Los Angeles Times - 09.11.2019

SPORTS

D SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2019:: LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

D

Arizona State offensive
coordinator Rob Likens
searched far and wide last
year, crisscrossing the coun-
try in search of a quarter-
back recruit who could come
in and compete right away
for a starting spot.
He was blown away by
how many eligible candi-
dates he found.
“Last year’s class was
nice,” Likens said. “Abso-
lutely.”
It wasn’t long ago that
such a task would have felt
futile. Perhaps as much as
any position in football,
quarterback required devel-
opment. Conventional wis-
dom used to call for almost
all signal callers to sit on the
bench at first, believing they
needed seasoning while
awaiting their turn.
There were some excep-
tions, including Jared Goff
starting in his first season at
California in 2013. But they
were few and far between.
“He was the rare guy to
start [as a freshman],” said
Likens, the receivers coach
on Goff ’s Golden Bears
team in 2013. “Now you look
up, there’s a new one every-
where.”
Indeed, freshman
quarterbacks are suddenly
on the rise. Like Darwinism

on the gridiron, the organic

evolution is causing the col-

lege football world to slowly

adapt. Old quarterback

rules are starting to go by

the wayside. Natural selec-

tion is increasingly favoring

the young.

“I think this is the new

norm,” said Greg Biggins, a

recruiting analyst for

247Sports who has been

evaluating quarterback pro-

spects from Southern Cali-

fornia and beyond for the

last 25 years. “I think we’re in

that day and age where kids

just, they want to play right

now. That’s the goal.”

During the first half of

this decade, freshman

quarterbacks were still

something of a novelty. Only

once between 2010-14 were

there even five freshmen in

Power Five conferences to

lead their team in throws.

But since then, a new

trend has developed. In 2015,

eight primary Power Five

freshman quarterbacks

were their school’s top

passer, a class highlighted

by Lamar Jackson at

Louisville, Josh Rosen at

UCLA, and Drew Lock at

Missouri. In 2016 and 2017,

five more joined the group.

Last year’s class pro-

duced another nine. The last

two national championship

games have been won by

USC QUARTERBACKKedon Slovis initially wasn’t recruited heavily, but he learned a complex offense in
high school, with Kurt Warner as one of his coaches, and was better prepared for the college game.

Luis SincoLos Angeles Times

First-year fortitude under center

A look at the impressive numbers put up by fresh-

man quarterbacks Kedon Slovis and Jayden Daniels:

Kedon Slovis, USC

Comp. Attempts Yards TD INT

165 241 1,889 16 8

Jayden Daniels, Arizona State

Comp. Attempts Yards TD INT

135 223 1,902 11 2

FRESH TRAJECTORY

Kedon Slovis of USC and Jayden Daniels of Arizona State

represent the trend of ready-made freshman quarterbacks

By Jack Harris

JAYDEN DANIELSbecame the first freshman

quarterback to start Week 1 for the Sun Devils.

Marcio Jose SanchezAssociated Press

[SeeFreshman,D7]

WEEK 11 ::USC AT ARIZONA STATE

AT SUN DEVIL STADIUM | TODAY, 12:30 P.M. | TV:CHANNEL 7

Chaminade finds

a way past Norco

William Camacho

scored six touchdowns,

including the late game

winner, in the 46-44

upset victory. D3

Montreal still

loves Canadiens

“Habs” have been more

like Hab-Nots in recent

years, but the team

holds a special place in

fans’ hearts. D5

Tied early in the second
half against a team that
went 7-25 last season, USC
shrank to the size of its op-
ponent Friday. The plan
worked.
The Trojans used a small,
four-guard lineup to survive
a second-half scare from

Portland to win 76-65 at

Galen Center, improving to

2-0 despite committing 20

turnovers and giving up 13

three-pointers.

Freshman forward

Onyeka Okongwu led USC

with 20 points and 10 re-

bounds in a foul-plagued 21

minutes, while senior guard

Jonah Mathews reclaimed

his starting role and buoyed

the offense with 12 points, all

from beyond the arc.

The Trojans, who made

just three of 17 three-point

attempts in their season-

opening win Tuesday

against Florida A&M, re-

bounded with 10-for-20

Guards step up to

support young star

Freshman Okongwu’s

second double-double

is aided by USC’s 50%

three-point shooting.

