What losing Romello Height for the season means for USC

USC coach Lincoln Riley said Thursday that rush end Romello Height is expected to miss the rest of the season due to the shoulder injury that took him out of the Stanford game early and sidelined him last week vs. Fresno State.

"Romello had a procedure done this week so we'll see how that progresses. It's going to be a long-term recovery and likely will miss the season," Riley said.

The good news for USC is that veteran Wyoming transfer Solomon Byrd has emerged as a starter at that spot, essentially taking over when Height was injured at Stanford and racking up 3 sacks over the last two games, including the sack-fumble-recovery that was the play of the game last Saturday. He has 4 tackles for loss and 8 tackles overall.

Unfortunately, depth at the rush end spot is now a major concern. Height, the Auburn transfer in his first year in the program, projected as one of the most significant newcomers after a strong spring.

He was limited some in fall camp. He played 24 snaps in the season opener, then hurt the shoulder in practice the week leading into the Stanford game and aggravated it after playing nine snaps that weekend.

Without Height, Byrd and sophomore Korey Foreman are the top options, while the rest of the group is unproven. Veteran Solomon Tuliaupupu, who has played 47 snaps mostly on the defensive line; redshirt freshman Julien Simon; and Tayler Katoa (who has not played this season) would be the other options there.

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"I feel fine, I feel fine," Riley said. "Obviously, we've talked a lot about Solomon and him stepping up. Korey's improving and does a lot of really good things and I think he'll get more consistent. And then we've worked hard to develop some depth. Having some of those guys out at times has allowed us to shuffle the lineup and we've got some different skill sets on that defense that we can make work. And then also, that's where having a creative defensive staff is important. Because sometimes when you lose guys, you've got to think outside the box. So we'll continue to evaluate the roster, get guys in the best position. If we gotta adjust, we'll adjust."