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MATCHUPS:
USC (5-4, 4-2) at
Arizona St. (5-3, 2-3)
Today, Sun Devil Stadium, 12:30 p.m. PST, Ch. 7
Marquee matchup
Arizona State running
back Eno Benjamin vs.
USC’s edge defenders.Few
backs in the Pac-12 are as
capable of doing damage on
the perimeter as Benjamin.
His productivity has waned
from his huge campaign last
season, but his talent is still
very much intact. He has
nine touchdowns, tied for
fifth in the Pac-12. His speed
could be an issue for a USC
defense that has struggled to
defend the edge. The return
of dynamic defensive end
Drake Jackson should help
the Trojans, but it doesn’t
completely solve a problem
that’s been glaring all sea-
son.
Getting offensive
8 USC(432.7 ypg, 30.4
ppg): Four turnovers sunk
the Trojans a week ago
against Oregon, and it’ll be
incumbent on freshman
quarterback Kedon Slovis to
iron out those mistakes
against another of the
Pac-12’s best defenses. With
USC still down to just fresh-
man Kenan Christon in the
run game, Slovis should be
busy again after passing a
school-record 57 times last
week. But finding a better
run-pass balance will be
crucial. Coaches have al-
luded to a few new wrinkles
in the run game, which could
mean an increased role as a
rusher for wideout Amon-ra
St. Brown. For durability
reasons, it isn’t likely to
result in a larger workload
for Christon, who is averag-
ing seven yards per carry.
8 Arizona State (366.9
ypg, 23.4 ppg): Whether
freshman quarterback
Jayden Daniels plays will be
a game-time decision. He
practiced all week, report-
edly without any sign of
injury. Daniels is a danger-
ous scrambler, but, like
Slovis, he’s been prone to
lapses in judgment. Howev-
er, Daniels has thrown just
two passes that were inter-
cepted.
His improvisation could
be a problem for a USC
defense that’s had issues
with quarterbacks like him.
If Daniels doesn’t play, Joey
Yellen, a freshman from
Mission Viejo, will be the
starter. Yellen hasn’t thrown
a pass or run the ball.Getting defensive
8 USC(426.7 ypg, 28.3
ppg): A return to full
strength — or, at least, close
to it — should boost to a
defense that’s struggled the
last two weeks. USC came
out strong against Oregon,
then lost discipline. After
allowing 87 points the last
two weeks, USC’s defense
will need to be more consis-
tent to slow an Arizona State
offense that’s capable of
tapping into the Trojans’
most glaring weakness — the
perimeter. A reinforced
defensive line will help;
Christian Rector and Jack-
son are back in the lineup.
But USC’s recent tackling
problems are still a concern.
8 Arizona State (357.8
ypg, 21.1 ppg): Until its last
two games, in which it al-
lowed 368 yards rushing,
Arizona State’s run defense
ranked among the best in
the nation.
After a bye, expect the
Sun Devils to bounce back in
that regard. Arizona State
has trouble getting to the
quarterback, with just 15
sacks in eight games. But it
does create turnovers. No
defense in the Pac-12 has
forced more fumbles (11).
Turnovers have sunk USC
before. Arizona State hasn’t
had a negative turnover
margin in a game this sea-
son.Something special
After giving up a 100-yard
touchdown last Saturday,
USC ranks last in the Pac-12
and 127th of 130 in college
football in kickoff return
yards allowed. This week,
special teams coach John
Baxter pointed to injury
attrition as one reason that
Trojans unit has struggled.Of note
A win in Tempe would
make USC bowl eligible,
after it missed out on a bowl
game last year following a 5-7
season.Injury report
Jackson (ankle) and
safety Talanoa Hufanga
(shoulder) are expected to
play but could be limited in
their first games back. ...
Running back Stephen Carr
(hamstring) is a game-time
decision.By Ryan Kartje
freshman quarterbacks (Ala-
bama’s Tua Tagovailoa in 2017
and Clemson’s Trevor
Lawrence in 2018) as well.
This season, seven Power
Five rookies are currently
leading their teams in pass-
ing: Jayden Daniels at ASU,
Kedon Slovis at USC, Sam
Howell at North Carolina,
Max Duggan at Texas Chris-
tian, Ryan Hilinski at South
Carolina, Bo Nix at Auburn
and Garrett Shrader at Mis-
sissippi State. Combined,
that group has 94 touchdowns
to 33 interceptions. Five of the
seven have winning records.
At the Group of Five level,
Central Florida’s Dillon Ga-
briel is ninth in the nation
with 2,516 passing yards, while
Boise State’s Hank Bach-
meier (a Murrieta Valley prod-
uct) has the Broncos off to a 7-1
start.
“Maybe it’s the year-round
preparation, maybe it’s the
seven-on-seven, maybe it’s
just the way they prepare, but
you’re seeing more freshman
ready to play now than I think
ever before,” Biggins said.
“Quarterbacks are just more
advanced when they come in
as true freshmen.”
