USC Trojans Forced to Fight On Without Travis Dye
This isn’t how Travis Dye’s USC story was supposed to end. With 2:44 remaining in the first half, Dye took a handoff and picked up a first down with a tough run. Moments later, he was still down on the Coliseum turf. Moments after that, the entire USC team was as well.
Quarterback Caleb Williams is a team captain and the statistical leader of the Trojans. It would be tough to ask much more of a true freshman in terms of performance and leadership and he’s delivered. Offensive guard Justin Dedich is a team captain and another driver of this program. Linebacker Shane Lee and defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu are the other two captains, irreplaceable on and off the field.
But Travis Dye was the heart and soul of the USC program this season. There might not be a more respected player in the Trojans’ locker room. Maybe even the entire Pac-12.
Dye stayed down for several minutes surrounded by USC trainers. Eventually, the entire USC team and several Colorado players approached Dye as he was fit with an air cast on his lower left leg and loaded onto a cart. USC head coach Lincoln Riley said after the game not to expect Dye to play again this season.
“It sucks,” head coach Lincoln Riley said. “There’s just really no other way to put it.”
Dye leads the Trojans with 884 yards rushing and nine touchdowns this season. He transferred to USC from Oregon, in part to play in front of friends and family back home in Southern California. And Dye did far more than that for the USC program. If Riley gets the Trojans back among the elite, Dye will have played a significant role.
Riley said Dye was “tremendously important” in setting a new path for this USC program following a 4-8 season in 2021.
“Important to the culture, but really important to the competitive nature and the way we practice, and the energy, and the competitiveness, and the physicality, and the toughness,” Riley said. “He was one of the key cogs in this team making some real progress there. And I think we all know that that was something that had to happen here. And he was a central figure in that. His presence on the field, his presence on the practice field, all of that. It got everybody going. He just is an infectious leader and an infectious personality.”
Playing for Travis Dye
While Dye won’t log another carry for the Trojans this season, he’ll still be a huge part of the program. No player will be more instrumental on the sideline, in meetings rooms or in the locker room than Dye the rest of the way.
“He’s been a key part to everything for us as a team,” quarterback Caleb Williams said. “He’s a special player, special human. We’re going to miss him on the field. But he’s still going to be there and have a different part for this team.”
USC will turn to Austin Jones as the starter at running back with Dye out of the lineup. He has just 41 carries this season (compared to 136 for Dye), but he’s proven himself previously at Stanford and when called upon this season. He finished the Colorado game with 11 carries and four receptions for 114 total yards and a touchdown.
After the score, he put up a 2-6 to salute Dye.
“I hit the endzone, I knew what I was going to do,” Jones said after the game. “I’ve got to represent him…He’s a great team leader, he’s a great player. And he’s irreplaceable. At the end of the day, I had to throw up the 2-6. Without him, I wouldn’t be standing here.”
It seemed like every single Trojan made their way over to Dye as he was on the cart before being driven off the field and up the Coliseum tunnel. Jones made sure to speak to him.
“I told him, ‘Man, I love you. I appreciate all that you’ve done,'” Jones said. “To see him go down like that, that really hurt me. That’s my dawg. I love that dude. I told him that I love you and I’m going to carry this rock for you. I’m going to do what I’ve got to do for you.”
Finishing the Season
USC has a must-win game coming next week if the Trojans are going to earn a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game. There have been very few Crosstown Showdown games between USC and UCLA over the past four decades with more on the line for both programs. The Trojans and Bruins could enter this one at top-10 programs and shots to play themselves into the conference title game.
For the Trojans, there’s the hope that Dye’s injury can galvanize the team and give them the momentum needed to beat the Bruins. That task certainly doesn’t get easier with him not on the field.
But Jones is a tough runner who can handle the load. True freshman Raleek Brown flashed on offense and special teams against Colorado. He finished with two receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown, to go with seven rushes for 52 yards. And Darwin Barlow got an opportunity to remind USC fans that he’s still on the roster. The seldom-used back carried the ball five times for 41 yards and a touchdown, and had two receptions for 31 yards.
“What a great guy we have to turn to in Austin, and obviously really excited to see the way Raleek and Darwin both played tonight,” Riley said. “They both made some really, really fantastic runs. The depth of that room will be tested and we have three guys in there that will be ready to go.”
