His prime two operating backs had simply been carted up the Coliseum tunnel, a nightmare situation for a workforce that lastly discovered its groove on the bottom, when coach Lincoln Riley was requested at halftime how USC would transfer ahead with out the majority of its backfield. He grinned.
“I might have to carry the ball some,” Riley quipped throughout NBC’s broadcast.
USC managed to make it by a win over Michigan with out a lot in the best way of reinforcements at operating again. However with its backfield depth decimated — and the hardest stretch of the Trojans schedule forward — Riley and his workers should work out how proceed beginning Saturday at Notre Dame.
USC might be with out main rusher Waymond Jordan for at the least a month after he injured his ankle through the second quarter Saturday. Jordan, who’s presently third within the Huge Ten in dashing, underwent surgical procedure on Monday and is anticipated to overlook 4 to 6 weeks.
USC operating again Waymond Jordan is tackled by Michigan linebacker Ernest Hausmann Saturday on the Coliseum.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Related Press)
That timeline, if it holds, would put Jordan on path for a possible return earlier than the Trojans’ vital journey to Oregon, after they would presumably want him most.
The prognosis was much less constructive for senior Eli Sanders, who was third on USC’s offense in all-purpose yards when he left Saturday’s win early within the first quarter with a knee damage. Sanders, who transferred to USC from New Mexico within the offseason, was dominated out for the season on Monday after simply six video games.
Behind Jordan and Sanders, USC was on its solution to the varsity’s finest dashing season in 20 years, since Reggie Bush and LenDale White final roamed the Trojans’ backfield. Because it stands, on the halfway mark of this season, USC is on tempo to hurry for practically 3,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. (Granted, that’s nonetheless 10 scores behind 2005’s duo of Thunder and Lightning.)
Of their place, redshirt freshman walk-on King Miller stepped seamlessly into a number one position Saturday, dashing for 158 yards and a landing on 18 carries in opposition to Michigan. However with out anybody to spell him, he clearly began to expire of fuel.
The state of affairs was so dire that USC broke convention guidelines to swimsuit up sophomore operating again Bryan Jackson at halftime regardless of ruling him out earlier than the sport. Jackson proceeded to hurry for 35 yards and a landing, all within the fourth quarter.
Assuming Jackson is wholesome, the 2 backs are prone to share the load for USC Saturday in opposition to the Irish, who’ve clamped down in latest weeks in opposition to the run.
North Carolina State managed simply 51 yards on 28 carries in a loss to Notre Dame final Saturday, whereas Boise State was unable to crack three yards per carry throughout a three-touchdown loss the earlier week.
Jackson, at the least, has some expertise, having seen motion in all 13 video games as a freshman final season. When USC was with out its prime two backs for the Las Vegas Bowl in December, Jackson stepped in to hold the ball 16 occasions for 66 yards and a landing. The transient stint was spectacular sufficient he was named to the Doak Walker Award watch listing earlier than this season.
USC operating again King Miller carries the ball in opposition to Michigan Saturday on the Coliseum.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Related Press)
The sophomore brings a decidedly totally different fashion to USC’s dashing assault than Jordan or Sanders. At 235 kilos, he packs a way more highly effective punch.
“My mindset being a running back is never let the first guy get you to the ground,” Jackson mentioned in August. “I know people like the home run plays and the big runs. But sometimes it gets dirty. I feel like that’s my biggest mindset. You’re the guy that’s going to get the tough yards when your team needs you the most. You’re the one who can push us forward. That’s just my mindset whenever the ball gets in my hands.”
Miller has had the house runs lined thus far in his first season at USC. He rushed for a 75-yard landing in Week 1 and a 41-yard landing in Week 2. In opposition to Michigan, he ripped off runs of 49 and 47 yards.
“He pops a big run every day,” Riley mentioned earlier this season. “It’s just what he does.”
The remainder of USC’s operating backs haven’t confronted severe exams.
The Trojans’ two different two scholarship operating backs, freshmen Harry Dalton and Riley Wormley, had been recovering from accidents throughout Saturday’s recreation.
USC operating again Bryan Jackson runs for a landing in opposition to Michigan Saturday on the Coliseum.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Related Press)
Dalton carried the ball 3 times through the Trojans’ Week 2 win over Georgia Southern, however hasn’t been heard from since. Wormley has been out since final September, when he suffered a season-ending knee damage as a highschool senior.
Dalton is probably going the following man up after Miller. A standout of USC’s preseason camp, Dalton was a highschool quarterback in Virginia at the moment final yr. He may nonetheless take part in three extra video games as a freshman earlier than shedding his proper to redshirt.
Determined occasions may name for determined measures in USC’s backfield. However that’s not the message that operating backs coach Anthony Jones has despatched to his group.
“He always preaches to us, ‘Whatever we want, we can do,’” Miller mentioned. “The whole room is amazing. No matter who you put in there, we always believe that we can go shock the world.”
