USC fans wondered what would happen when two former Trojan quarterbacks, one of them guided by a former USC offensive coordinator who coached both men in 2019, faced each other on the gridiron.
What they saw on Thursday night in Pittsburgh’s 38-31 win over West Virginia looked awfully familiar.
Kedon Slovis was on the run. The Pitt quarterback got sacked several times due to his offensive line not blocking well for him. The team Slovis played for was soft and generally got shoved around, particularly in the second half. Kedon Slovis’s team didn’t make great third-quarter coaching adjustments.
Yes, it looked very familiar from that side of the field.
As for J.T. Daniels, he was beaten by Kedon Slovis again. In 2019, he was beaten by Slovis when he got hurt, and Slovis played well in place of him. Daniels lost his roster spot and transferred to Georgia. On Thursday, Daniels lost to Slovis on the scoreboard.
How Daniels lost was beyond belief. He threw a perfect pass to his receiver, and it turned into a winning touchdown for Pittsburgh and Slovis:
What was the best part of this play?
A) The SPEED of the return
B) The BLOCKS by Pitt’s defense
C) The NOISE from the Pitt fans
D) ALL of the above #H2P 🍿 @Mjdevonshirejr pic.twitter.com/zy0EA8H4EG— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 2, 2022
J.T. Daniels remains a luckless quarterback.
Kedon Slovis scored a victory which recalled the 2020 USC season.
Slovis had to scramble to win a few games in the shortened 2020 pandemic season. He led USC to multiple fourth-quarter comebacks in 2020, including against the two Arizona schools. This game felt like the Arizona and Arizona State games from USC’s 2020 season on several levels. The coaching certainly wasn’t very good; that’s a clear connection with Clay Helton.
USC fans watching this game certainly recognized the parallels with the Helton era. The good part for Trojan fans: This wasn’t an actual USC game, so the blood pressure levels and personally invested emotions were not part of this particular football-watching experience.
It’s likely to be a very different year of watching USC football in 2022.
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