USC Football begins game at Arizona without 3 of their best players

USC Football just kicked off against Arizona, and they kicked off while being down Jordan Addison, Andrew Vorhees, Eric Gentry, Korey Foreman, and Ralen Goforth. Those first three names are of course three of the best players on the entire team.

As for Addison, it's been known since Saturday morning that he was probably not going to play, as Pete Thamel reported just that on College Gameday. It was disappointing, as the hope was that he'd go despite being a game-time decision. That was the hope for all of him, Gentry, and Goforth. The hope was that at least one of them would play.

Unfortunately, though, he won't be playing and neither will two of SC's main linebackers in Gentry and Goforth. That's where the losses really hurt this team. The Trojans have enough firepower in the receiver room to overcome Addison's injury. They are very thin, however, at linebacker. They are thin to begin with and now even thinner.

They'll need to rely on Shane Lee to really hold it down, as he is the only one of SC's top three linebackers on the depth chart playing today. Goforth is down due to a hand/wrist injury, and Gentry is down due to an ankle injury. On the bright side, however, Lee has been far from bad this season and is the No. 2 LB on the team behind Gentry.

He has picked up 43 tackles through the first seven games despite missing one of the games, and has also posted 3.5 tackles for loss. He also has a pick six on the year to go along with 1.5 sacks and a PD. SC also may at least be prepared to play without these backers, as they were day-to-day heading into the game. The Vorhees injury is the one that's come out of nowhere.

Andrew Vorhees and Korey Foreman's injuries for USC Football were more shocking than Jordan Addison's, Eric Gentry's, and Ralen Goforth's.

Contrary to how it was with Jordan Addison, Eric Gentry, and Ralen Goforth; Andrew Vorhees and Korey Foreman's health was not expected to be in question for USC Football on Saturday. Foreman's injury will be able to be survived, as he has had a bit of a disappointing season this year with just eight tackles. Vorhees being out is what could really hurt. He's SC's best lineman.

This now means that Justin Dedich will have to move over from Right Guard to Left Tackle, which he is capable of doing. Jonah Monheim is also capable of moving from Right Tackle to Right Guard, but then it appears that Mason Murphy will be starting at Right Tackle. He's never started before, and looked a little suspect in his only game action this year (against Fresno State).

It is unclear as to why Riley isn't just starting Courtland Ford at Right Tackle. Regardless of the reason, however, this line may struggle with all these positional changes. Luckily, SC has the skill position players and quarterback to win without a healthy O-Line, but they're of course missing perhaps their best one in Addison.

These injuries will be tough to deal with, but there's also a reason that the Trojans are ranked in the top 10, and Arizona is 3-4 on the season. SC is the much better team, and should still be able to get the win without some of their top guys.