USC Football Notes: The disappearing running game, injury updates and more

USC coach Clay Helton had said after the win over Washington State on Sunday night that he'd be ready to discuss the Trojans' sluggish rushing attack more in-depth in his next media opportunity.

So as expected, he and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell were peppered with questions Tuesday morning after the Trojans finished with 5 net rushing yards vs. the Cougars (including lost sack yardage) while the running backs carried the ball 16 times for 25 yards in total.

"I went back and watched it a couple times, and it looked like we all took turns, to be honest with you. I've always thought a good run game has to include all 11 men. Everybody thinks about the offensive line, the blockers, but it’s also the wide receivers out on the perimeter being able to block. It’s the quarterback when we have RPO’s, making the right decision. It’s the runners making yards after contact and making safeties miss. We just all took turns," Helton said. "I went back and watched it. There was a little bit more loaded box than I thought in the second half. They played a lot more two-high than they did in the first. We still got some calls into a loaded box, then we had a physical beat, a physical 1-on-1 beat on a counter play. We missed a twist game pick-up on a draw. We had a couple times where the ball probably could’ve been spit out to the RPO versus a loaded box. Then, as runners, I talked to the guys yesterday, I thought we just got what was there.

"They had done a great job this season in yards after contact and making people miss and creating explosive runs, and you know, they got us down. We had some opportunities 1-on-1 with a safety and the safety made a great play. I couldn’t just point out one thing. I went through each and every play, and every play somebody else took the turn. It was really one person. It wasn’t an entire group and it was at different positions. In the second half, we all needed to do better across the board and [I] expressed that to our football team."

RELATED: Watch the full Zoom session with Clay Helton, Graham Harrell and WR Gary Bryant Jr.

Not to dispute any of those specific observations, but USC fans would counter that the running game has been an issue in a broader sense most of the season.

While the coaching staff heralded its 173 rushing yards against a bad Arizona defense (actually 174 yards on 30 attempts by just the running backs), the counter was made that 105 of those yards came on three big plays while the other 27 averaged a meager 2.6 yards per carry, including 14 carries that went for 2 or fewer yards.

Against Utah, the Trojans managed only 93 net rushing yards, but in the scope of the RBs it was actually 114 yards on 26 carries. Runs of 47 and 14 yards accounted for more than half of that while the other 24 carries averaged 2.2 yards. Even throwing out the final three runs (of -2, 0 and -1) as the Trojans were killing clock in the final 1:30 before tacking on a field goal, 11 of the 23 other RB carries went for 2 or fewer yards.

So this has been a problem most of the season -- Sunday the numbers just became so glaring they couldn't be ignored. Of those 16 carries, 11 went for 2 or fewer yards, against a Washington State defense that had given up 269 rushing yards to Oregon in its last game.

While it is clearly more than a one-game issue, it is also only fair to state a couple of other points ...

Harrell revealed Tuesday that USC's offensive line didn't practice together at all last week leading up to the game until the Saturday session (or the week prior as the COVID-19 situation wiped out practices and the Colorado game). The Trojans also started true freshman Courtland Ford at left guard and leaned heavily on another true freshman Jonah Monheim at right guard, with both guys seeing their first action.

"The only guy that played in practice was Courtland so the rest of those guys came out of a hotel on Saturday afternoon and showed up and played on Sunday and like I said, I think it's a credit to them they were still able to play at the level they played at," Harrell said.

Also, and Harrell would make this point as well, the rushing struggles didn't really matter on Sunday night as USC scored the game's first 35 points in a quarter and a half and cruised to an easy win.

So when he was asked how concerned he is about the running game, Harrell responded bluntly.

"Well, I think when a quarterback goes 17 of 17 to end a half and throws five touchdowns, you're doing some things well. So, that's our level of concern," he said.

He later elaborated that he felt with Washington State giving USC advantageous man coverage matchups in the passing game -- which this offense rarely sees anymore -- that was where the Trojans' best opportunities were Sunday night.

"I think more than anything, like I said with the quarterback, if they're going to play man coverage, then your matchups are gonna be on the perimeter. I think the Washington State game, their plan was to stop the run so they put extra people in the box and left themselves open on the perimeter and when you do that, it can create, like I said, it can be a long night for you, especially when you got talent out there like we do," Harrell said. "So I think that's what you saw. ... They were trying a lot of twisting and stuff like that to try to disrupt the run and try to create pressure in the pass rush. But again, to do that, if you're gonna put extra people in the box you're gonna make yourself vulnerable on the perimeter and we took advantage of the matchups we had."

Helton seemed to have the same frustration Sunday night with the line of questions because, again as is fair to point out, the Trojans did build a 35-point lead and close out a 25-point win while controlling the game from start to finish.

The larger point, of course, would be that not all games will go that way and there will be times -- albeit the season is almost over at this point -- where the Trojans will need to get more out of the running game, and it remains a major doubt as to whether they can do that.

