USC Football: The one drawback of Kedon Slovis’ sensational start

Rookie quarterback Kedon Slovis shocked the world on Saturday night and led the USC Football team to a win over 23rd-ranked Stanford.

There were a lot of people that were counting the USC football team, not only in Week 2 against Stanford but for the rest of the year. The Trojans lost J.T. Daniels to an ACL injury, turning the offense over to an unproven rookie, Kedon Slovis.

It is not like USC had particularly high expectations, either. The team did not have a great season last year and was heading into a stretch against ranked opponents that many thought would lead to the losses piling up.

Hand up, I was absolutely one of the people expecting that out of the Trojans. It seemed inconceivable that an unproven rookie quarterback could lead a team to a win over a ranked opponent who, on paper, is better than the Trojans.

More from LA Sports Hub

• Lakers: 5 Players to Target Through Trades to make another championship run
• LA Chargers: Week 8 against Denver Broncos is a must-win
• LA Rams: Jared Goff wants to keep the Los Angeles title streak going
• Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles Clippers interested in Rajon Rondo
• LA Chargers: Justin Herbert wins AFC Rookie of the Month

Granted, Stanford was also missing their quarterback K.J. Costello. That ended up not even mattering, as USC quarterback Kedon Slovis had his coming-out party.

Slovis led the USC Trojans to a 45-point game, which is the most points that the team has scored 45 points since their win over Penn State in the Rose Bowl two years ago.

Slovis completed 28 of his 33 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns. He was slinging the ball all around the field and looked like an experienced, veteran quarterback under center.

Slovis is now getting comparisons to the quarterback who led USC to that Rose Bowl win, Sam Darnold. While it might be a bit too soon for that, Slovis was way too good in Week 2 for it to just be a random flash in the pan game.

Trojan fans can actually get excited for the rest of the year after getting the life sucked out of them from the Daniels injury. However, there is one drawback from Slovis’ performance on Saturday night.

It saved Clay Helton‘s job, at least for the time being. Helton was not going to get fired for losing to Stanford, but a loss to Stanford could have been the start to Helton eventually going down that path.

Helton has underwhelmed in his time with the USC football program and many people believe it is time for a culture change at USC. Many expected that to come after last season, but Helton was given one more chance with a small leash this season.

Winning this game absolutely extends Helton’s leash. The Trojans take on BYU next week, which definitely is a team they can beat if Slovis is just 75 percent of what he was against Stanford. Helton will get praised for finding a diamond in the rough in Slovis and starting 3-0 is exactly what he needed for his job security.

The team then enters a tough stretch against Utah, Washington and Notre Dame. After beating Stanford, all USC really needs to do is win one of those three games for Helton to at least ride it out for the rest of the season.

I feel bad for saying this is a negative thing but the Trojans do need a culture change and need a more high-profile coach that can recruit more and return the Trojans back to being one of the top teams in the country to compete for the National Championship.

Because even though there are flashes of fun like this, the USC football program is not going to get to that level with Helton at the helm.