ASU Football: First Look at USC

Football is finally back. The Arizona State Sun Devils will head to Los Angeles to face their first opponent of the 2020 season when they take on the USC Trojans. Things will kick off bright and early Saturday at 10 a.m. MST with the game on FOX.

This will be an early test for the Sun Devils, as both teams are considered to be the favorites of the Pac-12 South. The Trojans are coming in ranked No. 20 in the country.

Let’s take a look at USC:

Strong on offense

It’s no secret that the Trojans have some weapons on offense that could give the Sun Devil defense trouble, starting off with sophomore quarterback Kedon Slovis. The Arizona native took over for J.T. Daniels last season after he got hurt, and put up some big numbers.

It won’t be surprising if he has an even bigger season this year. During his 2019 campaign, Slovis threw for 3,502 yards and 30 touchdowns, with only nine interceptions. He was the 2019 Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.

Amon-Ra St. Brown will be one of Slovis’ main targets with the departure of Michael Pittman Jr to the NFL. During the 2019 season, St. Brown racked in 77 catches for 1,402 yards and six touchdowns.

Defense looks to turn things around

The Trojan defense was one of the main reasons why they didn’t see more success. They gave up almost 30 points per game last year.

However, that could change bringing in new defensive coordinator Todd Orlando, who has made an impact at previous schools with his blitzing defense.

Orlando spent the last three seasons at Texas and is heading into his 16th season as a defensive coordinator. He also coached at Houston, Utah State, Florida International and Connecticut. ASU’s offense has been watching film from last year of the Longhorns in preparation of this week.

Along with Orlando, the team welcomed back 12 of its 13 top tacklers. They will be without top defensive tackle Jay Tufele, who opted out of the 2020 season and declared for the NFL Draft.