Why Aren't Clay Helton, Graham Harrell Advising Kedon Slovis to Slide More?

In his first game back from a concussion, USC QB Kedon Slovis took several shots from Notre Dame defenders. At least a few of them could have been avoided. But his coaches say they aren't concerned with how the freshman runs.

Kedon Slovis has had two concussions in the past year. So it was surprising to see the USC freshman quarterback put his head down as he ran right into a Notre Dame defender on two occasions in his first game back from his most recent head injury.

It was even more surprising to hear the response from Slovis and the USC staff when asked if his running style had been addressed after the game.

"Guys we're mostly making fun of me for getting my head banged in," Slovis said. "Obviously I want to protect myself but the last play of the game, situationally, we were a yard from a first down. We needed to get the clock stopped. That was my thought process. If we have more time on the clock, I'll slide and get down."

Except Slovis was in that spot early in the second quarter on a third-and-11 at midfield and, after fleeing the pocket, took on Fighting Irish linebacker Alohi Gilman well short of the first down. 

"It's football, you're going to get hit," Harrell said. "We can't prevent a guy from ever getting hit. Really, I didn't think he took too many hits considering he played a full football game. You don't ever want him to get hit, but it's still football. I know sometimes they almost play flag football with those quarterbacks, especially in the NFL. But it doesn't matter what position you play, you're going to have to take some shots. That's just part of the game."

One hit that both Harrell and Slovis agree should have been avoided was the sack he took on the first drive of the game. The Fighting Irish blitzed a linebacker that went unblocked. Slovis, though, saw the extra defender before the snap but opted not to use one of his quick underneath routes. The nine-yard loss made it third-and-15, spoiling what had been a promising first drive for the Trojans. 

The free rush was eerily similar to the one that knocked out JT Daniels in the season opener.

"They gave a pressure look and I need to know that they're coming," Slovis said. "Back side, we have a pressure beater and I should have thrown it there, but instead I go to the developing side and that takes way too long."

Slovis, who stands 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, was sacked a season-high four times versus Notre Dame and also ran the ball four times. His biggest collision, of course, came on the run he alluded to near the end of the game. On first-and-10 from the ND 11, Slovis appeared to scan all of his reads before taking off. He'd nearly picked up enough for a first down when he went head on with safety Kyle Hamilton. 

The 18-year-old rookie initially looked to be a bit woozy as he got up from the crushing blow.

"He actually got hit in the chest, actually had the wind [knocked] out of him," Helton said. "I think he's been good as far as getting down, getting what's there. But in that moment, in that competitive game, and we've got to go score. I credit him. He's a warrior. He made a full-speed decision and went with it and got back up."

Slovis, of course, was trying to get the extra yard to stop the clock, which was under 1:30 when the play started. The Trojans used their second timeout of the half after Slovis was stopped a yard short. Because USC had burned one earlier in the same drive following a sack, it needed to recover an onside kick for a chance to win.

The decision to use the first time out, on second-and-13 at the ND 46 with 1:59 remaining, added urgency to every play thereafter. Like a couple of Slovis' hits, it could have been avoided.

-- Adam Maya is a USC graduate and has been covering the Trojans since 2003. Follow him on Twitter @AdamJMaya.