USC Football: Kenny Bigelow Has Torn ACL, Will Miss 2016 Season

Redshirt junior defensive lineman Kenny Bigelow has a torn ACL and will miss USC football’s 2016 season, Clay Helton revealed on Saturday.

USC football will be without Kenny Bigelow for the 2016 season after head coach Clay Helton revealed Saturday that the redshirt junior defensive tackle tore his ACL during practice on Thursday.

Bigelow had to he carted off the practice Thursday and an MRI confirmed that the injury will keep him out for seven to nine months.

Helton told reporters after USC’s scrimmage at the Coliseum that he will remain a captain and will fill a role as “Coach Bigelow.”

This is the second major offseason injury for the defensive lineman at USC. After spending his freshman season as a redshirt, he tore ligaments in his knee before the 2014 season. He worked his way back onto the field in 2015, tallying 10 tackles with three sacks on the year.

More from Reign of Troy

• Markese Stepp enters transfer portal intending to leave USC football
• USC football’s Alijah Vera-Tucker declares for NFL Draft
• USC football adds Xavion Alford as transfer from Texas
• USC Podcast: RoT Radio Ep. 396 on the Football Season’s Fallout
• Talanoa Hufanga named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, USC football with five first-teamers

Heading into the 2016, Bigelow was expected to be a major presence on the defensive line for the Trojans, who lost five players at the position due to graduation.

Bigelow was to be one of the only upperclassman in the unit this season. With his injury, junior college transfer Josh Fatu will hold that mantle alone, unless offensive lineman Jordan Simmons is switched back to the defensive side of the ball.

USC will now lean on sophomores Noah Jefferson, Jacob Daniel and Noah Jefferson, who received positive news on his own back injury on Saturday.