JT Daniels out for rest of USC football season with torn ACL

The knee injury suffered by USC quarterback JT Daniels against Fresno State is as serious as it looked Saturday night. He’s done for the season.

The 2019 USC football season got off to a rough start despite a win over Fresno State in Week 1. Starting quarterback JT Daniels left with an apparent leg injury. On Sunday, multiple reports revealed the injury is a long-term one.

The quarterback has torn his ACL and meniscus, according to reports from Adam Maya of Maven Sports as well as the Daily Trojan.

Head coach Clay Helton is expected to confirm the worst during his weekly media conference call on Sunday night.

Despite only playing a half of football, Daniels completed 25 of his 34 passes for 215 yards with both a touchdown and an interception. His first two drives were stellar, as the Trojans jumped out to their patented 14-0 lead with maximum efficiency, showing what the new Graham Harrell offense could be, if they put everything together.

But alas, an injury to Daniels and yet another shaky performance by the Helton-led Trojans have the team fully entrenched in a muck of ironic uncertainty.

USC will now turn to freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis, who was the surprise pick as the No. 2 quarterback coming out of Fall Camp.

The Scottsdale, Ariz. native was a largely overlooked passing prospect coming out of high school as a three-star recruit. However, his tutelage under NFL great Kurt Warner made him an intriguing addition to USC’s quarterback battle in Spring Camp.

READ MORE: Don’t Sleep on Kedon Slovis as USC’s next freshman QB

Slovis impressed immediately and ultimately won over offensive coordinator Graham Harrell enough to back up Daniels. Inserted into the victory over Fresno State at half time, Slovis completed 6-of-8 passes for 57 yards in what was a decent debut.

He hit an impressive 41-yard pass to Tyler Vaughns set up a Trojan touchdown, but also tossed what amounted to an arm punt interception at the start of the next drive.

There is enough promise there to suggest Slovis could command Harrell’s offense as needed, though he will need to overcome freshman growing pains to keep the Trojans on track.

USC doesn’t have much time to get those answers. They will kickoff their Pac-12 slate with an early season test against in-state rival Stanford next Saturday night at the Coliseum.