USC’s offensive line took a hit Thursday when head coach Lincoln Riley said projected starting center Kilian O’Connor will miss the 2026 season after getting hurt in practice on Wednesday.
Riley said O’Connor, a fifth-year senior, is scheduled to have surgery today. He called the injury “a non-contact kind of freak injury” and did not specify the exact issue.
“Tough one for us I think more than anything from just an emotional standpoint,” Riley said. “Tremendous leader. Obviously well versed his track here as a walk on into becoming a team leader and one of the heartbeats of this program.”
The news lands hard because O’Connor’s rise at USC has been one of the program’s better underdog stories. The 6-foot-1, 300-pound lineman arrived as a walk-on from Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.)
Santa Margarita Catholic, climbed the depth chart, and eventually earned a start in the Las Vegas Bowl against Texas A&M to close the 2024 season. That breakthrough led to a scholarship after three years as a walk-on, and he kept pushing into a starting role last year even with USC bringing in J’Onre Reed, a multi-year starting center transfer.
O’Connor beat out Reed and started the first five games of the season before a left-knee injury in the Illinois game changed things. He later returned late in the year, played in three games, started against Iowa and then Oregon, and was hurt again in the ranked matchup with the Ducks. Over the season, he logged 319 snaps and posted a 66.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, along with a 60.3 pass-block grade and a 69.0 run-block grade.
His knee history stretches back further. O’Connor missed multiple games in 2024 because of a knee issue and was shut down during last year’s spring camp after aggravating the same knee. Last season he played in eight games, starting seven, while holding off on season-ending surgery on his left knee.
Even with the setbacks, O’Connor kept earning respect in the building. At USC’s Media Day earlier this week, he reflected on the path that brought him here.
“I've always kind of said it's just about getting a seat at the table, and then from there it's up to you to make sure you go and eat. So it's just been a really awesome experience.”
That experience started long before USC. O’Connor was a standout at Santa Margarita in the Trinity League, a three-year starter who finished high school with Cal-Hi Sports All-State second team, All-CIF Division 1, Orange County Register All-Orange County first team and All-Trinity League first team honors as a senior.
Reed, who competed with him for the center job last summer, made it clear how much O’Connor had already earned around the program.
“Kilian does everything the right way,” Reed said last summer. “He shows up on time.
He's in the right place at the right time. He commands the room.
I look up to him, and I'm older than him. That's because I respect what he's done.
He does everything he's supposed to do. He's smart.
He knows the system. He's been around guys who've done it at a high level.
So when you have a guy like that, it's hard to sit there and be like, 'I'm just going to beat you out.' He's definitely shocked me.
It's hard to beat out a guy like that. That's a guy I don't mind competing with because he does everything the right way.”
With O’Connor sidelined, USC can no longer say it will bring back all five opening-day starters from last season. That said, Riley pointed to the depth the Trojans have built up front as they look for a replacement.
USC could move Tobias Raymond to center after he opened last season at left guard and also played both tackle spots. Raymond spent spring practice working at both guard and center. If the Trojans keep him at guard, second-year freshman Willi Wascher is another possibility, and true freshman Kannon Smith also took reps at center this spring.
“Tough one for the guys to see,” Riley said. “A great reminder for all of our guys just how nothing in this game is ever guaranteed. We're fortunate to have enough depth on the o-line that we've been working on to continue to push forward.”
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