As JuJu Smith-Schuster caught a 50-yard touchdown pass in stride during the first quarter of Saturday’s 59–9 victory over Idaho, the feeling of frustration that bothered him during Tuesday’s practice was nowhere to be found.
“We were just waiting for that to come,” said Smith-Schuster of the deep ball. “And we just executed it.”
Execution was something the wideout has not been pleased with as of late; effort was something he had been harping on throughout the week.
“The first day of practice, we were sluggish,” he recalled after the game “Tonight, we executed.”
Though he was talking about the collective, in Saturday night’s game against Idaho, Smith-Schuster took his own message to heart and replicated it in Saturday’s career performance that led USC to its second win of the season.
Aside from his two touchdowns — the other via a 42-yard pass — the sophomore wideout had an eye-popping stat line of 192 yards on 10 catches, both career highs.
“It’s my time to go out and make plays,” he said of his mindset entering the game.
JuJu called his performance “very satisfying,” and emphasized how last week’s failure at going deep turned into a much-improved performance this week.
“It was timing. Last week, we had more pressure on the line,” he explained. “Cody’s balls, they were flat and he wasn’t on point, but I think this week the line stepped up and we got the ball off.”
Kessler, for his part, had quite a successful day of his own, racking up a career-high 410 yards over the air. Kessler still spread the ball around to many different receivers like last week, yet at the same time there was a concerted focus on Smith-Schuster.
“He was decisive in his reads, and accurate,” said head coach Steve Sarkisian of Kessler. “I like that he threw the ball deep, and put air under it.”
The process was different, but the result was the same, if not much better. The fifth-year senior posted an 83% completion rate and tossed three touchdowns, two of those to No. 9. It was clear as day that Kessler and his primary wideout were on the same page from the get-go.
“Practice makes perfect, and we’ve been doing that the whole week,” Smith-Schuster said. “Deep balls, deep balls … It’s very satisfying.”
READ MORE: JuJu Smith-Schuster, The Youthful Leader
The Vandals had a clear game-plan: Don’t surrender the big play. Consequently, the Trojans quickly adjusted at first and both Smith-Schuster and the tailback company were able to maximize their yardage via quick screens and short passes that Kessler usually thrives at.
“The majority of the time, they were playing off, and that’s how I was able to rack up my yards.”
In the Trojans’ fourth drive, however, it only took one play to break Idaho’s plan. On a play-action pass, Kessler faked the handoff to Tre Madden and then calmly floated the 50-yarder to Smith-Schuster who had left his defender a few feet behind.
“I didn’t do anything extra,” Smith-Schuster pointed out. “I just ran my route … We’ve been working on it since practice all week.”
HIGHLIGHTS:
Smith-Schuster’s dominating performance was a microcosm of the Trojans’ ruthless offense as a whole. In the first half alone, USC outgained the Vandals 434–114 in yardage, scoring on all but one of their drives. The kicker? Until the final field goal-resulting drive that lasted 3:33, no drive went over the three-minute mark.
When the rout finally concluded, the Trojans ended up with 737 total yards, averaging 10 yards per play, while also scoring five rushing touchdowns.
“We jumped out on them,” Sarkisian said proudly.
In the first quarter, USC held possession of the ball for a mere 5:14, yet they came away with a whopping 208 yards on 17 plays and scored three touchdowns highlighted by that one-play drive that included Kessler’s 50-yard bomb to Juju.
“We want other schools to know that yeah, we can go deep,” said the sophomore of the play’s lasting effect. “I don’t care what the score is, we’re going to go full speed.”
Smith-Schuster made it clear this week that he didn’t care who the opponent was either. In his mind, this game is a useful building block for the matchup against Stanford next week.
“Next week, Stanford might double-team me and it’s going to open it up for Darreus [Rogers], Steven [Mitchell], [Christian] Tober and all of these guys,” he said excitedly. “Their time will come and when it comes, they’ll be ready to make big plays.”
If JuJu had a mistake in his performance, it wasn’t due to his play, but rather by the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty he was charged with in the third quarter.
“It was an immature mistake,” he admitted, citing his emotions. “I’m not going to do it again.”
Aside from that single lowlight, the 18-year-old was essentially flawless. During practice, he exhibited his leadership with his voice. On Saturday, he did it with his singular play, while still thinking of his teammates first. His coach took note.
“JuJu was just as excited [for] his touchdown as he was about Yoofi [Quansah] getting in the game,” admired Sark afterward.
Despite being the second-youngest receiver on the team, the leadership exudes from Smith-Schuster. Whether it’s correcting Isaac Whitney during practice or showing receivers how to take advantage of a certain coverage, as he goes so does the receiving corps.
With Idaho now overtaken thanks to the Kessler-JuJu connection and a potent offense, the crucial conference opener against Stanford looms. It appears both Smith-Schuster and the Trojans are ready; Sarkisian agrees:
“It was a great win, but we understand what lies ahead.”
You can reach Sports Editor Paolo Uggetti here, or follow him on Twitter@PaoloUggetti
