A source has told me to get ready for an announcement from 2020 ATH Koy Moore. He should pick USC soon.

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fight on

Einstein's theory of relativity aces its first black hole test.

The test exploited the intense gravitational field around the monster black hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy.

There have been many tests of relativity over the years, but this was the first involving a supermassive black hole

More than a century has passed since Albert Einstein gave us general relativity, and scientists are still testing the mind-bending theory.

In the latest test, an international team of astronomers used a giant telescope in Chile to observe a star as it moved through the intense gravitational field of a black hole — and found that light from the star was stretched by the gravity just as Einstein's iconic theory said it would be.

The finding, described in a paper published July 26 in the journal "Astronomy and Astrophysics," capped more than two decades of research.

There have been many tests of relativity over the years, but this was the first involving a supermassive black hole — in this case Sagittarius A*, the monster lurking at the core of our Milky Way galaxy some 26,000 light-years from Earth.

A star passing close to a supermassive black hole.ESO
"It shows, unsurprisingly but exquisitely, that gravity is governed by Einstein's general theory of relativity and not Newton's law of universal attraction," Pedro Ferreira, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford, said of the finding in an email to NBC News MACH. "Not a particularly new result — we have known this since 1915 — but it is now measured in a new regime, relatively close to a supermassive black hole."

Ferreira, an expert on general relativity, was not involved in the new research.

The star involved in the test, designated S2, orbits Sagittarius A* at speeds of up to 25 million kilometers per hour (16 million miles per hour or more than 4,000 miles a second). Using the Very Large Telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert, the astronomers compared light reaching Earth from S2 when it was near the black hole and when it was far away on its highly elliptical orbit.
They found that the wavelength of light from S2 becomes longer when the star draws close to Sagittarius A*. That phenomenon is known as "gravitational redshifting" because as the starlight passes through an intense gravitational field its photons lose energy, causing the color of the light to turn a bit more reddish.

"This is predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity, and we have precisely seen that effect," Stefan Gillessen, a staff scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, and a member of the team of astronomers, told MACH in an email. "The light got redshifted by exactly the amount it should."

Gilessen said there is "no real doubt" that Einstein's theory is correct when it comes to the behavior of celestial objects — but that research has established that relativity doesn't work for the subatomic realm. "Hence it makes sense to test Einstein's theory in as many systems as possible and see whether it fails somewhere."

Sean Carroll, a physicist at Caltech, agreed with that assessment.

"He could be wrong someday," Carroll said of Einstein in an email to MACH. "And keep in mind, showing that Einstein's theory doesn't work means an automatic Nobel Prize. So it's worth looking, even if it's a long shot."

I’ve been told to expect him to pick USC.

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Tajwar Khandaker takes a look at five players who had a limited role in 2017 but are now in position to make a sizable impact in 2018.

Five Biggest Underdogs

And it's from a kicker. From the Class of 2020. Welcome aboard, Parker Lewis. You can't lose.
#BaxterDoinWork

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give me the background on Lindy’s college coverage? I read these every year and he does not seem to like SC too much. I see it’s published somewhere in Alabama. Ranks our LB unit 7th. Only one to rank them that low. Among other questionable comments. Thanks.

We won't know for several years who the best players are from USC's 2018 class, but over the course of the next few months we'll see which of the newcomers makes an immediate impact. Tajwar Khandaker looks at five freshmen primed for the best rookie seasons heading into training camp.

Rookies of the Year

Every year about this time I ask a few questions about the PAC-12 conference….

PAC12 North Questions: :

Who is the most likely Overrated team and why? The experts predict UW, Stanford and Oregon at the top in that order. The rest are considered non-contenders. I will go with overrated as Washington, the team that non West coast selectors think is a top 6, final 4 contender. Why? They have a decently balanced team and many returner starters (8 on O and 9 on D). But they lost 3 games last year and nearly a 4th. They lost some good ones to the NFL in top receiver Pettis (Round 2), DL Vea (R1), TE Dissly (R4), plus LB Victor and Bierra (both R6). . Their offense was OK (#6 in P12 Total yards. Their D was superior (#1 in yards and pts against,). And they were among the best on takeaways last year +13, after a +18 the year before. With loss of personnel the D may be less. Stanford also lost a lot , particularly on D, and could slip a bit.

Who are the two most Underrated teams and why? To me its Oregon and Cal . UO has a new coach in Crsiotbal who ran a good FIU program. Should be less injuries this year, with RB Freeman their worst loss. Cal went from 3-6 in 2016 to 2-7, but lost 3 games by 3 or less points. They should win up to 4 games IMO.

