Lincoln Riley details how USC is preparing for Arizona's quarterback situation
All fans know who to expect under center for the USC Trojans this weekend when they face Arizona, but there are currently some question marks at the quarterback position for the Wildcats ahead of Saturday’s game.
Arizona’s starter Jayden de Laura left the game late in the third quarter in the Wildcats’ Week 4 matchup against Stanford, with the offense relying on redshirt freshman quarterback Noah Fifita to finish the game and make his first career start last weekend against Washington.
de Laura’s status ahead of the game Saturday is still uncertain, and with that in mind, USC head coach Lincoln Riley was asked about preparing to face either and what the two bring to the table.
“We’ll definitely prepare for both — it is what it is,” Riley said. “But I think looking at them both the guys are pretty similar.”
The Trojans are familiar with de Laura, who started all 12 games last season for Arizona and threw for 380 yards and 3 touchdowns versus USC in a shootout a season ago. And while Fifita is a little bit lesser of a known commodity, Riley has been impressed with what he’s seen so far this season from him.
“Obviously, we saw de Laura last year and know the kind of competitor and dynamic athlete and all that he is, and the young kid that came in did a nice job for them last week and looks to have a lot of the similar skillsets,” Riley said. “He’s pretty mobile, threw the ball well, played very poised, he was pretty impressive for a young guy in his first, it looked like, real true action.”
Fifita completed all four of his pass attempts in relief of de Laura to help the Wildcats come away with a 21-20 win over Stanford. Versus Washington last Saturday he wasn’t able to lead Arizona to a win, but completed 69.2% of his passes for 232 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.
“So it didn’t look like their system changed a lot, which you can tell they’ve got some confidence in the young kid and he did a nice job and they’ve got some good weapons to get it to,” Riley said.
Arizona State head coach Jedd Fisch revealed the de Laura will continue being evaluated throughout the week to see if he can suit up for Arizona on Saturday. But it’s clear that the Trojans plan on being prepared for whoever ends up being the Wildcats’ signal caller.