USC quarterback situation remains unresolved after Kedon Slovis’ 3-INT game
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — As he tried to hurry USC through a comeback that was not to be, quarterback Kedon Slovis dropped back in the pocket and surveyed the scene in front of him. As an Oregon State pass rusher lunged at his legs, Slovis released a pass over the middle to Gary Bryant Jr. that never arrived at its target, as Beaver linebacker Jack Colletto leaped up for the interception.
The first play of USC’s next drive, when even the fantasy of a comeback couldn’t be entertained even more, Slovis scrambled to his right and tried to force the ball to K.D. Nixon on the sideline. Again, Oregon State came down with the pick.
It was the last gasp of USC’s 45-27 defeat, and another head-scratching data point in the evaluation of Slovis.
Looking just at the stat line, it was clear this wasn’t the junior quarterback’s finest night: 31-for-49 for 355 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He was 5-for-9 on third down, but did show some signs of modest improvement.
His yards-per-attempt went from 6.1 the first three games to 7.2 against the Beavers. And he completed nine passes of 15 yards or longer, as many as he did in the first two games of the season combined.
But the third-year starter still held onto the ball too long on some possessions as he waited for receivers to get open instead of trying to fit the ball into tight windows, leading to two Oregon State sacks.
As for the three interceptions, the first came on a dropped pass by Tahj Washington that bounced up into an Oregon State defensive back’s hands, while the other two were explained away by the USC coaching staff as Slovis pressing with the team trailing.
“He started seeing us get down, I think he started making some errant throws that he wished he could have back,” interim head coach Donte Williams said. “And he started rushing through a couple things as far as his progressions.”
Added offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, “I thought he spun the ball pretty well. The late two picks was just a bad situation, you know what I’m saying? The first pick wasn’t on him either. I thought the ball was coming out of his hand well, he was making good decisions.”
Williams officially put Slovis on notice after USC’s win over Washington State two weekends ago. Slovis injured his neck at the end of the Trojans’ first drive and was not cleared to return. In his stead, backup Jaxson Dart threw for 391 yards and four touchdowns to lead USC to an inspired win.
Following the game, Williams declared an open quarterback competition, and he maintained that stance into the week leading up to the Oregon State game. But Dart had meniscus surgery during the week, and watched USC’s home loss Saturday from the sideline in street clothes with a brace on his right knee.
While recovery times for those types of surgeries typically last several weeks, Williams said both after the game Saturday and in his Sunday press conference that Dart is week-to-week, continuing his trend of trying to shroud injuries in mystery since his appointment as interim head coach.
“I have no idea exactly the date that he will be back. The trainers have to release him. So it’s still week-to-week,” Williams said. “The moment that he gets clearance and he can move around, then he’ll be back.”
So with Dart out indefinitely, Slovis will have more time to prove he deserves to keep his job.
“He still did some great things in the first half,” Williams said of Slovis. “And some of the things he did in the second half, it wasn’t just Kedon struggling, we were struggling as a team.”
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