USC quarterback Kedon Slovis sidelined with injury

It’s been a tough week for the USC football program, and after an injury to quarterback Kedon Slovis, things could be getting worse for the Trojans.

Slovis, USC’s starting quarterback, went down after getting sacked by Washington State defenders. He laid on his back while USC training staff attended to him, but it was somewhat unclear what he hurt. Slovis was able to get up and jog off the field on his own power.

Slovis completed one of two passing attempts in his only drive on Saturday, throwing for eight total yards. This season, Slovis holds a completion percentage just north of 65 percent, and he’s thrown for 479 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in two games.

For a while, it appeared as though Slovis may be able to reenter the game. He was seen warming up on the sidelines as Washington State held possession, testing the severity of the injury before USC retained possession. The warm up was short lived, though, as he returned to the injury tent moments after.

Slovis is being replaced by freshman USC quarterback Jaxson Dart, a four-star recruit from Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah. Dart ranked No. 6 in the 2021 On3 300, and he’s the third-highest ranked quarterback on the list.

A junior, Slovis has started nearly every game since he arrived at USC in 2019. Last season, Slovis in six games completed 177 of his 264 passing attempts, throwing for 1,921 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. That performance was good enough for Slovis to win 2020 All-Pac-12 first team honors, among other awards.

In his USC career, Slovis has completed 459 of 656 passing attempts, good for 5,423 passing yards, 47 passing touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

Slovis’ injury comes on heels of tough week for USC

USC has gone through the ringer this week, with Slovis’ injury just the latest in an array of tough news breaks. On Monday, the Trojans announced that head coach Clay Helton was fired in his seventh full season at the helm of the program.

It left the locker room in an emotional state, according to reports, as Helton was loved by his USC players.

“Players were in tears at the news today,” Yahoo’s Pete Thamel tweeted. “Former players love Helton. He brought class and dignity to USC football, which desperately needed it. Can’t overstate what a good human being Clay Helton is.”

Helton was replaced by interim head coach Donte Williams. And in his first-career game as head coach, Williams was forced to deal with an injury to his starting quarterback.