Will Slovis’ Success Continue Into the PAC-12 Championship?
For the last two weeks, USC quarterback Kedon Slovis has been on a rampage, and has looked like the All-American candidate people expected him to be. But unfortunately for him, he’s been overshadowed from the play of the offensive skill players such as Amon-Ra St. Brown and the defense as a whole including Talanoa Hufanga in consecutive games. Nonetheless, Slovis has thrown for 10 TD’s over that time span with two-straight five touchdown games. So how can Slovis continue his success against Oregon in the PAC-12 Championship? Let’s dive in.
Slovis has had a relatively quiet, yet sensational 2020 for the Trojans heading into game six. The sophomore QB has thrown 1601 yards, 15 TD’s and only four interceptions while completing 70.3 % of his throws. He also has a great quarterback rating on average of 153.6.
This is during a COVID-19 season that has already shortened the offseason and cut the amount of games on the schedule in half, yet Slovis is putting up these numbers and so subtly at that. Not to mention, he’s the signal-caller on an undefeated 5-0 team that’s in the PAC-12 Championship, and has led three comebacks this season.
Slovis has been most successful when attacking opposing defenses that play man coverage. With four talented receivers on the outside, Slovis has learned to trust them to get open, especially with the 50/50 ball. The more aggressive Kedon is against man-to-man coverage, the more he will stand out in his performance.
The Oregon defense normally puts its corners on islands, so it will be important for the Trojans wide-outs such as Amon Ra-St. Brown, Drake London and Tyler Vaughns to win their matchups at the line of scrimmage.
Slovis has also performed much better from outside the pocket where he has more room to put his body weight into the throws. The Ducks defense under Mario Cristobal is known for blitzing as well, so designed rollouts might help Slovis see the field better and allow for his receivers to get open.
If the sophomore QB can continue to work the ball down the field near the sidelines, as well as getting adequate protection, expect Slovis to have a great PAC-12 Championship.
The key will be to expose the man coverage and do what big time players do in big time games: win and perform at a high level.
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