USC QB Mo Hasan announces he has torn ACL, out for season
USC quarterback Mo Hasan announced on Twitter on Monday that he sustained a torn ACL during the Trojans' spring showcase Saturday, which will knock him out for the upcoming season and leave the Trojans with only three scholarship QBs and no college experience behind starter Kedon Slovis.
Hasan had initially joined the team last year as a walk-on from Vanderbilt, but he was having a nice spring, looking like a capable option if he were ever pressed into action. He completed both of his passes Saturday for 74 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown to Bru McCoy, before the injury.
"Please don't feel sorry, I'm going to crush this [rehab] process and be back stronger," Hasan wrote on Twitter.
USC will have to move forward with Slovis and freshmen newcomers Jaxson Dart and Miller Moss.
Dart had the most impressive spring game of any Trojans quarterback, but he and Moss will continue to compete for that backup job through the final two weeks of spring ball and into fall camp.
Slovis remained healthy through last season until the final play of the Pac-12 championship game, but he missed almost two full games his freshman year due to a concussion after already replacing injured starter JT Daniels early that season, leaving the Trojans to go to their third option Matt Fink for a stretch. (Slovis also injured his elbow in the second half of the bowl game to end that season).
In 2018, USC also cycled through three quarterbacks when Daniels missed a game with a concussion and Fink injured his ribs in the same game, leaving Jack Sears to start the next week.
The Trojans will certainly hope Slovis remains healthy for the full 12-game slate this fall, but Dart and Moss will have to continue to develop and be ready to go. It's possible Hasan would have been no higher than No. 3 on the depth chart had he remained healthy, but it's big loss for depth reasons and a tough setback for the well-traveled QB.
After not seeing any action as a freshman walk-on QB at Syracuse in 2016, Hasan spent a year at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, completing 71-of-132 passes (53.8%) for 996 yards and 4 TDs over five games. As a junior in 2019 at Vanderbilt, he started in a win against No. 21 Missouri and completed 7-of-11 passes (63.6%) for 120 yards and a TD, adding 34 yards on 9 carries before suffering a season-ending concussion.
The Trojans would be unlikely to land a quarterback transfer at this point, as QBs usually only transfer for more playing time, which is not an opportunity USC can offer. Perhaps, they could pursue another QB like Hasan, who is a walk-on elsewhere who would want to make the move to a marquee program like the Trojans.