USC QB Matt Fink flips the script on Utah with star turn four years in the making

LOS ANGELES -- Clay Helton is either on or approaching his ninth life as the USC football coach. Urban Meyer, the individual most often linked to replacing him, was but a few feet away, serving as an analyst. And then there was Reggie Bush, present for a USC football game at the Coliseum for the first time in 14 years. There was enough nervous energy to make one of the Coliseum’s coolest-ever customers in Matt Leinart uncomfortable. He was also in the house, and there’s no truth to the rumors that he was offered the athletic director job.

USC’s marketing team billed the affair as Friday Night Lights, which proved fitting given all the theatrical storylines leading up to the game with Pac-12 favorite Utah. Only the plot twist that followed would be rejected by Hollywood for being too farfetched.

Quarterback Matt Fink, who left the program less than five months ago and briefly committed to Illinois, a move that was sandwiched in-between being listed third on the depth chart following open competitions in spring practice and training camp, was called into action on the third play of the game after freshman wunderkind Kedon Slovis had been knocked out with concussion-like symptoms.

And Fink, known earlier in his career for being a runner with an erratic arm, aired it out against arguably the best secondary in the conference, all while the Trojans managed just 13 yards on the ground. Utah, unbeaten and ranked No. 10 in the nation, held distinct advantages in time of possession (38:21-21:48) and red zone trips (6-2) and committed fewer turnovers while racking up more yards. USC, also down its best cornerback, never trailed, however, and led for all but five minutes in a 30-23 win.

Who’s buying that story?

“Glory to God,” is how Helton opened his postgame press conference, and if what had just happened wasn’t a miracle, Fink was his newest guardian angel.

“I’ve been in the era of Sam Darnold. I’ve seen things that are much crazier,” Fink declared. “Getting in today and showing what I could do was what I really wanted to do by staying here.”

Sure. Only, the whole reason he entered the transfer portal in the first place was because he wasn’t going to play at USC. Part of the reason he returned was he wasn’t in line to play at Power Five cellar dweller Illinois either. Helton told him he’d support him while in the transfer portal and assured him he could return, because of how hard he’d trained and competed, how he’d represented the school, and the fact that he’d graduated. He also encouraged him to evaluate his options closely.

“I’m not totally sold that you’re making the right decision,” Helton said.

Fink would later reveal that his family, as much as it wanted to see him play, also didn’t agree with him leaving USC. Fink soon returned, citing his heart wouldn’t allow him to go while adding that being in the portal put him through a lot of mental and emotional stress. He was put to the test again exactly one month before Friday’s heroics, upon learning that he’d not only lost another QB competition but was now behind the rookie Slovis.

“Of course I was surprised,” Fink said then, fighting hard to hold back the raw emotion. “I obviously thought that I was the best of the group.

Helton said upon hearing an unfavorable verdict for the second time in four months, Fink, who’d never played more than a full quarter in a game, told Helton he would show him he’s a great player anyway.

“He took it like a man,” Helton said.

Center Brett Neilon added: “When things didn’t go his way on the depth chart, he kept his energy up. It went a long way with the guys.”

Fink originally blossomed into one of the leaders of the locker room long before, in the aftermath of Darnold turning pro. Despite his lack of game experience, he was always socially confident and eventually established himself as the quarterback most engaged with his teammates and invested in their success.

“It didn’t matter if he was in or he was out,” wide receiver Tyler Vaughns said. “He’s always in the game for everybody.”

That didn’t change the fact that Fink was still a longshot to see the field. After two years of being No. 2 behind Darnold and then JT Daniels, Fink, now a redshirt junior, was a distant No. 3 heading into this season. Before last year, USC had not inserted its third QB because of injury and/or ineffectiveness since 1999.

“There’s still a lot of ball left,” he said in August, seemingly trying to speak his opportunity into existence. “We have a whole season ahead of us. You never know what’s going to happen.”

The biggest optimist in the world couldn’t have forecasted what happened Friday. After misfiring on his first snap, Fink, with 13 career completions under his belt, completed his next eight passes, the improbable sequence featuring a barrage of downfield throws and a pair of touchdowns.

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“Matt’s just not scared to take shots,” wide receiver Michael Pittman said.

It was Pittman who stayed in Fink’s ear the most through his trying times. The two arrived on campus together in January of 2016 and were roommates for a year. Last season, when some fans clamored to see more of Jack Sears, Pittman felt like Fink was the one getting shortchanged by the lack of open competition. Pittman said he ultimately didn’t know where Fink would end up after entering the portal. Fink said the fact that Pittman didn’t try to talk him out of leaving encouraged him to stay.

“He was being a good teammate, a good friend, and just a good overall person,” Fink said. “He was saying, look man, you got to go do what’s right for yourself. At the end of the day, it’s your livelihood, it’s your career.”

It was fitting then that they shared the best night of their respective ones. Fink’s first two completions went to Vaughns and Amon-Ra St. Brown, as did his first two touchdowns. But his biggest ones went to Pittman.

The senior receiver would haul in 10 passes for 232 yards, both of which were career highs. Fink finished 21 of 30 for 351 yards and three TDs with one interception.

“He has one of the strongest work ethics that I’ve ever seen,” Pittman said. “He puts in his time and you saw it right there.”

Perhaps the most important number of all was four. That’s how many third downs Fink converted with his arm, and they all went to Pittman. They also all contributed to touchdown drives, including a 77-yard bomb in the third quarter that saw Pittman beat his man deep, leap in front of a safety, cleanly land on his feet and then outrun the initial defender for the final 32 yards and the score.

“Matt will just look over and (say) fade,” Pittman said. “He’ll look at me and give me the signal.”

After a handful of third-down targets, Utah surely caught on, right?

“I think that they did,” Pittman said. “But they just couldn’t stop it.”

To that point, Fink’s final pass, on third-and-8 from his own 33 and with USC clinging to a 23-20 lead, was a perfectly placed lob to Pittman downfield that went for 42 yards to set up the clinching score.

“They tried to play man coverage and anytime someone plays man we like our chances,” offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said. “We got them out of it pretty quickly. They didn’t play much man after the first couple drives. …

“At times we threw it into double coverage up to Pitt and he came down with it. That’s just having a special guy. Sometimes it not a great decision, he [Fink] is just making a decision based on a person and Pitt made us right.”

It’s unclear if Fink’s star turn will last longer than 15 minutes. Helton said he could tell “something was wrong” with Slovis after he walked off the field under his own power. He wasn’t cleared to continue but could recall being slammed to the ground and was alert while taking in the second half from the sideline. Pittman intimated afterward the freshman might be back for next week’s game at Washington, if not after the bye.

All that will be sorted out in the coming days. For now, the 3-1 Trojans know they have another quarterback they can succeed with and a coach still capable of winning when you least expect it.

“In a world where everybody goes different places,” Helton said, before motioning to Fink at the postgame podium, “this one stayed for his family and waiting for his moment and waiting for his memory. And what a memory it was here tonight.”

For Helton, who just saw his AD let go last week and faces rampant speculation that he could be ousted as well in the coming weeks, Friday had to feel like one of his most rewarding wins. Of course, how his team handles Washington and Notre Dame will determine if it’s more than a memory.

“We’re back on track, that’s what it feels like,” Pittman said as he exited the stadium. “We just knew what we were capable of and we believe in us.”

Sometimes that’s all that matters. Sometimes the script needs a last-minute rewrite.

LETS GET FINKY!!!!! @FinkMattfink
— MPJ (@MikePitt_Jr) September 21, 2019

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