u/Ebishop813

USC Injury Report vs. Washington

Here’s where things currently stand heading into Saturday. Obviously, the final Big Ten availability report closer to kickoff will give us a better picture.

Player
Pos.
Status
Injury / Situation

Corey Simms
WR
OUT
Remains unavailable after being injured against Rutgers.

Kendarius Reddick
S
OUT
Remains unavailable.

Kilian O’Connor
OL
OUT
Longer-term absence; remains unavailable.

Trent Mosley
WR
QUESTIONABLE
Knee injury. Has missed Rutgers and Oregon. Reportedly underwent a minor knee procedure, so despite the official questionable designation, a return against Washington appears unlikely.

Jahkeem Stewart
DT
QUESTIONABLE
Recently returned from a foot injury but remains on the availability report.

Alex VanSumeren
DT
QUESTIONABLE
Suffered an apparent lower-body injury against Oregon and needed assistance leaving the field before being taken away on a cart. One of the biggest injury situations to watch.

Alex Graham
DB
QUESTIONABLE
Injured against Rutgers and missed Oregon. His availability is particularly important for USC’s secondary.

Mark Bowman
TE
QUESTIONABLE
New addition to the injury report this week with an undisclosed issue.

Taylor “Taybo” Johnson
LB
QUESTIONABLE
Missed Oregon but has been upgraded to questionable.

Hayden Treter
OL
QUESTIONABLE
Another offensive-line availability situation to monitor.

Also unavailable
Desman Stephens II — LB — SUSPENDED
Stephens isn’t injured, but USC suspended him for the Washington game following his targeting hit against Oregon.

Biggest situations to watch

Alex VanSumeren: Probably the defensive injury I’m watching most closely. If he’s unavailable while Jahkeem Stewart is still limited, USC’s interior defensive-line depth becomes a bigger concern.

Alex Graham: His return would be important for the secondary. USC had to adjust its personnel at nickel while he was unavailable against Oregon.

Trent Mosley: Officially questionable, but based on the reporting surrounding his knee procedure, I’d currently plan on USC playing Washington without him.

Mark Bowman: One of the more interesting new additions to the report because he’s USC’s starting freshman TE and the injury wasn’t previously a major storyline.

Current shorthand:
OUT: Simms, Reddick, O’Connor
SUSPENDED: Stephens
Likely unavailable: Mosley
Major game-time situations: VanSumeren, Graham, Stewart
Other players to monitor: Bowman, Treter, Taybo Johnson

This weekend my wife and daughter were out of town and it was just me and my middle school boy. Needless to say I’ve got heartburn and a kitchen to clean up today.

I also watched all college football games that mattered and here’s my list of the Top 25….or 27…..based entirely on the eyeball test. How big did they look? how accurate were their throws? Did they beat the team by a big enough margin? Do their players just look different playing than the other team’s players? Did their defense AND offense look good?

1. Notre Dame
2. Miami
3. Georgia
4. Texas
5. Houston
6. Indiana
7. Ohio State
8. Ole Miss
9. Tennessee
   T-10. Alabama
   T-10. USC
   T-12. SMU
   T-12. Utah
   T-14. Penn State
   T-14. Michigan
10. Texas A&M
11. BYU
12. Oklahoma
13. LSU
14. Mississippi State
15. Missouri
    T-22. Virginia
    T-22. Iowa
16. Washington
    T-25. Louisville
    T-25. Virginia Tech
17. Texas Tech

Important Housekeeping Items: For those of you new to this contest, there are a few things you should know.

1. The winner chooses the charity that the Fight On Funds go towards. Only rule is that the charity cannot be affiliated with any religious organization. I also use some tools to make sure the charity has a good historical record and doesn't have any strikes against them for misusing funds.
2. The winner is determined via Pythagorean Theorem. This objectively measures which guessed score was closest to the final score. It is especially useful because it considers both teams’ scores together and penalizes a large miss on either score. There is a 10 point penalty if you predict the wrong team to win.
3. There is a season-long contest called the Man in the Coliseum (MiTC) which is the ultimate trophy of this contest. We take each person's five best predictions (lowest differentials) and average them out. The lowest average wins the final trophy! The more predictions you participate in the more chances you have at achieving a low differential.
4. There will be enemies infiltrating our contest so just be respectful and show them that USC fans are just better than them and don't stoop to their Notre-Dame-Low-IQ comments.

Game:
USC vs Fresno State University, Friday September 4th at 6 PM at the Coliseum

Congrats to u/quotesforlosers for becoming this seasons first winner of the contest!! They predicted an outcome of USC 45 SJSU 24! They asked the donation to go towards International Rescue Committee at rescue.org but since I fumbled and said the second place winner u/jjnotjayjay won I’m also sending the FightOn Funds donation goes towards Autism Speaks.

