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USC Football Notes: Final thoughts from Donte Williams ahead of Oregon St.

There wasn't actually any expectation of a clear update regarding the status of freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart, but the question was going to be asked nonetheless Thursday morning as USC interim coach Donte Williams joined reporters on Zoom for his final media availability before the Oregon State game.

"To answer the question, I know everybody wants to ask about our quarterback situation. There's no new updates right there. We'll all find out on Saturday at the game," Williams said.

Dart, who took a shot to his knee in the second quarter Saturday but stayed in to finish the game and pass for 391 yards, 4 TDs and 2 INTs, was not even at practice Tuesday or Wednesday, as veteran starter Kedon Slovis took the first-team reps and freshman Miller Moss the second-team snaps.

While Williams initially acknowledged on Trojans Live on Monday that Dart got "dinged up," was day-to-day and that he was going to be held out to protect him "from himself a little bit," since then all comments about Dart have been beyond vague, like on Tuesday when the coach said: "He just wasn't here today right now so he's dealing with a couple things."

So on Thursday, Williams was asked about the psychology of treating the situation with such mystery, be it gamesmanship or what not.

"It's not really mystery," Williams said. "Like I said, we just make sure we protect Jaxson from Jaxson. That's with anybody on our team. So right now, we have Kedon and Miller that practiced yesterday and I'm happy to talk about those guys and we'll see the quarterback situation on Saturday in the game."

RELATED: Read Donte Williams' full comments from Thursday morning here

If one can take from the developments of the week that Slovis is the expected starter, he is a very intriguing storyline Saturday vs Oregon State.

In his third season as USC's starting QB, a highly-productive All-Pac-12 first-team honoree, Slovis was knocked out of the game on the first series last week with a neck injury after being sacked, and Dart's subsequent breakout performance suddenly spurred talk of the need for an in-season quarterback competition.

Even from Williams himself.

Asked about it Tuesday, Slovis didn't engage on how he's processed all that mentally, but needless to say there will be a lot of scrutiny and a lot riding on his performance Saturday ... assuming he is indeed the quarterback.

"You know what, I see somebody that came to practice and they came hungry as far as they battled back from something that's an injury from the previous game that probably was a targeting that I should have picked up on a little sooner and he bounced back from that and he came out to practice and he was throwing that ball around, taking shots downfield," Williams said. "He already has command of the offense, and a lot of guys in this locker room including myself believe in him. He's won a lot of football games here and he's played and saw a lot of different defenses.

"I saw somebody who's coming back that's just resumed their role where they normally are, which is the starting quarterback. And so far this week he's been able to do that. He's been working with the 1s and the second group, so I look for really good things from him this coming game."

Roster notes ...

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Williams also did not have any updates of note on several other players he was asked about Thursday morning.

On wide receiver Bru McCoy, who has been away from the team since the start of preseason camp following a July arrest for which he was not ultimately charged:

"Status hasn't changed. I have no new updates on that situation," Williams said.

Ditto for running back Kenan Christon, who has not been with the team for at least a couple weeks. His status is noted in the team's official game notes as "removed from team activities" -- the same designation as McCoy.

"The same, status hasn't changed, no new updates on that situation," he said.

Right tackle Jalen McKenzie, who left practice early Tuesday and was not out there Wednesday, is OK, Williams said.

"That particular day in practice it was extremely hot so a little dehydration and had to take him for an IV and stuff. So we just decided to hold him for precautionary reasons and making sure that he's hydrated and everything's fine. That's pretty much it," he said.

Meanwhile, linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu, who saw some special teams action two weeks ago marking his first USC live reps after missing three seasons with injury, was not active in practice this week.

"He's had a little nicks and he has some bruises, so just making sure we take care of him," Williams said.

Coaching the cornerbacks

Since Donte Williams has been elevated to interim head coach, graduate assistant Aaron Williams has taken on a more substantial role with the cornerbacks.

"He’s a guy that I coached in the past, he’s been around me for the last year and a half. So at this point in time, he knows how I want things done, he knows how I want things to look and the guys in that room, they respect him," Donte Williams said. "So you can tell, he’s not someone who’s not talking, not coaching, and everything comes back — in spring football, it’s probably the last two weeks of spring football, I sat in the back of the room and I let him run the meetings just to progress him as a coach and just so those guys continue to hear multiple voices, and I interjected when needed but that right there let me know that he’s ready for this moment. That let me know he can run a meeting, he can go on the field and actually coach those guys so I’m really pleased with what he’s done so far with them and I’m really pleased with the progress that they’ve made."

Safeties coach Craig Naivar has also taken the corners under his umbrella in situations as well, and he talked about that Wednesday after practice.

"We have the corners and safeties together, but other than that it's business as usual," he said. "We've got guys that are capable to help those guys and we've got a good system, so it works."

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