Freshmen rule!
That could be an early slogan for the USC football team after the first depth chart released Wednesday evening ahead of the season opener showed five potential starters from the Trojans’ top-ranked high school class.
Freshman tight end Mark Bowman, defensive end Luke Wafle and wide receivers Trent Mosley and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt were listed as starters, with fellow freshman cornerback Elbert “Rock” Hill IV receiving the “OR” designation as a possible starter in a battle with redshirt sophomore Chasen Johnson.
Even if Johnson gets the nod, it’s clear that USC’s freshman class will be well represented when the No. 14 Trojans take the field Saturday afternoon against San Jose State at the Coliseum.
Alluding to the freshman receivers’ ability to contribute in the wake of an injury to Tanook HInes that limited his participation in training camp, coach Lincoln Riley said earlier this week that he was expecting big things from his newcomers.
“We’ve seen enough out of these guys that no matter who else is playing they’re going to play and have their opportunity to contribute and affect the game,” Riley said. “I think in terms of what we want to see from them it’s just, go do what they’ve been doing on the practice field – don’t let the moment be anything more than just what it is and they’ve done it consistently.
“Several of these guys have had almost a veteran-like presence on the team in terms of their consistency and their playmaking and they just need to take that to the game field and I just see no reason why they won’t.”
Other true freshmen listed on the two-deep include wide receiver Ethan “Boobie” Feaster; offensive linemen Vlad Dyakonov and Breck Kolojay; linebacker Talanoa Ili; and safety Madden Riordan.
As expected, Tobias Raymond will make his first career start at center after Kilian O’Connor suffered a season-ending injury in training camp. Alex VanSumeren and Jide Abasiri are slated to start at defensive tackle after Jahkeem Stewart recently went down with a foot injury.
The Trojans did not name one starter at running back, which makes some sense given the quality of their top two options, listing both Waymond Jordan and King Miller with the “OR” designation. There was also no designated top backup quarterback given that both Sam Huard and Jonas Williams were listed as options.
Kicker Caden Chittenden edged Ryon Sayeri in a heated battle to handle field goals after Sayeri had filled in for Chittenden last season in the wake of a season-ending injury Chittenden suffered in training camp.
Riley recently credited Chittenden’s perseverance after Sayeri went on to have an excellent season, making 21 of 25 field goals to break the previous single-season school record of 19 made field goals.
“I think 99.9% of players probably would have transferred out given how that played out,” Riley said recently. “He wanted to stay here at USC and compete and so I think that says a lot about him.”
Sayeri is listed as the starter to handle kickoffs.
Riley is next scheduled to speak with the media on Thursday morning, when he will undoubtedly be asked about the youth movement on his team.
