Trojans Could Face New Washington State QB In 2021

Freshman QB Jayden de Laura has been suspended following suspicion of driving under the influence.

Claudette Montana Pattison | Feb 9, 2021

USC is slated to play the Washington State Cougars in 2021, assuming that the Pac-12 proceeds with a college football season in the fall. However, things could look different on the offensive side of the ball for Washington State, as they might be without true freshman QB Jayden de Laura.

Per ESPN, de Laura has been suspended from the team after being arrested in Pullman, [Washington] on suspicion of driving under the influence.

According to Pullman Police, de Laura was pulled over at 2:13 a.m. after driving through a stop sign and subsequently driving the wrong way. de Laura failed a field sobriety test, but police weren't able to register his blood-alcohol level after he refused to take a Breathalyzer test. [ESPN]

247Sports CougFan.com writes, "WSU SID Bill Stevens confirmed to the site de Laura remains on the Cougar football team but has been suspended indefinitely."

Football players returned to Pullman last month for the start of the new semester and are currently are going through their winter conditioning regimen. As for what the future looks like for de Laura, that is still to be determined

Jayden de Laura came to Pullman from Honolulu, Hawaii and started in all four games for Nick Rolovich's team in 2020. He completed 78 of 129 passes [60%] for 886 passing yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions.

During the Cougars contest against the USC Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the freshman QB had 18 competitions for 29 attempts, 134 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions. USC beat the Cougars 38-13 on a very special Sunday night matchup.

The 19-year olds starting job security was already in jeopardy after an average freshman debut. But Nick Rolovich has some other options as his disposal if needed, including graduate transfer QB Jarrett Guarantano, third-year sophomore Cammon Cooper, freshman Xavier Ward and walk-on freshman Victor Gabalis.

Although the 2021 Pac-12 football schedule has yet to be released with official dates and times, USC is slated to play the Cougars on the road this year.