The USC offensive line had to respond quickly when left tackle Elijah Paige was ruled out of the Penn State game at the last second with an injury.
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True freshman Vlad Dyakonov walked into a roaring Beaver Stadium with placidity to fill Paige’s place.
Unbothered by the “White Out” game atmosphere, the O-line’s performance allowed quarterback Jayden Maiava to pass for 301 yards and three touchdowns, and the running game collected an additional 129 yards and a touchdown in the Trojans’ 31-23 win.
“The most impressive part about (Dyakonov) is just him being calm, and not having much nervousness going in,” right tackle Justin Tauanuu told reporters, “especially going to a big atmosphere such as Penn State. It really impressed me how he played.”
Dyakonov, who also had a fumble recovery in the game, is the latest USC freshman to make a name for himself this season. And it’s a signal that the best might be yet to come for the No. 16 Trojans (6-1 overall, 3-1 Big Ten), who play at Wisconsin (4-2, 2-1) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT.
USC has claimed four of the first seven Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards this season, with tight end Mark Bowman, running back Riley Wormley, defensive end Luke Wafle and receiver Trent Mosley each earning the honor.
“I think our threshold to improve as a team is pretty high because of how many young guys are playing,” head coach Lincoln Riley said. “And with that experience, they’re going to gain confidence and the skills are developing to the point where they’re going to be better players not just later on in their career, but certainly in the back half of this year.”
It only makes sense, given USC’s freshmen have some of the heaviest workloads on the team.
Bowman remains the most-used tight end on the team, despite missing the last two games due to injury, and Wafle is the second-most-used defensive lineman.
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The receiving corps is rife with freshmen. Kayden Dixon-Wyatt has a play percentage of 67.2%, according to Hudl IQ analytics, and is the team’s leading receiver with 27 catches for 400 yards and four touchdowns.
Mosley ranks fourth out of all receivers in that category at 34.5%, Ethan “Boobie” Feaster is at 24.6% and Tron Baker has a 17.6% play percentage.
The coaching staff is closely tracking practice and game reps for all of the freshmen in order to make sure they progress at the right pace – and remain healthy in the process. It can be a challenge, considering there is no long-term or offseason data to work with.
“Everybody’s got some sort of pitch count,” Riley said. “I would just say with those guys, you have to be more aware and at times, maybe a hair more conservative just because you don’t have all these offseasons.
“Some of these guys haven’t played this much ball at this level of effort, this level of physicality. So, we try to be aware, but each guy’s a little bit different. We’re certainly establishing that and learning about them as we go.”
KICKOFF TIME ANNOUNCED
USC’s home game against No. 3 Ohio State on Oct. 31 will kick off at 4:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on NBC (Ch. 4).
That game will mark the fifth consecutive 4:30 kickoff for USC, meaning the Trojans will have been featured on primetime television in their games against Oregon, Washington, Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Start times for the Trojans’ Nov. 14 away game at No. 6 Indiana, as well as its home game against Maryland (Nov. 21) and its road game against No. 9 UCLA on Nov. 28 at the Rose Bowl have not been announced yet.
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