Southern California fires Helton
Southern California fired football coach Clay Helton on Monday, two games into his seventh season in charge.
Athletic director Mike Bohn made the move two days after an embarrassing 42-28 home loss to Stanford that dropped the Trojans (1-1, 0-1 Pac-12) out of the AP Top 25.
Donte Williams, the Trojans’ cornerbacks coach and associate head coach, is taking over as interim head coach. Williams, a Los Angeles-area native and the first Black head coach in USC football history, joined the program in 2020.
USC visits Washington State this weekend for its road opener.
Helton went 46-24 during his tenure in charge of a longtime West Coast powerhouse with 11 national titles. The career assistant twice took over as interim head coach before permanently getting his first head coaching job late in the 2015 season.
The Trojans won the Rose Bowl after the 2016 season and the Pac-12 title in 2017 while Sam Darnold was their quarterback, but Helton was 19-14 after the 2017 season.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian announced that junior Casey Thompson will replace freshman Hudson Card as the Longhorns’ starting QB. Card, who started the first two games, was 8-of-15 for 61 yards and was sacked three times in Saturday’s 40-21 loss to Arkansas. Thompson, who also played in the second half against Louisiana, came in and was 5 of 8 for 57 yards and also rushed seven times for 44 yards and two TDs. Texas is 1-1 . ... The SEC fined Arkansas $100,000 after its fans stormed the field following its upset of Texas. It was Arkansas’ second violation of the access to competition area policy. The previous violation was in 2014.
NFL: 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan announced that former Pro Bowl CB Jason Verrett will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL and RB Raheem Mostert will be out about eight weeks with chipped cartilage in his knee. Both players suffered their injuries in the 49ers’ 41-33 season-opening victory over the Lions on Sunday . ... The Washington Football team placed QB Ryan Fitzpatrick on injured reserve with a right hip subluxation. The veteran QB suffered the injury during the team’s 20-16 loss to the Chargers. ESPN reported that Fitzpatrick is expected to miss six to eight weeks. Taylor Heinicke, who replaced Fitzpatrick in the game, will start Thursday against the Giants . ... Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy is expected to miss four to six weeks with a high ankle sprain, ESPN reported. Jeudy suffered the injury during the team’s 27-13 win over the Giants . ... Cowboys DE Randy Gregory was placed on the reserve/COVID19 list, while six-time Pro Bowl G Zack Martin was removed from the list. Martin didn’t play in the opener. Gregory’s availability for Sunday’s game in the Chargers is uncertain. ESPN reported that he has tested positive but can return as soon as he produces two negative tests separated by 24 hours because he’s asymptomatic and vaccinated.
Soccer: Gareth Bale will miss Real Madrid’s Champions League group-play match against Inter Milan on Wednesday after suffering a hamstring injury during training for the La Liga club last week. ESPN reported that there’s no timeline yet for Bale’s return. He missed Madrid’s 5-2 win over Celta Vigo on Sunday. Bale, 32, spent last year on loan at Premier League club Tottenham.