I would think this isn’t exactly optimal heading into a game down on The Farm.
According to the Orange County Register, three of USC’s five starting offensive linemen “were either limited or held out of practice Thursday afternoon” ahead of Saturday night’s Week 2 matchup with Stanford. Those impacted by injury include center Toa Lobendahn (pectoral), left tackle Austin Jackson (knee) and right tackle Chuma Edoga (hip).
“I’m confident in the guys,” Helton said by way of the Register. “They all want to play. They’ve just got some bumps and bruises that we try to get work one day, we try to spell one day, and we’ll see where we’re at (Friday).”
Lobendahn (pictured) did not play in the season opener against UNLV because of the pectoral strain. The newspaper wrote that Edoga “was subbed out for portions of the season opener last Saturday” because of hip soreness.
Lobendahn and Edoga have started 51 games during their time with the Trojans, with 34 coming from the former and 17 the latter. Jackson played in all 14 games as a true freshman last season.