USC football braces for Washington without Desman Stephens
The Trojans suspended the linebacker one game for celebrating a frightening hit on Oregon QB Dante Moore
ORE QB Dante Moore takes a hard tackle from LB Desman Stephens II, who was called for targeting and disqualified during the first half on Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Coliseum. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Haley Sawyer (OC Register) — USC’s defense was shell-shocked without middle linebacker Desman Stephens II.
Stephens was disqualified from the Oregon game in the second quarter due to a targeting call after delivering a punishing hit on sliding Ducks quarterback Dante Moore.
The 6-foot-3, 250-pound junior celebrated as Moore remained down on the field for several minutes and was carted off and taken to a nearby hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion. USC went on to lose the game, 41-27.
The Trojans’ defense scrambled to recover without one of its leaders, and someone who has often worn the green dot on his helmet that signifies in-helmet communication with defensive coordinator Gary Patterson on the sideline.
“That was kind of a little bit of an overlooked piece of the Oregon game,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley told reporters during a Thursday Zoom call.
“Losing him for the rest of that game was definitely a challenge,” he said. “You’ve always got to be ready for it, but when it happens in-game with one of your better players and one of your leaders – you’ve got to be able to adjust.”
The No. 18 Trojans (4-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) will again be without Stephens for Saturday’s game against Washington (3-1, 1-1) due to a one-game suspension issued by USC, and have been preparing throughout the week for his absence.
Riley credited linebackers coach Mike Ekeler and outside linebackers coach AJ Howard for preparing the position group for what could be a much-needed bounce-back win against the Huskies, who are coming off a 27-24 loss to Minnesota.
“I think they’ve got a good plan together,” Riley said. “Our guys know the rotations. They know who’s going to be playing, they know the subs. I feel like we’ve got a good plan together and having the whole week to know that (Stephens is out), I think the clarity has been very helpful for us throughout the week.”
Stephens is the team’s third-leading tackler with 19 total tackles in addition to 1½ tackles for loss, half a sack and a pass breakup.
USC will still have former Husky Deven Bryant (5-11, 230) at linebacker, whose 27 tackles rank first on the team. The next most productive linebacker, statistically, is Jadyn Walker (6-2, 240), who has 10 tackles.
Coming out of vaunted St. John Bosco High School in the Los Angeles metro area with a lot of credentials, Bryant (17) wanted to play for hometown USC, but the Trojans passed on the redshirt junior.
“He wasn’t the starter at the end of last year — he got beat out,” Husky coach Jedd Fisch said this week. “Deven was fantastic. Deven is an awesome kid, but Deven wanted to start and Jacob Manu and Zaydrius [Rainey-Sale] were the starters. And Xe’ree [Alexander] Bryant was right there. Deven wanted a chance.”
So Bryant reversed himself and backtracked to the Trojans, where Riley’s football program admitted to the errors of its ways in passing on him initially and made him a first-teamer, where he has been dependable this season.
The vulnerable Trojan defense will be up against Washington’s Demond Williams. The undersized but powerful, dual-threat quarterback’s 1,129 passing yards are fourth in the Big Ten. His strong and compact 5-foot-11 frame has allowed him to escape high-pressure situations and run for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s a great quarterback but, really, the main focus is staying on us,” Trojans defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart said. “Us just playing good as one as a D-line. Us controlling rush lanes. He’s a great runner, he’s a fast quarterback, and he’s not that tall, so it’ll be hard to take him down.”
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If Riley led with more discipline and focus, your defensive signal caller would think twice before committing a targeting violation that would keep him off the field for nearly two full games.
When I read this, this morning I wondered what happened to the “next man up” philosophy? Is USC so thin in personnel the team would lose a two touchdown advantage? After a bit of reflection I realized Haley had bitten big on a Riley excuse. “The player had a momentary lapse in judgment, but he was vital to our success.” She did dig into Riley with a straight up statistical analysis of his history of ignoring defense as a part of the game. He’s not only ignored defense he has no defense for his defense because he’s not defensive minded.… Read more »
What if USC really was “shell-shocked” — because the players felt the loss of DS was so significant? And it was so sudden, and unfortunately tied to a penalty.
After all, he was our green dot guy. And LB isn’t exactly USC’s strong suit. We’re weak there.
Come back and tie it at home in the fourth quarter and still lose by 2 TD’s?
I’ve had nothing all week.
Maybe that’s why I realized,
even if Riley won every game left on the schedule
it would still probably be time for him to go.
He would simply find a way to lose the first playoff game.
Yuck. His in-game decisions keep getting worse.
Then again, I’m not the one who has to pay the tab.
Coming out of vaunted St. John Bosco High School in the Los Angeles metro area with a lot of credentials, Bryant (17) wanted to play for hometown USC, but the Trojans passed on the redshirt junior.
Northwestern had 413 yards rushing. Now, that’s a running game.
We’d have chance for a big win in the Happy Valley White Out…If we only had the coaching…B1G road game on the East Coast… no chance!
If Riley led with more discipline and focus, your defensive signal caller would think twice before committing a targeting violation that would keep him off the field for nearly two full games.
But that is just my untrained eyes observing….
When I read this, this morning I wondered what happened to the “next man up” philosophy? Is USC so thin in personnel the team would lose a two touchdown advantage? After a bit of reflection I realized Haley had bitten big on a Riley excuse. “The player had a momentary lapse in judgment, but he was vital to our success.” She did dig into Riley with a straight up statistical analysis of his history of ignoring defense as a part of the game. He’s not only ignored defense he has no defense for his defense because he’s not defensive minded.… Read more »
I enjoy Haley’s articles, but thought “shell-shocked” was a bit of a reach.
I hadn’t focused on that description vT.
What if USC really was “shell-shocked” — because the players felt the loss of DS was so significant? And it was so sudden, and unfortunately tied to a penalty.
After all, he was our green dot guy. And LB isn’t exactly USC’s strong suit. We’re weak there.
More will be revealed — vs the Huskies.
Come back and tie it at home in the fourth quarter and still lose by 2 TD’s?
I’ve had nothing all week.
Maybe that’s why I realized,
even if Riley won every game left on the schedule
it would still probably be time for him to go.
He would simply find a way to lose the first playoff game.
Yuck. His in-game decisions keep getting worse.
Then again, I’m not the one who has to pay the tab.
Thanks for the content and comments.