USC vs. Utah Injury Report: Isaac Taylor-Stuart in doubt

Cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart is in doubt for Friday’s action at the Coliseum. Here’s the full injury report for USC vs. Utah.

Four weeks into the 2019 season, the weight of injury is starting to weight on USC.

This Friday’s USC vs. Utah game will feature a Trojan secondary with some big question marks. Chief among them is starting cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart, who has sat out practice this week while going through concussion protocol.

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Head coach Clay Helton called the redshirt freshman “questionable at best” to play. That will thrust true freshman Chris Steele into the starting lineup for the first time. Not that he hasn’t already been made his mark as a part of USC’s cornerback rotation. Though young, he has performed well enough to hope there won’t be much of a drop off in that position.

Fortunately for the Trojans, they got good news on another defensive back going through concussion protocol. Nickelback Greg Johnson has been medically cleared for the action on Friday. He missed practice earlier in the week, but was full go on Wednesday.

As a defensive back who could shift outside to give USC an extra option at cornerback, Johnson’s availability is extra valuable. The Trojans also have true freshman Max Williams cleared and available to play for the first time this week.

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Up in the trenches, USC is hoping to get Christian Rector back at defensive end for the Utah matchup. He sat out against BYU with an ankle injury, but has been able to practice all week. Helton said he has been medically cleared, but will have to prove confident enough to go out and perform at a high level.

It may be a confidence issue for wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown as well when it comes to suiting up on Friday. The wide receiver was held from practice to start the game week with a sore foot. He was back practicing on Wednesday, which is a good sign for the likelihood of him playing against Utah.

USC football injury report

• OUT FOR THE SEASON:
  • LB Solomon Tuliaupupu (foot)
  • QB JT Daniels (knee)
• OUT:
  • DL Jacob Lichtenstein (calf)
  • LB Jordan Iosefa (knee)
  • LB Elijah Winston (turf toe)
  • OLB Abdul-Malik McClain
  • TE Ethan Rae (knee)
  • WR Kyle Ford (knee)
  • WR Bru McCoy (illness)
• QUESTIONABLE:
  • CB Isaac Tayor-Stuart (concussion)
  • OL Andrew Vorhees (foot)
• PROBABLE:
  • CB Max Williams (hamstring)
  • DB Greg Johnson (concussion)
  • DL Christian Rector (ankle)
  • WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (foot)

Utah football injury report

• QUESTIONABLE:
  • OL Orlando Umana
  • OL Johnny Maea
• PROBABLE:
  • DB Julian Blackmon (knee)

The Utes don’t release injury information, so piecing together their injury situation can be difficult.

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They were forced to shuffle their offensive line around over the first three weeks because of health though.

Center Orlando Umana hasn’t played the last two weeks, with listed right guard starter Paul Toala sliding over to fill the gap. In Toala’s place, the Utes have moved starting right tackle Nick Ford to guard and started backup left tackle Simi Moala on the right.

Whether that changes this week is a question.

On defense, starting safety Julian Blackmon didn’t start, replaced by backup R.J. Hubert. That hold out against Idaho State was likely precautionary because of a knee tweak, according to ESPN Radio’s Porter Larsen.