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Waymond Jordan, Eli Sanders injury updates: Lincoln Riley on multiple RB losses

On3 imageby: Dan Morrison10/12/25dan_morrison96
Lincoln Riley, USC
© Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans weren’t kind hosts to the Michigan Wolverines, beating them 31-13 to move to 5-1 on the season. However, it wasn’t all good for head coach Lincoln Riley, who saw running backs Waymond Jordan and Eli Sanders both get carted off with injuries.

After the game, Riley shared what he knew about Jordan and Sanders. While he wasn’t yet able to share the exact injuries they suffered or how long they’ll be out, he did seem to have a lot of concern about their health. In particular, there seemed to be concern that Sanders is looking at a long-term issue.

“We’ll get confirmation,” Lincoln Riley said. “Eli’s doesn’t look super positive in terms of the rest of the season. So, we’ll get confirmation on it, but it doesn’t look positive. Waymond wasn’t able to come back in tonight. So, we will continue to evaluate him and see where he’s at.”

On the Sunday following the win over Michigan, more details did emerge regarding Waymond Jordan. It’s now being reported that he’s going to miss “at the very least multiple games.” That’s going to force Lincoln Riley and the USC offense to find new running backs to step up in the immediate future. This, of course, comes with a road trip to South Bend to take on Notre Dame next week.

Waymond Jordan came to USC as a JUCO transfer ahead of the 2025 season. Now a junior, he’s played in six games and has 88 carries for 576 yards and five touchdowns. He also has seven receptions for 55 yards.

Then, Eli Sanders is another transfer who came to USC this past offseason. He previously played at New Mexico and Iowa State. In his case, he has 47 carries over 264 games and two touchdowns. On top of that, Sanders has eight receptions for 126 yards and a receiving touchdown.

Lincoln Riley will now see his depth tested at running back. King Miller will likely see an increased workload. This season, he’s carried the ball 29 times, which is third on the team. He’s also rushed for 310 yards and three touchdowns. No other running back has more than 10 carries through the first half of the season.

Hopefully, once more information is available and testing can be done, neither injury will be as severe as Riley initially seemed to fear. Regardless, it sounds as though they’ll be shorthanded this week against Notre Dame.