Wednesday USC practice report: Washington QB Jacob Eason 'as advertised'

The mobile quarterbacks have certainly given USC's defense a problem so far, but the Trojans haven't faced a pure passing challenge like the one they'll get from Washington's Jacob Eason this Saturday in Seattle.

The big-armed 6-foot-6 redshirt junior is averaging 265.8 yards per game and has 10 touchdowns with 2 interceptions through the No. 17 Huskies' first four contests. Last weekend, he completed 24 of 28 passes for 290 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT in a 45-19 win at BYU.

So naturally he was the prevailing interview topic Wednesday with USC's defensive coaches and players.

"He's got a lot of talent. He's as advertised from everything you read about him," defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast said. "You watch his tape in high school, you watch his tape at Georgia, you watch his tape now and you see a very talented player. He's very smart. They give him a lot at the line of scrimmage, he makes a lot of good adjustments for them on the field, and he can make all the throws and the ball really jumps off his hand. He's really accurate in the intermediate throws and also the tight windows in the second level and in the deep part of the field he can really let it go. So, really impressed with his skillset."

Freshman cornerback Chris Steele, meanwhile, said watching Eason on film reminds him of another recent Pac-12 QB standout.

"He kind of reminds me of Josh Rosen when he was at UCLA -- real big arm. It'll be real fun. I think it will be our biggest test so far," Steele said.

Agreed.

The former 5-star QB from Lake Stevens, Wash., spent his first two years at Georgia where he made 12 starts as a freshman in 2016, passing for 2,430 yards, 16 TDs and 8 INTs. The next season he'd eventually cede the job to Jake Fromm, transfer home to Washington and sit out last season.

So this set up as a pivotal prove-it season for Eason, and so far that's what he's doing. He's lit up three of his first four opponents -- 349 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT vs. Eastern Washington; 262-3-0 vs. Hawaii and the aforementioned BYU beatdown. He was held in check by Cal's stout secondary, passing for just 162 yards and a pick in a 20-19 loss, but overall he ranks ninth nationally with 47 completions of 10 yards or more while starting to really deliver on the promise of that recruiting hype way back when.

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