USC and ASU, who will
meet in Tempe on Saturday,
have moved to the forefront of
this trend. For the second
straight season, the Trojans
are relying on a freshman
under center in Kedon Slovis,
who took over the starting job
after JT Daniels (a freshman
starter in 2018) suffered a sea-
son-ending injury in Week 1.
The Sun Devils, mean-
while, have relied on freshman
and San Bernardino native
Jayden Daniels from the start
of the season. Daniels’ status
for Saturday’s game is report-
edly in doubt (an ASU official
said, “Like all players,” Dan-
iels “will be a game-day deci-
sion”), leaving open the pos-
sibility that fellow freshman
Joey Yellen, a Mission Viejo
High product, could make his
first start.
Either way, the Pac-12
showdown will likely be the
latest matchup of opposing
freshman quarterbacks — an
occurrence not nearly as un-
common as it used to be.
“You look up and a lot of
these guys are starting, which
is incredible,” Likens said.
“Obviously, these last three
years, football has changed
like crazy. Before that, you
didn’t see [this].”
Daniels and Slovis fol-
lowed contrasting paths tofirst-year playing time.
An athletic and agile 6-
foot-3, 175-pound dual-threat
prospect, Daniels became the
prototypical blue-chip recruit
as a four-year starter at Cajon
High. He was a finalist in the
prestigious Elite 11 quarter-
back competition, ranked No.
3 at the position in the Class of
2019 by 247Sports, and an-
nounced his college decision
with a staged ceremony that
was streamed on YouTube.
After enrolling early at
ASU this spring, he quickly
emerged as the clear choice
under center. He became the
first freshman Week 1 starter
at quarterback in program
history and helped the Sun
Devils to a 5-1 start that in-
cluded two road wins over
ranked opponents. Though
Daniels has struggled during
ASU’s current two-game skid,
confidence from the Sun Dev-
ils’ coaching staff hasn’t wa-
vered.
“You’re a freshman,” ASU
head coach Herm Edwards re-
minded Daniels. “You can
look like that sometimes.
You’re wayahead of where
people anticipated.”
Slovis, on the other hand,
flew under the radar.
A native of Scottsdale,
Ariz., the strong-armed 6-2,
186-pound passer was passed
over for the Elite 11 finals.
Scholarships also barely
trickled in at first, coming
mostly from small-conference
schools. USC was one of the
first Power Five programs to
extend an offer.
Slovis, who had NFL Hall
of Fame quarterback Kurt
Warner as one of his high
school coaches, committed to
the Trojans before the start of
his senior high school season.
“I think by the time [thesequarterbacks] are getting to
college now, they’ve had the
equivalent of what used to be
a few years of college experi-
ence at running a fairly so-
phisticated offense,” said
David Sedmak, Slovis’ head
coach at Desert Mountain
High, the same program Car-
olina Panthers quarterback
Kyle Allen came through.
“In Kedon’s case ... Kurt
ran what was probably an of-
fense that was a little too com-
plicated for the bulk of our
players, but wasn’t too much
for Kedon. Kedon benefited
from being stretched like
that.”
Slovis came to Los Angeles
planning to be the backup,
but capable of handling much
more. He surprisingly earned
the backup role entering the
season, and has stepped into
the Trojans’ Air Raid offense
almost seamlessly since tak-
ing over full-time.
Among the seven starting
Power Five freshman quarter-
backs, only Howell has more
touchdown passes than Slo-
vis, who has 16 scores despite
having missed most of two
games in September with a
concussion.
“The common denomi-
nator between both [Danielsand Slovis] is they came in
really ready mentally,” Big-
gins said. “Both super smart,
high football IQ guys.”
The ripple effects of such
success stories are beginning
to be felt. For every Daniels or
Slovis, there is another batch
of high schoolers behind them
hoping to do the same — a
growing collection of recruits
focused on playing time first
and foremost when evaluat-
ing schools.
“Maybe 10 years ago,
[these quarterbacks] would
just pick the best school for
them,” Biggins said. “Now,
they’re literally looking at
schools that they can come
into and play right away.”
The days of recruiting a
top-level quarterback with
the expectation they’ll ride
the bench for a year or two are
slowly starting to disappear.
For those who don’t want to
wait, the advent of the trans-
fer portal has made switching
schools easier than ever.
Coaches are still trying to get
comfortable with the new re-
cruiting landscape.
“I think you’ve got to be
honest,” said Likens, whose
ASU program signed three
quarterbacks in the 2019 class.
“If you tell them everything
they want to hear to get them
here, and then they leave,
you’re in a worse position than
if you didn’t sign that kid in
the first place.
“So you might as well just
tell them the truth. That’s
what I want to hear. If you
have respect for a kid, you tell
them all the information so
that they can make a good,
well-educated decision.”
It wasn’t long ago that
such choices were rarely avail-
able to incoming college
quarterbacks. Now, they’re
beginning to dictate the entire
directions of more and more
programs each year.