Biggest drop from last year? WSU from 6-3 in P12 to something more like 3-6. Falk gone and 4 ret on O and 6 on D. Tough rebuild coming for Leach.

Who is the Coach most likely to be fired? Cristobal (UO) and Smith (OSU) are in first year , Wilcox in his 2nd. I don’t think anyone in the North gets an axe this year.


PAC-12 South Questions

Who are the two most Overrated teams and why? The top 3 picks were USC, Utah and AU. UCLA could be a candidate for overated but they are already ranked low. My two would be Utah and ASU. Utah- They were 3-6 last year and face a similar schedule. Their O loses only 3 starters (incl. top rec. Carringtonm), the D loses 5 starters (2 top tacklers). QB Huntley is a middle of the pack guy who threw 15 td vs. 10 Int. They face the top 3 of the P12N, and have 5 P12 games on the road. Whittingham is good and they might improve a bit but how much? UA has New coach Kevin Sumlin and QB Tate, but his TAMU record left some question marks. Top personnel loses are RB Ballage and LB Sam.

Who is the most Underrated team and why. Well the most controversial is ASU hiring Herm Edwards but he is a former pro coach that does know football. They lost their top 2 runners but have a decent QB in Wilkins and a deep receiver set. On D a different story, loss of top 4 tacklers including Christian Sam. Still they are pre-season ranked near last in the P12 and I think they surprise a few teams here.

Biggest drop from last year? Tough one…ASU would appear to be a candidate at 6-3 last year and theyaren't expected to be near as good. But just from a record standpoint I think they win 3-4 conference games

Who is the Coach most likely to be fired? I hate to say it because I like him but Colorado's Coach Macintyre now on his 6th year is a candidate. If not him I don’t see any firing.

Winner overall of the PAC12 Championship game. Likely USC vs. Stanford or Washington. Right now I have memories of seeing USC beat the Huskies up there a few years ago and Stanford twice last year so I'll cross my fingers and pick the Trojans. USC

Thoughts?

Day 2 was pretty rough for the offense as a whole, and all three of the quarterbacks fighting for the starting job struggled more than yesterday. There were some bright spots, but the added pressure today got to them for sure. We’ll break down their showings from today.

Matt Fink: C+

Fink had an unremarkable day much like he did yesterday. There weren’t many wow moments, aside from a well thrown deep out to Pittman and a deep ball to Vaughns which would have been incomplete or picked off had Vaughns not done an excellent job coming back to the ball. One of his best throws of the day wasn’t completed, on a nice deep ball to Velus Jones that Jones just couldn’t get under. Most of his completions came off safe, short throws. He threw a lot of balls into contested windows, resulting in a lot of pass deflections in the secondary.

JT Daniels: B-

Daniels seemed to have regressed a bit from yesterday, although that could be expected with the way the front 7 ramped up the pressure today. He did some nice work underneath, completing most of his throws in the 0-15 yard range. He didn’t go deep as many times as yesterday, and his attempts down the field had mixed results. Two of the streaks he threw were errant and incomplete, one off target and one into good coverage by Greg Johnson. A well thrown seam route to a TE was also dropped. However, he also probably had the best throw of the day, with a perfect deep ball on a wheel route to Stephen Carr for a TD.

Jack Sears: C-

Sears took the biggest step back among the group, following an impressive showing yesterday. He threw the only interception of the day to Ajene Harris on a ball that sailed away from him up the seam. He misplaced some more intermediate balls, including an underthrown pass to Josh Falo that could’ve been intercepted instead of deflected had the linebacker in coverage turned around a second earlier. His play picked up later in practice as he did a nice job making good decisions and taking shorter throws. Altogether though it’s definitely a day he’d like to shake off.

Test

This is cool!!!

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USC inside linebacker Tayler Katoa is leaving the USC football program in September to begin a two-year LDS mission.

"I do plan on coming back and playing at USC," Katoa told TrojanSports.com.

The redshirt freshman arrived in January of 2017 and suffered a torn ACL in spring practice. After being limited this spring, he was one of a few players expected to compete for a reserve role at middle linebacker this fall.

The Trojans do not have any game experience behind Cam Smith -- there's also very little behind incumbent weakside linebacker John Houston -- but feature promising newcomers Palaie Gaoteote, Solomon Tuliaupupu and Raymond Scott.

USC opened training camp Friday with a two hour-practice. We have a good amount of video interviews, transcripts and observations from today, including which players stood out most. But first, some news:

Today's practice was in jerseys and shorts, per NCAA rules. Saturday will be the same. Monday and Tuesday will be in shells and Wednesday will be in full pads. Because of new NCAA rules, USC is practicing 25 times before its season opener, compared to 29 last year.

