**Editors Update
Kamari Ramsey, Jacobe Lane, Jaylin Smith, and Greedy Vance are all officially OUT for tonight’s game. Emmanuel Pregnon will play.
While there should be no excuses, lost in the USC Trojans 3-4 record is they have dealt with a litany of injuries on both sides of the ball, but these injuries have been felt much more on the defense.
Star linebacker, Eric Gentry, decided to utilize his redshirt year after suffering multiple concussions. Before last week’s game against Maryland, it was announced that starting EDGE Anthony Lucas would miss the remainder of the season.
The secondary has had its fair share of bumps and bruises with multiple starters missing games throughout the year.
It looks like that will be the case again tonight as four of the five starters in the secondary are trending towards not playing.
This includes:
- CB Jaylin Smith
- CB Jacobe Covington
- CB Greedy Vance
- S Kamari Ramsey
Who Is Playing In The Secondary For The USC Trojans
For as up and down as the secondary has been, all 4 of the players above have played some really good football. There have been stretches of elite defensive play, and Smith and Ramsey are two of the surest tacklers on the team.
While missing your starters is never ideal, it does create opportunities for other players.
If this were to hold true, I would expect Zion Branch to start next to Akili Arnold at safety, with Bryson Shaw rotating in.
In place of Covington and Smith on the outside, John Humphrey and DeCarlos Nicholson should get the start. And in place of Vance at Nickel, we will probably see a rotation of Prophet Brown and Anthony Beavers Jr.
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Rutgers is currently the 14th-ranked passing team in the Big Ten, averaging 191 pass yards per game. The Trojans will need to get a pass rush going to give some aid to the banged-up secondary. However, all of the players mentioned above have gotten reps throughout the season. So while they are not viewed as the starters, they are coming in with a good amount of game experience.
Starting guard Emmanuel Pregnon is also questionable.
We will update the status of these players as we get closer to kickoff.
Kickoff between the USC Trojans and the Rutgers Scarlett Knights is set for 8:00 PM PT at the LA Coliseum.