FOOTBALL

A Concern About Kedon Slovis

Kedon Slovis is expected to start against Notre Dame following his concussion vs. Utah.

One thing that concerned me this week is when he said he suffered a similar concussion in high school last year because his head hit the ground.

So that’s two concussions in a year from hitting his head against the ground. Football is not a contact sport. It is a violent sport.

This is why I ask if new quarterbacks can take a hit. JT Daniels did not demonstrate last year he could take a hit.

Once Slovis returns, it will be interesting to see what happens the next time he gets driven to the ground.

45 thoughts on “A Concern About Kedon Slovis”

  1. And you, amongst others, want more physical practices, SW? It doesn’t make sense for the players to be going all out and hurting themselves during practice. “Well, back in my day” or, “McKay or Carroll would have them going full speed 1s v. 1s all the time. “

    See Kevin Ellison.

    # canthaveitbothways

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    1. Not sure if you e played football, likely 5 years or more from youth to high school? Physical practices help you learn how to not get hit or for defense how to tackle so you don’t get hurt. There’s more to it than worrying about injury. I see that as the biggest problem with USC. JT’s injury and Kedon’s were normal QB sacks that knocked them out. Even the RBs look like they aren’t sure where to run because they’re never hit hard in practice. Clay has seriously screwed this program up much in Wins and Losses. He should be fired right now due to having the 64th ranked recruiting class. He’s quit on the team, IMHO.

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      1. I did play. I did learn how to avoid big hits, how to never let the defender or opposing player make hard contact with me by using my arms, hands, and feet. You are right, you can’t play scared. I broke my arm, had high ankle sprains, pinched a nerve in my neck, and remember not feeling my spine after a couple of big hits and still couldn’t play scared. I played before CTE was well known, but instinctively knew to dial it back in practice and save myself for the game. I started and played both ways. These players have played a good part of their lives and know when and how to get physical and/or protect themselves. The players are also bigger, faster, stronger, and killing machines. Which makes sense for the betterment of the team AND player?

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      2. I agree that Helton has screwed the program up, but I believe that it is more because of his in game strategy, his inability to make adjustments, and his inability to make good game time decisions. The players play hard. The low recruiting rankings are a more a reflection of going 5 and 7, IMHO.

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      5. Hi, the shot that Slovis took was not a normal hit. The Utah player hit him perfectly into the chest with full force and determination. He drove Slovis into the ground. Awesome hit which resulted damage that every defensive person wants to do to a qb

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  2. Slovis took that hit cuz he wanted to stand tall & finish his throw. I hope the next time he sees a 300 pound guy within cubic inches of him he tucks the ball and goes down on his own before somebody helps him there…..
    #There’sAlways2ndDown……
    #…[OfCourseThat’sWhatJ.T.TriedToDoAgainstFresno]……
    #Harrell:GivenUSC’sO-Line,HaveQB’sPracticeCrouching

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      1. Arturo —As a general proposition, yes. (But) On the play Slovis got creamed, there was no time to scramble. He was set to throw, the pocket collapsed and he needed to check the throw and go down —he chose to finish the throw. Carson Palmer learned (the hard way) that’s not the best decision.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. I was joking, MG. I saw the play. Your analysis was right on: He stood tall and delivered. You could say, “He stood and delivered” like in the great movie about Jaime Escalante. He needs to learn to tuck and live another play.

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    2. Exactly. But he practices playing flag football. In microseconds is when injuries like his happened. It’s like he didn’t even protect himself as he fell. Could he have prevented the concussion? Doubtful, but he could of set himself up to learn how to change your body’s motion when he got nailed. This team knows the basics li’e this, but you have to practice them constantly. Clay needs to go ASAP before kids get hurt.

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      1. Yes to the first part (Clay’s gotta go) —but it’s a little late to save our guys from getting hurt. When Reign Of Troy published the injury list for the last 2 years it was staggering. USC has several 4 & 5 star players who NEVER returned to the team after suffering injuries….
        #….Something’sWrong

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    3. I didn’t like Jim Everett when he played for the Rams.

      We don’t need QB’s who go down in “anticipation” of a sack.

      #PhantomSack

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      1. I thought Benitez was good enough to beat Leonard. Alas, Benitez pulled a Clown U and choked vs Leonard.

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      2. My dear friend Owns,
        Benitez and Leonard fought a 15 round classic. Wilfredo has nothing to be ashamed of….
        #WilfredoLosingToLeonardNotLikeUsLosingToUCLA…
        #NowTHAT’SChoking,MyFriend…
        #HopeItDoesn’tHappenAgain….ButWithHelton….?

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Seem to recall that the hardest blow landed by Leonard in that fight was a headbutt that created a cut on WB’s forehead causing a trickle of blood into the eyes (and it happened early)…seemed likely to have changed the outcome…

        Leonard was a great fighter, but he did seem to benefit from that type of luck…he won the first Hearns fight when Hearns partially tripped over his stool coming out of the corner and Leonard (desperately behind) charged across the ring and caught him in the middle of recovering…Hagler made the mistake of thinking that at some point Leonard would, like Hearns did, take the bait into an all-out fight…

        Those were definitely the days…sometimes multiple championship fights on the same night in different locations covered on network television in primetime…

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      4. James —Have you noticed that a lot of history’s “great” people and sports’ “greatest” teams seemed to be kinda blessed? Things kinda fell together just right for them at pivotal moments? I wonder if it’s a result of what we talked about earlier —that thing Norman Mailer called “the logic of the spirit”: You win when you DESERVE to win. Isn’t that what medieval warriors of all nationalities believed?
        #MaybeTheyWereOnToSomething….
        #[WhichMeansTheCosmosMustHateHelton]….

