Kedon Slovis has ability to "produce when the lights are the brightest" for Trojans

USC quarterback Kedon Slovis has a knack for making big-time plays under pressure. In 2020, he led the Trojans to three heart-stopping victories in the final two minutes of each game. In just six games, he completed 67% of his passes for 1,921 passing yards, while tossing in 17 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.

USC head coach Clay Helton recently sat down with ESPN’s SportsCenter to discuss his signalcaller.

“Well, I know one thing, he has the intangibles that every quarterback needs,” Helton said. “He’s a leader, he’s the same guy every day, and he’s ultra talented. His decision making, his timing to get the ball out, his accuracy, and then his ability to produce when the lights are the brightest.”

Helton continued to rave about Kedon Slovis’ ability to make big plays for the Trojans offensive attack.

“I think about last season and us being in some close games in the regular season,” Helton said. “[I think about] him showing up at the end of games-whether it was the Arizona State game, UCLA game. [He was] just making huge plays for us. That’s what you want from a quarterback. Going into his third season and having an opportunity to lead this very talented team; I think he puts us in a great place to do some amazing things in this journey.”

Slovis had an impressive junior campaign which saw him garner a number of different awards across the country, including First-Team All-Pac-12. His ability to show up late in games when his team needed him the most was priceless to the Trojans.

Getting hot when it matters

Slovis hit his bumps in the road throughout the season, but when he got hot, he was scorching hot. Slovis completed 70 passes against Arizona and Arizona State, the most by any USC quarterback in two-consecutive games. In the fourth quarter against Arizona, the Arizona native caught fire completing 13 of his 15 pass attempts for 143 yards and a touchdown. Slovis completed his final 12 passes on USC’s final two scoring drives of the game against the Wildcats.

Rememberable performance against Arizona State

His best performance of the 2020 campaign was against Arizona State, when he led the Trojans to a stunning 28-27 comeback victory. He completed 40 of his 55 pass attempts for 381 yards, while tossing in two touchdowns and just one interception.

The 18-point comeback is the largest deficit overcome to win for USC on the field since Oct. 1, 2005 vs Arizona State (also trailed by 18). That 2005 win was later vacated.

Kedon Slovis joined Sam Darnold as the only players in USC history with consecutive games of 5 Pass TD. pic.twitter.com/5pqqdiMgHU

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 13, 2020

Kedon Slovis and the USC Trojans kick off the season Sept. 4 against San Jose State.