Ford steps into receiver void for his breakout
TUCSON — Jordan Addison, USC’s top receiver, stood on the Arizona Stadium sideline in street clothes. Close by, the receiver expected to seamlessly step into his place, Mario Williams, never got on the field Saturday. He wore pads and a uniform but wound up a surprise late scratch because of a pregame injury tweak.
Their absences left the Trojans without any obvious answers at wideout, where their top two targets had accounted for 42.5% of the team’s receptions. But in their stead, what might’ve been a nightmare scenario ended in Caleb Williams’ career-best passing night as USC beat Arizona 45-37.
Kyle Ford set his mind on a breakout game before he knew Addison and Williams would be out of the lineup. Two weeks ago, soon after USC suffered its first loss of the season at Utah, Ford called Caleb Williams and told the quarterback he was going to make an impact.
“He said no more,” Williams said. “He wants to be on the field. He wants to make those catches for me, and he got his opportunity.”
Ford made the most of it Saturday, catching six passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. After a long road back from two anterior cruciate ligament tears, Ford described his performance as “a big happy feeling.”
“It’s a lot of work put in, a lot of ups and downs of what I’ve been through,” Ford said, “but at the same time, I know I can do this. It wasn’t really a surprise to me. I know I can help my team the way I did tonight.”
The former Orange Lutheran star wasn’t the only reserve receiver to make a statement. Tahj Washington led the team with seven catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Brenden Rice caught his first touchdown at USC, with a toe-tapping score in the back of the end zone. Kyron Hudson, Michael Jackson III and Terrell Bynum all had multiple catches as well.
“They just stepped up and made some big plays, and we had to have them,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “When you have two of your top receivers out, you test the depth of your group. And our group responded.”
Officiating fiasco
As the final seconds of the first half ticked away, confusion set in. The ball had yet to be spotted by officials, but the clock was incorrectly running. USC tried to hurriedly run a play as precious seconds ran down, but it was no use.
Soon, the Arizona sideline emptied. The referees conferred. They chose not to do anything — other than tell the teams it was halftime.
Riley flew into a rage. USC athletic director Mike Bohn retweeted comments about Pac-12 refs from afar. For the second week in a row, poor officiating had cost USC.
And for the second consecutive game, Riley found himself answering questions he’d rather not have to about Pac-12 officiating.
“They admitted it. They messed it up,” he said. “My question was, if you messed it up, why wasn’t it, ‘Stop play and review it?’
“The explanation given to me at the beginning of the third quarter was they obviously didn’t handle it properly. But anybody knows that watching it.”
Line shuffling
When Riley was asked last week whether Andrew Vorhees would be available Saturday after an extended absence from practice, the coach offered no suggestion that USC’s standout left guard might sit out the game.
But Vorhees emerged from the tunnel Saturday padless, leaving the Trojans to shuffle the line in a way they hadn’t this season.
Right guard Justin Dedich shifted to the left side. Right tackle Jonah Monheim moved inside to right guard. And redshirt freshman Mason Murphy stepped into the open right tackle spot, making his first start at USC.
It was an impressive performance all around for an offensive line playing without one of the top guards in the nation. USC didn’t give up a sack and it cleared the way for 210 yards on the ground and a season-high 611 yards overall.