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Titans Of Troy 9/30: Reboundin'

Su'a Cravens continues to rise, but another Trojan team is rising even faster...

Su'a Cravens was great this weekend, but not the Top Titan of Troy.
Su'a Cravens was great this weekend, but not the Top Titan of Troy.
Shotgun Spratling/Conquest Chronicles

First, here are a few tidbits of USC football knowledge:

  • USC is the only team in college football that has not given up a passing TD this season. Not withstanding, of course, the Stanford TD that was negated by a chop block.
  • On Saturday, Sean Mannion was held to the lowest passing yardage in any game of his Beaver career, with 123 yards.
  • USC accumulated 124 penalty yards Saturday night.
  • USC has a 2-0 conference record for the first time since 2007.
  • USC is 3-1 this season.
  • The team that defeated USC lost to Colorado State this Saturday, 24-21.

Once that has all sunk in, read on for our Titans of Troy.

5.) Samantha Bricio, Volleyball

Though the women's volleyball team is going through its roughest period in years, we would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the incredible work their All-American outside hitter has been putting in.

In USC's four-set loss to ASU, Samantha Bricio led the team with 22 kills, along with two aces, three blocks, and seven digs. She leads the Pac-12 in aces with 39 and has 151 kills on the year. She will try to add to that when SC goes on the road this week to face the Huskies and Cougars.

4.) Cody Kessler, Football

Here are a few more fun facts to add to the ones that we started with: quarterback Cody Kessler has 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions. The only QB without an INT that has thrown more touchdowns is Oregon's Marcus Mariota.

And Kessler is doing all of this under constant pressure. Quietly but consistently, Kessler is playing some efficient football.

3.) Kostas Genidounias, Water Polo

Though he only scored two of USC's 21 goals against Pepperdine this weekend, Kostas Genidounias is on this list for a different achievement he reached this past week. With 220 career goals, he is now tied for the No. 2 spot on USC's all-time scoring list. His former teammate, Nikola Vavic, occupies the top spot with 254.

2.) Su'a Cravens, Football

At the start of the season, Leonard Williams was the face of the Trojan defense, but sophomore safety-turned-linebacker Su'a Cravens is giving him a run for his money. Cravens is everything a Trojan fan could want or need.

In the wake of the Josh Shaw fiasco, he took to Twitter and the press to speak candidly about the situation and to reaffirm his passion for the team. His versatility has been a big factor in the Trojans' effectiveness on passing defense, as seen by his pick-six and sack against the Beavers.

And while he was taken off the field for nickel formations, he plays like he has the energy to be out there on every down. With Arizona State coming up, that energy may be desperately needed.

A quick, but big, honorable mention to Darreus Rogers. MAKE IT SO, NUMBER ONE.

And now our Top Titan of Troy...

1.) Alex Quincey

On Friday, the women's soccer team did something it hasn't done since 2009: begin conference play with a regulation win. USC went down to Tuscon to face Arizona, and after a scoreless first half, the Women of Troy took control and steamrolled to a 3-0 victory.

Trojan Futbol's big bounceback, after suffering their first loss of the season against Pepperdine, to set up a strong start to the second half of the season puts them on the top of our list. There are many players on the squad deserving of Top Titan Of Troy.

We could have gone with freshman midfielder Sydney Sladek, who scored a goal and assist against the Wildcats. We could have gone with goalkeeper Caroline Stanley, who made three big saves to preserve her third shutout of the season.

But we decided to go with Alex Quincey, the team's scoring leader with seven goals on the season. Quincey scored the first goal of the game off a throw-in to the Arizona box, launching a chip-in that floated over the keeper and into the far corner of the net.

USC is now 7-1-2 (1-0) and looks to keep rising through the ranks against Colorado and Utah this weekend.