Killian O'Connor's broken leg wrecks USC's offensive line plans

Killian O'Connor's rise at USC was one of those stories that made the walk-on grind feel worth it. He joined the program in 2022 with no scholarship, clawed his way up the depth chart, made 7 starts in 2025 while playing through a knee injury, and finally locked down the starting center job heading into this fall. Then, in the middle of a practice rep, it was gone.

Pete Nakos

@PeteNakos

USC projected starting center Killian O’Connor will miss the 2026 season with a broken leg, Lincoln Riley announced.

Pete Nakos was first to report the news: O'Connor will miss the entire 2026 season with a broken leg, according to Lincoln Riley. Multiple outlets have since confirmed the setback happened during a training camp session and required surgery, with Riley calling it the kind of freak, non-contact injury that's brutal precisely because there's no one to be mad at.

The timing makes it sting even more. O'Connor was coming off a 2025 season in which he battled through a knee issue and still managed 7 starts, and he'd entered fall camp as the clear No. 1 at center for a Trojans team that opened preseason ranked No. 14. Losing your returning starter up front, at the position that touches the ball on every single snap, days before the pads really come on is about as bad a break as fall camp can hand you.

Riley's offensive line is now scrambling for answers. The most likely fix is sliding Tobias Raymond, who started at guard and tackle last season and got some center reps in the spring, into the middle of the line. USC also has younger options on the roster, but none of them arrive with O'Connor's experience or the chemistry he'd built with this specific group of linemen.

USC opens the season on August 29 against San Jose State at the Coliseum, and the center spot is now the biggest question mark on a roster that had preseason buzz. Losing a starting center is never just a one-man problem, it's a communication problem, and Raymond or whoever ends up there will need every rep of camp that's left just to get up to speed before Big Ten play starts.

O'Connor's walk-on-to-starter path made him a locker room favorite, which is exactly why this one lands hard even outside the Trojans' building. He'll be around the program all season rehabbing, but for 2026 his job now is cheering on the guy who takes his snaps.