Game Week QB Preview: Kedon Slovis vs. Grant Gunnell

This week Kedon Slovis and the Trojans offense will face Grant Gunnell, Arizona's sophomore starting quarterback from The Woodlands, TX. Here's a look at how these two QB's stack up in your weekly QB preview.

Kedon Slovis (USC)

Although USC preformed a bit sloppy on offense last week, Slovis kept his cool when the pressure was on. He finished the game with 381 passing yards, two touchdowns and 40/55 on completion attempts. ESPN CFB analyst Jim Mora Jr. told SI All Trojans,

"He was under some pressure but he was very poised. A lot of young quarterbacks look down at the rush rather than keep their eyes up the field at the route development. I saw Slovis keep his eyes up the field and he was able to find his receivers down field." (Mora)

[READ: ESPN analyst Jim Mora Jr. Breakdown USC vs. ASU Game]

Arizona has a new defensive coordinator, Paul Rhoads who is in his first year with the Wildcats and has yet to coach a game with Arizona. Helton was vocal in a press conference on Tuesday about not necessarily knowing what to expect defensively, but focusing on "execution" and players strengths during all four quarters of the game.

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Slovis had a spectacular rookie season in 2019 finishing the year with a 71.9% completion average. But turnover's were a problem. Last year as he turned the ball over nine times, an although he did have one interception against Arizona State, his decision making and field vision seemed better.

"Where I was proud of him was the 11 check outs he had. Instead of forcing the ball, [he] checked it down to the back. That may only be four or six yards or seven yards sometimes it was ten, but it is where his growth has gone too. That is what I hope to see consistently. You saw those early turnovers last year, that really hurt us from the quarterback position, [but] I didn't see that in that game." (Helton)

Grant Gunnell (Arizona)

Gunnell is a young QB like Kedon Slovis only a sophomore out of The Woodlands, Texas. He played in eight games with three starts behind senior QB, Khalil Tate last season. He finished with 1,239 passing yards, 101/155 completions, nine touchdowns, one interception, a 65.2% completion average and a 150.18 passing efficiency rating. Helton described Gunnell as "doing an exceptional job handling the run pass option"(Helton) which is a big part of Arizona's offense under offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. He "gets the ball out quick"(Helton) and has "good deep ball accuracy"(Helton). This will be Gunnell's first game of the 2020 season, since the Arizona vs. Utah game was canceled last week due to COVID-19. Will he come out with some rust or be sharper than Slovis? Only time will tell.

WATCH: Clay Helton Talks Preparing For Arizona

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