Clay Helton, teammates react to QB JT Daniels' knee injury
Ideally, this was to be sophomore quarterback JT Daniels' delayed breakout season, a rejuvenated reset after his up-and-down freshman campaign.
Those hopes are now on hold, replaced in the meantime by the uncertainty of whether he'll even get to play again this fall.
Daniels took a hard sack, fumbled the football and immediately grabbed his right knee in pain late in the second quarter of USC's 31-23 win over Fresno State. He could put no weight on that leg while he was helped off the field. He watched the second half from the sideline on crutches and moved slowly back to the locker room afterward.
USC coach Clay Helton revealed afterward that Daniels' initial X-ray came back negative, but that an MRI was still pending at that point. Helton will speak with reporters Sunday night and provide another update.
"Gut-wrenching, when you see a kid that's poured so much into the game and into this team and into his becoming better, both physically, mentally as a quarterback," Helton said. "Said a prayer as soon as I saw it and we're hoping we get the best results tomorrow."
Daniels finished 25-of-34 passing for 215 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception and that fumble. Both of his turnovers came in the red zone. He also had a touchdown pass to Michael Pittman wiped out by a penalty and a 44-yard completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown erased by another flag.
True freshman Kedon Slovis took over in the second half and completed 6 of 8 passes for 57 yards and an interception. He had a 41-yard completion to Tyler Vaughns that set up a 2-yard Vavae Malepeai touchdown run two snaps later, but his second downfield shot resulted in a miscommunication and an easy interception.
"I always judge their eyes, and there was no fear. There was no fear. It was like, 'All right, coach, let's go do this,'" Helton said of Slovis. "For him to walk out there and execute the offense, obviously had one interception on a deep ball that [he] just misread the release by the receiver, hit another deep ball that put us in scoring position. He did the things in a tough situation where we lost some momentum when your starting quarterback goes down, he did the things to win.
"So I appreciate him and now it's about him getting better this week and preparing for the next game."
USC was facing a third-and-4 from the Fresno State 15 when the Bulldogs' pass rush outnumbered the Trojans' protection by a man and Daniels was swarmed and taken down for big loss. Suddenly, the fast-rising freshman QB was in a spot no one could have imagined when he arrived in January as an overlooked and clearly underrated 3-star prospect from Scottsdale, Ariz.
Slovis beat out veterans Matt Fink and Jacks Sears (who then entered the transfer portal) for the backup job this month.
Helton was asked Saturday night if he'd reach out to Sears, who announced he was entering the transfer portal on Tuesday, to have him rejoin the team with only two healthy scholarship QBs on the roster now.
"Right now I'm just going to celebrate this win. One of the things that Jack and I always talked about, and we said, 'Hey, there's always an open door here.' And he told me, he said, 'Coach, if you ever need me I'm there for you," Helton said. "So right now I'm just going to enjoy a hard-fought win. I've got a lot to clean up with this football team and then we'll go from there."
Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell has lavished high praise on Slovis since the spring.
"Kedon is a special talent. I think talent-wise, he's as good as I've ever seen," Harrell said after the depth chart was announced.
Slovis attempted only two passes on his first drive, including a completion to Tyler Vaughns that the receiver then fumbled.
After Fresno State drove for a field goal and cut USC's lead to 17-13, Velus Jones broke off a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown for the Trojans to take some of the pressure off the freshman QB.
When the USC offense returned to the field, Slovis let loose and connected with Vaughns on a beautiful 41-yard strike down the right side that set up the short Malepeai touchdown run two plays later to make it 31-13.
On USC's next series, Slovis again tried the long pass, but he and wide receiver Michael Pittman weren't on the same page and it went for an easy interception.
Now he'll spend the next week taking the first-team reps and preparing for however long his stay as the starting QB lasts.
If the immediate aftermath of the loss, no one knew what to expect on that front.
"That's tough. It sucks. We hope for the best. We don't know what it is, but it's tough to watch your [QB] go down on one hit," center Brett Neilon said. "I'll take the blame for it. I feel terrible, though. I could have ID'd it better, so I'll take the fall for it. …
"Someone was alerting me [on the left side] so I looked out there and he started the cadence and I was looking out there, and the back was a little screwed up because we were trying to go tempo. It is what it is. They brought a great blitz, three up the middle from what I remember -- more than we had -- and a couple guys got free and it is what it is. One little miscommunication kind of bit us in the butt."
Said left tackle Austin Jackson: "It looked to me like we were in a five-man protection and if you send seven, that's two free. The ball's got to get out. I don't know for sure, I've got to watch the film of course."
Jackson, like Neilon and the rest of the Trojans, offered similar sentiments -- what more can be said in a moment like that?
"It's terrible, for anybody. It's tough, but it's the game of football. Praying for him, praying for his recovery. You hate to see it," he said.
Jackson and others noted that Daniels remained engaged with the team after returning to the sideline on crutches and that he wasn't looking for a pick-up of any sort.
"He was back on his crutches talking to us before we could talk to him -- that's his personality," Jackson said.
Slovis also noted he was impressed that Daniels remained engaged in the game in the second half, trying to encourage the team from the sideline. That said, the freshman didn't have much time to dwell on the situation himself in the moment.
"[He's] a good friend of mine, a great leader on the team. It was really unfortunate, but I'm the backup quarterback -- that's my role so I've just got to be as good as him and fill his role," Slovis said.