After weeks of false starts and what turned out to be even more false hope, Tre’ Madden has officially turned his football attention to 2015.
Following a meeting Thursday that involved the player, his parents and the USC coaching staff, it was determined that the running back will sit out the remainder of the 2014 season. Madden suffered what turned out to be a significant case of turf toe early on in summer camp this past August and has yet to play a down in 2014.
Madden will have one more year of eligibility remaining. It could be two as he missed the 2012 season with a knee injury, meaning he’d be a near-lock for a sixth season of eligibility from the NCAA if that’s the tack he decides to take.
“We’re moving forward,” Tre’s father, Curtis Madden, told the Orange County Register. “It’s disappointing that he’s not going to be able to contribute this season. But there’s next year and the year after that.”
During the first five games last season, Madden rushed for 583 yards and three touchdowns. The last eight, three of which he didn’t record a carry, Madden totaled just 120 yards and didn’t find the end zone. His 703 yards were second on the team to the 785 yards for Javorius Allen.
With Allen widely expected to make the early plunge into the NFL draft pool, Madden and Justin Davis would ostensibly enter the 2015 season as the Trojans’ top two backfield options.