“I think that’s what’s af-
fecting recruiting,” Biggins
said. “They don’t want to wait
even a year.”Confidence in Daniels hasn’t waned
KEDON SLOVIS(9) has 16 scoring passes, the sec-
ond-most among Power Five freshman quarterbacks.Luis SincoLos Angeles Times[Freshman,from D1]Salvon Ahmed ran for a
career-high 174 yards and
two touchdowns, and Wash-
ington rebounded from a
two-game losing streak with
a 19-7 victory over Oregon
State on Friday night.
The Huskies (6-4, 3-4
Pac-12) became bowl eligible
with their eighth straight
win over the Beavers. The
Beavers (4-5, 3-3), who al-
ready have won more games
than in the past two seasons
combined, trailed 10-0 at
halftime but rallied in the
third quarter on Jaydon
Grant’s interception return
for a touchdown.
Hunter Bryant had five
catches for 90 yards for
Washington, after catching
a pair of touchdowns last
weekend in a 33-28 loss to
Utah. Bryant went into the
game ranked second nation-
ally in yards receiving by
tight ends (557). Huskies
quarterback Jacob Eason
threw for 175 yards but was
intercepted twice.
Jake Luton threw for just
88 yards and the Beavers
were held to 119 yards of of-
fense — and just eight in the
second half. Oregon State
hasn’t defeated a Pac-12 op-
ponent at home since 2016.
The Huskies scored first
late in the first quarter on
Peyton Henry’s 47-yard field
goal. That made him 16 for 16
this season. But he would
lose his perfect streak before
the night was over.
Bryant had a touchdown
reception called back by a
holding call, but the Huskies
eventually scored on Ah-
med’s six-yard run that gave
Washington a 10-0 lead with
1:48 to go before the break.
Luton’s pass was inter-
cepted by Elijah Molden be-
fore the half. It was just the
second time Luton had been
picked off this year. But
Henry missed a 28-yard field
goal attempt as time ran out.
Henry missed a 43-yard
attempt early in the second
half, but a penalty against
the Beavers gave him anoth-
er attempt from 33 yards
out, which he made to ex-
tend Washington’s lead.
The Beavers made things
interesting, but Washington
answered with Ahmed’s 60-
yard touchdown run to ex-
tend the margin again.
The Huskies had a
chance to stretch the lead by
more than two touchdowns,but Henry missed a 40-yard
field goal with 7:38 left.Tulsa pulls upset
Tulsa held Central Flor-
ida (7-3, 4-2) to three second-
half points and the Golden
Hurricane (3-7, 1-5) had
three huge takeaways to
knock off the two-time de-
fending American Athletic
Conference champions, 34-
31.
Quarterback Seth
Boomer came on in relief tothrow the game-tying touch-
down pass, and Jacob
Rainey kicked a 23-yard go-
ahead field goal late in the
fourth quarter for Tulsa’s
first conference win.Young to sit
No. 3 Ohio State will not
play star defensive end
Chase Young against Mary-
land on Saturday amid con-
cerns he violated NCAA
rules by taking a loan last
year from someone he de-scribes as a “family friend.”
“I made a mistake last
year by accepting a loan
from a family friend I’ve
known since the summer be-
fore my freshman year at
OSU,” he wrote on Twitter. “I
repaid it in full last summer
and I’m working with the
University and NCAA to get
back on the field as soon as
possible.”
Tim Nevius, an attorney
and former NCAA investiga-
tor working with Young,tweeted that Young “took a
small loan from a close fam-
ily friend last year to cover
basic life expenses.”
The suspension has been
the first off-field trouble or
any significant adversity for
the Buckeyes, who are No. 1
in the playoff rankings.
Young, a 6-foot-5, 265-
poiund junior, leads the na-
tion in sacks with 13^1 ⁄ 2 after a
dominant game against Wis-
consin thrust him into the
Heisman Trophy race.
The Buckeyes are 42-
point favorites against
Maryland and will be heavily
favored next week against
Rutgers whether Young
plays or not.
Their final two games,
however, will have Big Ten
and national championship
implications: at home
against No. 5 Penn State and
on the road against No. 14
Michigan.Etc.
Contrary to rumors, the
Tallahassee Democrat re-
ported Friday, citing multi-
ple anonymous sources,
that Deion Sanders is not a
candidate for the Florida
State head coaching job.ROUNDUP
Huskies too much for Beavers to handle
wire reports
HUNTER BRYANTof Washington had five catches for 90 yards against David Morris and Oregon State.Abbie ParrGetty ImagesCOLLEGE FOOTBALL
PAC-12
STANDINGS
TEAM Conf. Overall
SOUTH W L W L
Utah 5 1 8 1
USC 4254
UCLA 4 2 4 5
Arizona State 2 3 5 3
Arizona 2 4 4 5
Colorado 1 5 3 6
NORTH W L W L
Oregon 6 0 8 1
Stanford 3 3 4 4
Oregon State 3 3 4 5
Washington 3 4 6 4
California 1 4 4 4
Washington State 1 4 4 4
TODAY’S GAMES
Stanford at Colorado, noon
USC at Arizona State, 12:30 p.m.
Washington State at California, 4 p.m.