Thoughts:
I’ve been watching USC for 30+ years and the one thing I can tell you is that there’s only been ONE TIME where the first game predicted the outcome of USC’s season. That game also happened to be on September 4th but in 2016 at a neutral site versus Alabama. After that game you knew what USC was made of.

Against SJSU? Nah, that game was just the cover of the book. And what do we say about judging books by the cover???? We say, USC’s depth at the safety level is probably not their best attribute. Or something like that, I forget exactly how the saying goes.

But that’s all I have as far as my judgments of this years USC team. That and #8 Desman Stephens II backup LB is not where he needs to be, same for #9 Kennedy Urlacher backup safety and nickleback, same for the other backup NB Isaiah Rubin, and definitely the same for true freshman #31 Madden Riordan (although he did get beat by a damn good WR with a good history of teams if he played for). Basically Nickleback and Safety positions are in question.

Fresno State:
This is no slouch team but it is their season opening game so we can’t say for sure what this team will look like. Remember, we are in 2026 where every high school in the country has access to the best coaching the best strength and conditioning resources and a large sample size of human beings to draw from. The competition is saturated now so the difference between a Fresno State player and a USC player could be just a matter of luck or late maturity that prevented the Fresno player from playing at a bigger college.

This game will require backups going into the 4th quarter. They have a B+ QB Khristian Martin (edit: it is in fact Jayden Mandel the local hero and last years QB who gets the start), an A- and B- running backs (#2 Rayshon Luke and #6 Bryson Donelson), and their defense is an all around C+ with a few Grade A players peppered throughout.

Prediction:
USC 38 Fresno State 17
I think one should take the over on this game at 51.5 points.

Comment yours!

Hey everyone! My weekly prediction contest post somehow got posted twice so I’ve gone through the comments of the one we removed and will be adding them to the spreadsheet!

My apologies for the confusion here and I’ll get back to anyone on there that may have won which I think might have happened.

Alright, we’re finally back. USC opens the 2026 season Saturday at the Coliseum against San José State at 12 PM! Don’t forget that predictions are cut off an hour before kickoff so don’t be late to comment your prediction.

After all the offseason talk, recruiting, transfers, expectations, etc., I’m curious what everyone is actually looking for in Game 1. For me it’s all about the defense per usual since Lincoln Riley has proved he can generate a good offense.

Obviously USC should win this game comfortably, so for me it’s less about the final score and more about how they look doing it.

A few things I’ll be watching:
Does the offensive line look sharp right away or take a game or two to settle in?
How does the offensive superstars on this team look?
Can the defense consistently get pressure without having to blitz?
Can USC put an inferior team away early instead of letting them hang around?
Which new player has the biggest “oh damn, this guy is going to be good” moment?

My prediction: USC 45, San José State 17.
I think SJSU hangs around for a little bit early, USC has the usual Week 1 sloppiness, but the talent gap eventually becomes pretty obvious and the Trojans pull away in the second half.

More than anything, I want to come out of Saturday feeling like this team looks different. The schedule gets nasty later with Oregon, Washington, @ Penn State, @ Wisconsin, Ohio State and @ Indiana, so these first few games need to be about getting everything dialed in.
What’s everyone’s score prediction? And what’s the ONE thing you need to see Saturday to feel better about USC going into 2026?
Fight On ✌️

Alright, we’re finally back. USC opens the 2026 season Saturday at the Coliseum against San José State at 12 PM! Don’t forget that predictions are cut off an hour before kickoff so don’t be late to comment your prediction.

After all the offseason talk, recruiting, transfers, expectations, etc., I’m curious what everyone is actually looking for in Game 1. For me it’s all about the defense per usual since Lincoln Riley has proved he can generate a good offense.

Obviously USC should win this game comfortably, so for me it’s less about the final score and more about how they look doing it.

A few things I’ll be watching:
Does the offensive line look sharp right away or take a game or two to settle in?
How does the offensive superstars on this team look?
Can the defense consistently get pressure without having to blitz?
Can USC put an inferior team away early instead of letting them hang around?
Which new player has the biggest “oh damn, this guy is going to be good” moment?

My prediction: USC 45, San José State 17.
Edit: Fooled ya! USC 60 San Jose State 21
I think SJSU hangs around for a little bit early, USC has the usual Week 1 sloppiness, but the talent gap eventually becomes pretty obvious and the Trojans pull away in the second half.

More than anything, I want to come out of Saturday feeling like this team looks different. The schedule gets nasty later with Oregon, Washington, @ Penn State, @ Wisconsin, Ohio State and @ Indiana, so these first few games need to be about getting everything dialed in.
What’s everyone’s score prediction? And what’s the ONE thing you need to see Saturday to feel better about USC going into 2026?
Fight On ✌️