USC spread the work around in a big way during its season-opening shutout of Fresno State, using 73 players and handing out a long list of firsts, returns and expanded roles along the way.
The Trojans had four players back on the field after missing the opener: Tanook Hines, Brandon Lockhart, Kendarius Reddick and Marcelles Williams. Two of those names also showed up in different debut categories. Lockhart and Jaimeon Winfield both made their collegiate debuts, while Hines, Williams, Reddick and Trestin Castro were all making their season debuts.
Not everyone made it through the night cleanly. Kendarius Reddick was the only player listed as injured and not finishing USC’s shutout victory. He logged just one snap, a special teams rep, before leaving with an apparent injury.
USC also had a sizable group unavailable from the start. Shaun Scott, Terrell Anderson, Tucker Ashcraft, Dylan Black, Gavin Degner, Sam Huard, Romero Ison, Cash Jacobsen, Cian McKelvey, Elijah Newby, Braylan Shelby, Jahkeem Stewart, Roderick Tezeno and Kilian O'Connor were all out with injuries and/or not dressed.
The snap counts showed just how deep the Trojans went. Hayden Treter led the way with 62 total snaps, while Kannon Smith was on the field for only one play, appearing on the final kneel down. USC’s season-low total of 68 snaps still reached 73 different players.
There were also nine non-career debut players who either set or tied their USC career highs in total snaps: Corey Simms, Zacharyus Williams, Alex VanSumeren, Deven Bryant, Luke Wafle, Carrington Pierce, Vlad Dyakonov, Taylor Johnson and Josiah Jefferson.
A few chart notes help frame the numbers: sacks and scrambles are counted as dropbacks, pop passes are treated as runs, H-backs are defined as players lined up inside the offensive tackle or fully inside an inline tight end, and kneel downs and spikes are removed from yards-per-play averages since no yardage is being pursued.
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