The Trojans will be down a kicker and handful of defensive players as USC opens its season against the Missouri State Bears in the Coliseum.
The USC Trojans will be down a handful of defensive players and a starting kicker for the opener against Missouri State.
The pregame Big Ten Availability report shows six USC Trojans listed as “Out” for today’s 4:30 kickoff in the Coliseum.
Defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart
Linebacker Anthony Beavers Jr.
Defensive back Prophet Brown
Defensive back Chasen Johnson
Defensive back Alex Graham
Kicker Caden Chittenden
What it means for USC
All eyes were going to be on the true freshman defensive tackle Stewart who was the jewel of USC’s 2025 defensive recruiting class. But he’s been in a walking boot the past week or so and Riley ruled him out of today’s game yesterday.
He was going to play and provide depth in the interior, but it’s better safe than sorry with the standout freshman right now. The Trojans shouldn’t need all hands up deck to deal with Missouri State, but getting him some snaps the next few weeks will be important.
Missing Chittenden means the Trojans will turn to walk-on kicker Ryon Sayeri, who turned in a solid fall camp.
Beavers is part of the depth at linebacker, but the Trojans have plenty there to turn to behind starters Eric Gentry and Desman Stephens.
The defensive backs are where the Trojans will feel it. But again, the hit to the depth and starting lineup shouldn’t be felt in this one.
Chasen Johnson has been a little limited for much of fall camp and was a 50/50 proposition to be available for this one. He appears to be someone capable of pushing for a starting spot this season but he’ll need to be on the field regularly first.
Brown was hurt during camp and will miss the first part of the season at least. Graham, a true freshman, looked like he’d be his replacement at nickel but now the Trojans are dealing with his loss as well. It’ll be interesting to see what happens at nickel in this game. DJ Harvey and Kevin Longstreet are options. But the Trojans could also slide veterans there in safety Kamari Ramsey or linebacker Eric Gentry.
Category: General Sports