USC 76, PORTLAND 65

By Thuc Nhi Nguyen

[SeeUSC,D6]

During the Rams’ week

off, cornerback Jalen Ram-

sey perused the Southern

California housing market

but did not find anything

that met his needs.

“Not yet anyway,” Ram-

sey, acquired in a trade last

month, said Friday. “I’m still

going through the process

right now. Still going

through the process of get-

ting in my routine as best as I

can.

“I’m having fun. I’m en-

joying life.”

One of Ramsey’s favorite

activities on the field is shut-

ting down an opponent’s top

receiver. He gets another op-

portunity Sunday when he

matches up against JuJu

Smith-Schuster of the Pitts-

burgh Steelers. It will be the

third time the young stars

will be on the field together,

but the first time Ramsey

will focus on Smith-Schus-

ter, the former Long Beach

Poly High and USC star.

In previous games, when

Ramsey played for the Jack-

sonville Jaguars, his assign-

ment was to cover former

Steelers star Antonio

Brown, regarded as one of

the best receivers in NFL

history. Ramsey intercepted

two passes in one game, one

in another.

“No disrespect to him,”

Ramsey said of Smith-

Schuster, “he’s not Antonio

Brown. ... I held my own in

those battles and, yeah, now

I’m going up against a differ-

ent person, different body

type, different receiver.

“A little big, can make

plays. But I play my game.

Not really worried about it.”

Ramsey demonstrated

why he is considered one of

the NFL’s best cornerbacks

during his Rams debut

JALEN RAMSEY, in his Rams debut against Julio

Jones of Atlanta, has evolved into a shutdown corner.

Wally SkalijLos Angeles Times

Best receivers know

Ramsey as shadow

[SeeRamsey,D8]

Rams cornerback,

who loves a challenge,

faces Smith-Schuster

Sunday in Pittsburgh.

By Gary Klein

Rams at Pittsburgh

AT HEINZ FIELD

Sunday, 1:15 p.m. PST

TV: Channel 11

There were moments

when trouble looked like it

could cause the Lakers

problems. Turnovers would

pile up in bunches, shot

selection would be suspect,

defensive assignments

would get missed and the

Miami Heat would go on a

little run.

But on a night when the

Lakers’ weren’t their best —

and Friday they weren’t

close — the team won its

seventh game in a row large-

ly because of its trust in

what it is trying to do. And

for a new coach such as

Frank Vogel, that’s a real

accomplishment.

“I think the buy-in in any

coaching situation is impor-

tant and when you win early,

that comes faster,” Vogel

said before the Lakers

dropped the Heat 95-80.

“Hopefully we’re off to a

good start in that regard.”

They’re off to a good

start in almost every regard

— surging to the best record

in the NBA while playing

with the defensive mindset

and execution that Vogel

was famous for as the head

Vogel era is off

to graceful start

DAN WOIKE

ON THE NBA

[SeeWoike,D5]

In a game that had stag-

nated for long periods,

LeBron James pulled the

Lakers out of their doldrums

with a sterling display in the

fourth quarter.

James scored 12 of his 25

points in the final 12 min-

utes, carrying the Lakers to

a 95-80 win over a pesky and

hard-playing Miami Heat

team Friday night at Staples

Center before 18,997 fans.

His string of triple-dou-

bles was snapped at three,

but James’ play helped the

Lakers (7-1) win their sev-

enth consecutive game. His

five-for-eight shooting in the

fourth quarter helped the

Lakers finally break free

from the zone defense that

the Heat played from the

second quarter.

“I think he picks his spots

on when to be assertive and

when to play for his team-

mates,” Lakers coach Frank

Vogel said about James.

“Throughout all that while

he is picking his spots, he’s

going to be in attack mode,

he’s going to read the de-

fense.

“A lot of times early on,

everybody is geared into

him. They are bringing a lot

of help so he’s just making

the right play. It’s not about

him being assertive or pas-

sive. He’s used to being in at-

tack mode.”

The Heat had cut a 14-

point deficit in the third

quarter to 78-71 in the fourth.

James responded by scoring

the next six points for the

Lakers. He finished his night

James won’t

allow Lakers

to cool off

He scores 12 of his 25

points in the fourth

quarter as winning

streak reaches seven.

LAKERS 95

MIAMI 80

By Broderick Turner

ANTHONY DAVIS,right, gets a hand on the ball as

he defends Miami’s Bam Adebayo in the first half.

Sean M. HaffeyGetty Images

[SeeLakers,D5]