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      5. MG
        One of those great never to be 100% answered questions (essentially same as the debate in history of currents versus dynamic individuals)…I have a heard one really good explanation I believe (from a musician): luck=preparation+opportunity. And I think that’s probably right. Sometimes it’s the force of will of the great individual…sometimes it’s being in the right place at the right time…but in either case, the actor must be prepared…and to Leonard’s credit, until late in his career, he was always prepared (even in Montreal)…

        Liked by 1 person

      6. James, Leonard would not fight an in -his – prime – Hagler. He was afraid of that Hagler. Previous to fighting Leonard, Hagler fought a brutal fight against John Mugabi which essentially ended both their careers. After the fight, Hagler had taken so much damage that he peed blood. Mugabi was left a shadow of himself. This is when Leonard pounced. Still think Hagler won.

        There’s still only one Sugar Ray…………….Robinson.

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      7. Arturo:

        Agreed on all (and I remember the Mugabi fight – Hagler fought a brutal series of fights from Antufuermo through Hearns then Mugabi prior to Leonard). Believe you are absolutely right about no way Leonard would have fought Hagler in his prime. I had to slowly come around to giving Leonard his due…Hagler on the other hand – the Hearns and Mugabi fights were savage…a man among men…and I love the way that he went off into the sunset like a Clint Eastwood western…except to Italy!

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      8. James & Arturo —Leonard was a show off (I hated the way he threw bullshit bolo punches at an overmatched lightheavyweight from Canada as the guy was going down)—but let’s give the devil his due. He fought Hagler after he’d been off for a long time with a detached retina —his doctors were telling him not to fight. And, yes, he was scared of Hagler…at first. I remember his voice breaking when he announced the fight. But I watched him train in Century City as he got sharper and sharper—–and right before the fight, when he was asked what would happen if Hagler came out swinging with both hands trying to kill him, he smiled and said “no problem.”
        #HeGotHisHeadStraight….
        #AsColonelKurtzPutIt,”MakeFriendsWithFear”

        Liked by 1 person

    2. MG, what a great blast from the past name. Ironically enough, Benitez was know as a great defensive fighter. He was just a notch below the super-human four of Hagler, Hearns, Leonard, and Duran. Hagler was my personal favorite. A golden age of boxing.

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      1. As far as being a pure boxer, Wilfredo was as good as any of them —he was just smaller. They were all natural middleweights and he was a natural welterweight.
        #HeDeservedBetterFromTheWorld

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Duran was Lightweight (the greatest of all time) when he started. I think Hagler was the most natural middleweight of the four, Hearns (with his height) could grow to be a middleweight but had the worst chin of the four. Was never a Leonard fan, could recognize his ability, but was glad Terry Norris KOd him and when Hector Macho Camacho finally put him out to pastor.

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      4. Hector Camacho —-my favorite fighter of all time. Outsmarted almost everybody —knew how to turn a fighter around, give him angles, pull his head down, push off at just the right moment. Also never listened to his corner –just tuned them out and stared across the ring (they never know what they’re talking about anyway).
        #HectorDeservedMoreToo

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    3. Has he had the practice he’d of seen the defender coming and made a split second decision to just turn his body a little. But since they play flag football for practice…he just naturally froze up and took the sack the worst possible way and bounced his head of the turf.

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      4. I respectfully disagree. A 300 pound beast grabbed him, picked him up and purposefully drove him to the ground. He had his eyes up trying to scan the field, like he is supposed to do and got caught. I don’t care how you practice, eventually you will be hit and get hurt. It’s just the nature of football. Can’t train yourself to take a hit to the head, knee, etc. those things happen.

        Now you can certainly tackle better by practicing it, so I’m all for more full contact practices. Keep QB’s in a red jersey though.

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  5. I said this the other day. Slovis has recovered from a hit and was willing to back in. This is a good thing because often people who get hurt are gun shy, he wasn’t. That doesn’t mean he’s going out there looking to get hit, but that he knows he can recover.
    What needs to happen is the offensive coordinator needs to get in the face of the line coach about the lack of cohesive line play. There is no reason the linemen can’t do a better job. The head coach isn’t going to say something, but something needs to be said.

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    1. Graham Harrell is NOT gonna get in Drevno’s face. Harrell is not gonna get in anybody’s face. Trust me.
      Rialto —did you notice that Notre Dame —-leading 35-0 —kicked a 25 yard field goal against Bowling Green?
      #WhoDOESThat?HowBushCanYaGet?
      #[ISureHopeHeltonHasOurGuysReadyForThisTrip]

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      1. You are right Michael.But I said her needs to, not he’s going to. I knew from the first game the Harrell is just another flunkee. It usually to think anything has really changed. It is evident the Peter principal has been changed to the Helton principle. Insert the least competent and keep your head down.
        As for ND. They are ND what else needs to be said?

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  6. I’m almost w/o words.

    Ore. St. 21 – UCLA 0 it’s just past the 1 qtr. half.

    It’s true Rome wasn’t built in a day, but maybe UCLA should consider taking the LB St. route.

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  7. I played 1 year in JAAL
    5 years in pop Warner 2 years in high school. One of the first rules you learn is you practice like you play on game days. Also go hard or don’t play at all because you are going to get yourself hurt and waste everyone’s time on the team. I love playing foosball taught me how to be a man and respect for your teammates and coaches. Who disciplined you and wanted to bring out the best in you. Win just as bad as you do on the field. Scrimmaging 11 on 11s was a daily occurrence in football practices growing up. Clay trying to change the wheel with walking wounded hurt players every week! Then he wonders why hes on the hot seat every week…..Cluless Clay nothing’s going to change when you can’t even get the basic fundamentals down. Practice tackling and having a plan to build your strengths against your opponents weakness es. Not rocket science!

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