USC Football: 3 takeaways from 2019 Victory Bell win over UCLA

3. Kedon Slovis puts on another quarterback clinic

When the starting quarterback goes down at the beginning of the season, it can often doom a team to irrelevance. For USC, though, it seems to more often than not allow the coaching staff to reveal another diamond on the depth chart already burnished and waiting for a final polishing in the college ranks. That was precisely what happened with Sam Darnold in 2016, and that is also what has transpired with Kedon Slovis after taking over for J.T. Daniels this year.

Slovis was 19-of-24 in the first half as he threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns. He was unable to avoid the rush much, as he took three sacks and lost 14 yards in the process. But that was the worst that could be said about Slovis through the first two quarters, as he made great use of receiving threats Amon-Ra St. Brown and Michael Pittman Jr. It was Pittman that hauled in both of the first-half touchdown catches.

By the end of the game, Slovis had posted his third straight 400-yard passing game and his fourth such performance in his last five starts. Slovis finished with 515 yards on 37-of-47 passing as he threw for four scores. It was the kind of performance that sets up the Trojans as a major threat in the postseason and, with Slovis back as the entrenched starter in 2020, will make them an attractive preseason top-10 pick around the country.