Pac-12 Football 

Weiner: Trojans Look to Ingram after Loss of Drake

, 4 min read
USC running back Keaontay Ingram scores against Arizona last week. | Harry How/Getty Images

Posted on November 5, 2021


  By Matt Weiner, SuperWest Sports
After Drake London exited with a concussion against Washington State, it felt like his success was coming on borrowed time.

Whether it was the next game against Oregon State or sometime down the road, a season-ending injury seemed perpetually inevitable.

The abhorrent season ending tragedy for London occurred in the Trojans 41-34 win over the University of Arizona on Saturday.

Exiting the Coliseum in a cart was a ride into the sunset that was both ominous and gut-wrenching.

London wasn’t just the heart and soul of the offense. That would be a disrespectful description of his vitality. Rather, he was the arteries, blood, neurons, and brain as well.

He led the nation in targets (119) and contested catches (19), was second in receptions (88), and was third in yards (1,084).

According to PFF, London had 16 catches in the red zone this season for 89 yards and five touchdowns.

More than the anatomy, he was the offense’s personality and identity.

USC’s Drake London vs Arizona. | Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Now the Trojans have their feet held to the fire and are going to have to rely on the run game to provide offense.

This is uncharted waters for USC. Beginning in the early 2000’s with Carson Palmer, the Trojans have a long lineage of incredible QB’s.

Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell was heralded as an air raid guru at the University of North Texas before coming to USC.  But if games in the rushing department go like they did on Saturday against Arizona, the Trojans will be fine.

They put up 234 yards on 44 carries with one touchdown, thanks in large part to Keaontay Ingram. The transfer from Texas put up 204 yards and averaged over 7 yards per carry making it back to back games with at least 135 yards.

Ingram is given the keys and it will be his decision to drive the car or not.

The keys were expected to be gifted to senior Vavae Malepeai, but he has turned into dead weight this season, after showing signs of being a driving force for the offense when he was second in rushing in 2018 and first in 2019 and 2020.

USC running back Vavae Malepeai | Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

While he wasn’t eye-popping in those three seasons, there was a great reason to believe he could take the next step. His dull performance in 2021 has proved otherwise, given his 239 yards on 61 attempts.

Since Week Three against Washington State, Malepeai has yet to put up more than 36 yards in a game.

Fortunately, after splitting the carries with Malepeai early in the year, Ingram appears ready to take on the workload.

“I can be a No. 1 back,” Ingram said in a recent interview. “That’s all I wanted to prove since I’ve been in college, and I’m getting that opportunity, so I’m taking full advantage of it.”

Ingram came to USC because he didn’t take full advantage of being the head honcho in the backfield with the Longhorns.

When 5-star monster Bijan Robinson committed to Texas, Ingram dropped on the depth chart, and it’s a move that worked out for Robinson. He already has racked up 1,178 rushing yards, 14 touchdowns and 121 yards per game in 2021.

Robinson’s success shouldn’t trump what Ingram has done and what he can do heading forward.

With four games left in the season he can be a beacon of hope for Trojan fans that things are getting better before getting worse.

There is no better way to do this than showing promise that the offense can rely upon Ingram for physicality. This is a portion of the game that he cares about immensely as well.

Keaontay Ingram vs Oregon St. | Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

“Just being a little bit more physical,” he said. “Take it to the edge, that next step. You know, if you really want to be great and you really want to be successful, we got to be consistent with that. And I feel like just being physical at the line of scrimmage a little bit more and being consistent I feel like that’s the biggest area we need to work on.”

He’s preaching to the choir on this one.

All season long there has been a true lack of physicality from the offense and team. There isn’t any player not named Drake London who delivers consistent hits that make you jump off your couch.

A player that makes a kid think twice about whether a football career means sacrificing the majority of his cognitive abilities.

Ingram is Mr. Right Now, and as of right now he could be the genesis to turn things around for a program that looks to be incapable of making any form of a U-turn.



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