Three USC players changed jersey numbers for the Iowa game, according to the game-day roster distributed to media members.
Quarterback Sam Huard and punter Sam Johnson were both listed as No. 0 and receiver Zacharyus Williams, who usually wears No. 0, was listed as No. 80.
@haleymsawyer USC quarterback Sam Huard and punter Sam Johnson are both wearing No. 0 for today’s game against Iowa. They were each wearing No. 80 last week to pull off a trick play involving a fake punt against Northwestern last week. #CollegeFootball #usc #uscfootball
Williams was also listed as “out” on the Big Ten Conference pregame availability report.
Huard and Johnson had both worn No. 80 in last week’s game against Northwestern, and the jersey change had helped them pull off a controversial trick play involving a fake punt.
The Big Ten later issued a statement saying a penalty should have been called, stating that two players playing the same position may not wear the same number during the game, but Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley defended it as “entirely legal.”
The play had captured the attention of the college football world, particularly Barstool and Fox Sports personality Dave Portnoy, who called the Trojans “dirtbags” for calling it.
Fox Sports analyst and former USC quarterback Matt Leinart called it Portnoy’s “worst rant of the year” and, on Saturday, presented him on the “Big Noon Kickoff” show with a USC No. 80 jersey signed by Sam Huard.
“I want to apologize for absolutely nothing, Dave,” Leinart said before presenting the jersey.
Game captains
Long snapper Hank Pepper, linebacker Eric Gentry, quarterback Jayden Maiava, defensive tackle Devan Thompkins, offensive lineman Tobias Raymond and wide receiver Asante Das were all selected as game captains Saturday.
It’s Das’ second straight week as a game captain. Head coach Lincoln Riley told reporters on a Friday Zoom call that Das is a valuable scout team member.
“He’s one of those guys that maybe people haven’t seen a ton on Saturdays that has a huge impact on this program,” Riley said.
“He’s a phenomenal scout team player. He is becoming a real leader on this team vocally, emotionally, challenging guys, pushing our standard, our core values. This guy is off the charts. There is no way we would ever play a game that we wouldn’t take him to.”
Game captains are decided by Riley and a handful of other staff members Friday afternoon, and players are notified during the Friday night team meeting.
“I don’t ever want to be the coach that’s like, ‘Well, our captains are only going to be the guys that are playing the most snaps on Saturdays,’” Riley said. “These are organizations. These are like big families. It doesn’t always work like that.”
O’Connor starts at center
Offensive lineman Kilian O’Connor started at center in Saturday’s game for the first time since the Trojans’ Week 5 game at Illinois. He left that game with an apparent lower-body injury.
J’Onre Reed, who has started at center since O’Connor’s injury, was listed as “questionable” on the Big Ten pregame availability report.