Helton made a big deal earlier this season of saying he felt the difference between USC's offensive success last year and the teams that were truly in national contention came down to more production from the running game. He set the bar for the team to get to 170-175 rushing yards each game.

So, he was asked Tuesday, does he still believe that's an essential component to this team achieving its full potential?

"I think so, I really do. Because at some point in time, if you go back to those first two games, there may be a game where your quarterback is slightly off. Like the Arizona game. And you’re going to need that rushing attack to take some pressure off of him. That 175 yards that happened in that game was important. It is a priority for us. It’s something we work towards," Helton said. "Now, I will say this, if you line up in Cover-1 and Cover-3 every snap, you’re probably going to get a lot of throws from us. That happened a lot, especially in the first half, and more in the second half than I thought. We got a little more advantage coverages and didn’t take advantage in the second half.

"But if you come to the park and play man, there’s a good chance you’re going to see a lot of throws. We bank on our playmakers making those plays, and they did. It’s something we always want to improve on. I think it’s the mark of a good offense, being able to run the ball when needed. Not to say we’re going to force the run. We’re going to take what the defense gives us. But we can do better in that game. We all know it, as coaches, as players. We can do better than we did versus Washington State in the second half. We’ll get to work on it this week, and hopefully it is better than it was last week."

Helton had revealed on Monday night, during his radio appearance on Trojans Live, that nickel Greg Johnson ("slight meniscus tear") and tight end Jude Wolfe (broken bone in his foot) would both need season-ending surgeries.

As for other injury updates, Helton said sophomore linebacker Ralen Goforth returned to practice Monday after missing the Washington State game with a foot strain.

"Started moving around and looked a lot better. We’ll monitor him through the week, but a lot of positive things yesterday with that," he said.

Redshirt senior right guard Liam Jimmons, who played only 17 snaps Sunday, "subluxed" the same elbow he dislocated last season, which is why Monheim made his season debut.

"He was a little tender yesterday, and he did not practice. We’ll see how he goes throughout the week. Tough kid, it’ll be day-to-day for him," Helton said.

Helton has never specifically addressed who was or wasn't impacted by USC COVID-19 situation the last two weeks (which included 4 positive tests and 7 others quarantined through contact tracing), but again, the offensive line was the main unit affected and the Trojans were still without three linemen Sunday vs. Washington State as starting left guard Andrew Vorhees and backups Justin Dedich and Liam Douglass were not at the game.

Helton was asked generally if he expected to get more guys back this week.

"Obviously, we gotta go through the protocol and testing so I don't have a crystal ball. I do anticipate us being able to get players back. I'll give you a better feel maybe Thursday on exactly where we're at, but I can tell you yesterday we had our first test and we were all negative, which is great, and we want to continue that trend. But we are scheduled to get more players back this week as long as testing goes well," he said.

The big news Monday was junior linebacker Palaie Gaoteote, a starter to open the season before he missed two games follow a concussion, entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Helton said Monday night on the Trojans Live show that the door remained open for Gaoteote to return if he chose to do so.

And he commented further Tuesday morning.

"EA's a great kid and a great family and has done a lot of service for our football team. He came in and basically said, 'Coach, I want to explore all my options.' You know, obviously as a head coach you can't really do anything to stop it. I've always looked at [these] situations in a manner of being supportive. Went through the pros of staying and left the door open," Helton said. "So we'll support him through it and I hope he's back with us next semester, but that'll be a decision that he makes for himself.

"But we'll support him through those decisions. It's part of college football, especially over the last couple years I think all universities [go through it], and my manner has been one of support and trying to let kids figure out what's best for them."

After putting up 221 yards and 5 touchdowns in the first half of that win over Washington State, USC managed just 66 yards and 3 more points in the second half.

Harrell was asked about why he thinks the offense is prone to lulls like that.

"I'm not real sure. I think obviously that's something that we don't want to do and when you get up early sometimes it's hard to keep the energy up and I think that's probably what happened. But obviously we're happy to be 4-0," he said.

"I think that's just something that you continually preach and it's part of any culture is knowing when you're up big continue to play. And we talk about it all the time and it's something like I said we're working on."

It seems the questions about quarterback Kedon Slovis' ability to throw clean spirals can finally be put to rest, after he looked the best he has all season while completing 25 of 32 passes for 287 yards, 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

"I think he just did his job at a high level and that's what we expect out of Kedon. I think that those first couple games the ball slipped out his hand and he started to think the balls were slick. Well, I think that's kind of got out of his head and he's just spinning the ball at a very high level," Harrell said. "The first half, they tried to come out and play us man and that's not something we really expected. But when you have a talented receiving corps like we do and a really good quarterback and he recognizes that, you can score a lot of points in a hurry if a team tries to do that to you. And I think Kedon recognized what he was getting. He found great matchups and did a good job attacking it. I think he completed 17 straight to end the half and that's pretty good. ...

"Again, I think the first couple weeks he thought those balls were slick, they were slipping out of his hand. That kind of got out of his head and now he's playing at a high level, or the level we expect him to play at."