by seizing his opportunity when incumbent starter JT Daniels was injured in the 2019 opener, ultimately playing so well that he prompted Daniels to transfer to Georgia after that season. Ironically, Slovis' own injury Saturday opened the door for Dart to assert himself enough that Williams now feels it is a question who starts this coming week vs. Oregon State.
"Me personally as being the head coach, I approach everything as a battle. I think part of why people don't succeed and develop is because they get complacent. That's not just at quarterback, that's at every position. I want to make sure guys are never complacent," he said. "You get too comfortable, you start to all of a sudden realize that practice is maybe not that important to you and you start looking forward to Saturday and the game. I want to make sure that these guys look forward to practice and continue to get better and develop everyday."
It's worth noting that even when he was the cornerbacks coach Williams always projected the "it's always a competition" mentality, but he continued to double-down on the notion of a QB battle with each successive question Sunday night.
"I'll be looking at everything that they do every day and that's not just me. That will be [offensive coordinator Graham Harrell] also, and the offense about who do we feel is a better fit to lead us into that battle on Saturday. That will be something that we'll probably make the decision as late as possible going forward, and that's not really our problem -- that's Oregon State's problem," he said.
"[Harrell and I will] make that decision together on who's a better fit to play this particular game against Oregon State. It's not about last week right now; it's about what we have to do moving forward."
Williams didn't fully clarify whether the first-team reps would be split or that between the first- and second-team work, he'd evaluate everything, clouding the matter a little when he said "it's already an even split in practice."
"Everything those guys do is an even split. That's why we have 1s and 2s and the receivers that are also with the first group they already go with the second group. So that shouldn't be anything different," he said. "We have two running backs that rotate with the first and second group already, so to be honest I don't think it will be a problem when it comes to splitting reps -- we already do that."
But the Trojans haven't been splitting first-team QB reps in terms of who works with what offensive line unit -- at least not when reporters have been allowed in to watch on Tuesdays. To Williams' point, both Slovis and Dart already get reps with most of the first-team WRs and RBs as they rotate between the two units.
It will be something to monitor and clarify Tuesday.
What is clear is Williams very much wants to keep all his options open.
As reported Tuesday, Dart was expected to get a package of plays in that game Saturday regardless. Williams clarified it would have been "just third-and-1, third-and-2, red zone, just different things that provide different sparks for our offense, just to give a wrinkle here and there."
So, he was asked, would he consider playing both QBs in the game this week if the decision isn't totally clear by the end of the week.
"To be honest, if that's what's best that we need to win games, then that's what we're going to do," Williams said. "I think both those guys are more than capable and you got a chance to see what Jaxson did yesterday, but at the same time you got a chance to see what Kedon has done for two-and-a-half years. Last year, we went to the Pac-12 championship and the year before that he came in as a freshman and right away stepped into those shoes and he's also done some good things this season. So it's not like someone that hasn't played a lot of football here, who hasn't done a lot of great things for this school.
"So both guys are more than capable of producing and both guys are capable of playing. If we have to play two quarterbacks going forward to win, then that's what we'll do for our team."
