LOS ANGELES – BYU won’t have many healthy pass catchers in its upcoming bowl game.
In the first half of Saturday’s game at USC, star tight-end star Isaac Rex sustained a serious ankle injury and had to be air-cast from the field on a cart.
Rex tried to catch a throw from Jaren Hall at 5:50 left in the second quarter and tap his feet in the back of the end zone, but his ankle bent in the wrong direction.
The Cougars scored a 21:10 lead on the next game – a 5-yard touchdown run by Tyler Allgeier – shortly after Rex signaled BYU fans in the corner of the end zone to thank them for their applause.
Rex, who had 12 touchdown catches last year, left the game without a reception.
BYU recipient Gunner Romney has dressed up for the game but reportedly tweaked something in the warm-up exercises and not played.
The Cougars have already had to do without receiver Neil Pau’u, who hails from nearby Santa Ana, California, after sustaining an injury in the game in Idaho.
Pau’u made the trip but did not get dressed. He got off the BYU team bus in front of the Coliseum and immediately used a knee scooter to get around.
Injury Updates
BYU played again without former four-star recruit Chaz Ah You, who is sidelined with an unknown injury.
The former Timpview high star hasn’t played since the game in Washington State on October 23. His status for the bowl game remains unclear.
Ammon Hannemann got the majority of the reps in the Cinco position that Ah You last played.
Matt Criddle started with Malik Moore on Safety Saturday.
Backup right tackle Campbell Barrington, who replaced Harris LaChance in the starting XI after LaChance sustained a lower leg injury in the 35:27 win over South Florida on September 25, was available for the game on Saturday night but Brayden Keim got off to a good start approach.
Barrington missed out on Georgia Southern’s 34-17 win last week after sustaining an injury in training after the week of bye.
USC played without their lead rusher Keaontay Ingram, who was injured in last week’s 62-33 loss to UCLA.
Ingram had run 911 yards on 156 carries that season.
Former Corner Canyon star Jaxson Dart also made the start as quarterback for the Trojans and replaced the injured Kedon Slovis in the starting eleven for the second game in a row.
Slovis was USC’s QB in 2019 when the Cougars angered the Trojans in Provo with 30-27 in overtime.
Darts “was trained by some really good coaches, (former BYU QB) John Beck is one of them,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake.
Dart’s 6-yard touchdown run in the second quarter after dropping the snap was USC’s first touchdown of the game.
Familiar faces
Former BYU football player Vic So’oto is USC Defensive Line Coach and trained against his former team for the first time.
So’oto, who is from Southern California, played under coach Bronco Mendenhall for the Cougars Tight End, Linebacker and Defensive End from 2005 to 2010.
So’oto made 45 tackles and five sacks in his senior season at Provo.
Another former cougar, CJ Ah You, is a defensive quality control analyst for the Trojans. He is the brother of BYU’s recruiting and player personnel director, Jasen Ah You.
CJ Ah, you played for BYU in 2001 and 2003.
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