USC was without four starting defensive backs in its 42-20 win over Rutgers on Friday night and had defensive tackle Nate Clifton depart with injury during the game.
Coach Lincoln Riley wasn't definitive on whether any of Clifton, cornerbacks Jaylin Smith and Jacobe Covington, safety Kamari Ramsey or nickel Greedy Vance would for sure be available to play Saturday at Washington, but he remained hopeful.
He also said freshman cornerback Marcelle Williams remains out due to injury.
"[Clifton has] definitely got a shot to go this week. He unfortunately wasn’t able to finish the game. I thought our guys came in and stepped in and did a really good job in his absence. Obviously, would love to have him, but we’re going to try to progress him here throughout the week, and hopefully having the extra day with the short week will pay dividends," Riley said.
"Marcelles isn’t available right now. Nothing crazy. But he’s not available. The rest of the guys, obviously didn’t have them last week. I don’t believe any of them are out long-term. I don’t know that there’s any of them that you would say today are full-go, no-doubt are going to play. But I do think they’re all progressing in a very positive way. Hopeful to get, obviously we’ll take any number we can. I don’t think, I don’t know that we’ll get all of them back, but obviously when you have that many at one position, getting anybody would be very, very helpful."
USC's defense was already without linebacker and early-season defensive MVP Eric Gentry (redshirting due to multiple concussions), top defensive end Anthony Lucas (season-ending injury) and defensive tackle Bear Alexander (left the team).
On top of missing key personnel, the Trojans' depth was further tested Friday by the defense having to be on the field for a season-high 92 plays.
Cornerbacks John Humphrey (81 snaps), DeCarlos Nicholson (70) and Prophet Brown (63) all played significantly more snaps than in any prior game this season, while Zion Branch (61) and Bryson Shaw (54) played season-high snaps at safety, with Akili Arnold moving from safety to nickel to replace Vance.
But the Trojans tapped into their depth at most defensive positions, for that matter.
“Well, I think some of the front guys – you really liked how they played. Devan [Thompkins], Sam Greene, Kam Fountain, Jide [Abasiri] continues to get better. Gavin [Meyer] was a warrior in there for us, I thought he played one of his more impactful games as well," Riley said. :I thought, I think [linebacker] Desman Stephens continues to get better and better. He still has a few mistakes here and there, but the more snaps he gets, the more confident he gets. And I thought he played a pretty impactful game at linebacker.
"I thought Zion came in and did some really nice things, you know, Bryson Shaw played very well, Prophet had some really nice plays, so, yeah. No, it was – when you line up to play Rutgers, you don’t necessarily envision that it’s going to be, like, 95 to 45 in plays, or 95 to 50 or whatever it was. It was just kind of unique how it played out. But we got a chance to rep a ton of those guys, and it was fun to be able to watch them make plays and to kind of, see where some of those guys were at.”