TB Stephen Carr was a full participant and looked totally fine. Helton noted he still has to get hit, but that it was an encouraging sign to see him looking full speed. It's hard for me to recall how he looked last fall after returning from plantar fasciitis. I just never thought he looked normal in games. He looked great today and he had his swagger, too.

Helton reiterated that there will be more 11-on-11 reps and blitz periods this training camp than in the past. He wants to challenge the quarterbacks as much as possible. Accordingly, he said those reps will matter most when evaluating the QBs.

He also said he anticipates it taking between 20-25 practices to decide a starter, which could mean he won't announce a starter until Aug. 25, which is the day of USC's mock game at an undisclosed location. He made it clear it will not be a secret going into the game.

Helton described JT Daniels as "extremely accurate, very knowledgeable" in his first practice.

"For an 18-year-old kid to come out here and do what he did today was very impressive," he said. "It's like he's already been in a camp before."

Helton was equally complimentary of Jack Sears, who was better today than most days in spring. He made one of the better passes of the session when he connected with Devon Williams downfield for a touchdown, beating the coverage of Biggie Marshall and Isaiah Pola-Mao in the process. Helton said Sears played with a decisiveness that was lacking in spring. He was also very accurate.

As Helton mentioned at Pac-12 Media Day, USC did some "two-spotting," which is where the same drill (e.g. 11-on-11, 7-on-7) is being done in two different spots on the field.

I asked Helton which of the dozen freshman who went through their first practice caught his eye and he pointed to Amon-Ra St. Brown and Devon Williams. Regarding St. Brown, he said he has the athleticism to play any of the receiver positions.

"He's such a physical stature," Helton said. "He has the physical presence to play outside but he has little man skills. If you remember what we've done with JuJu and Nelson and Woody, we never tagged them as an outside receiver or inside receiver, because we never wanted anybody to be able to find our best guys."

Clayton Johnston has legally changed his last name to Bradley to honor his stepfather. He received what appeared to be all the first-team reps today at left tackle. We'll see if that's the case on Day 2. During spring, he and Austin Jackson would alternate days with the first team.

More injuries:
TE Daniel Imatorbhebhe was a limited participant and did not partake in team drills. Helton liked how he was moving around and said his workload will increase as camp continues. They're being cautious with him.

LB Wole Betiku (hip) is out.

LB Solomon Tuliaupupu had foot surgery in the offseason and is out.

DL Jacob Lichtenstein (knee strain) will be out until at least next week.

WR Randal Grimes is being held out because of a back injury.

DT Jay Tufele is out for a couple days because of a foot laceration.

Rotations:
The first-team O-line mirrored what we saw in spring and PRPs when everyone was healthy: LT Bradley, LG Brown, C Lobendahn, RG Vorhees, RT Edoga.

The first-team defense featured one slight change: Bubba Bolden took the majority of first-team reps instead of Ykili Ross. Langley was the first-team CB opposite Marshall. Malik Dorton was the second defensive end when USC wasn't in nickel.

The second-team defense included Ross and CJ Pollard at safety, Greg Johnson and Je'Quari Godfrey at corner, Jonathan Lockett in the slot, and Levi Jones and Reuben Peters at inside linebacker. The substitutions on the front four weren't as clear but I believe it involved some combination of Hunter Echols and Kana'i Mauga at outside linebacker and Connor Murphy and Liam Jimmons on the D-line.

Impressions:
You've heard it before and you'll surely hear it again: Amon-Ra St. Brown doesn't look like a freshman, much less someone who just completed his first college practice. He packs a lot into his frame, so much so that he almost looks like a running back. But his game is all receiver. And his tenacity is constant. Even in a QB-WR drill without DBs he's inclined to dive over the middle to make a difficult catch. Practice how you play, they say.

Matt Fink had a quiet first day. His first two passes in 7-on-7 fell incomplete, though one was dropped by Pittman. The other was broken up by Marshall.

Sears opened with three consecutive completions (to three different receivers on three different types of routes), including the TD mentioned above to Williams.

Daniels' first rep was a touchdown pass to Pittman, a back shoulder toss that we just haven't seen much in recent years. (Matt Barkley was probably the last USC QB to regularly attempt such a throw.) Just as impressive as the execution was the gusto with which he threw it. This is the first that I'm really seeing of Daniels so I don't have preconceived notions about who he is or what he should be. But it's been impressive to see him diagnose a defense and have so much conviction about what he'll do and then make it happen. On this play, he knew he could put it exactly where it would need to be and the touch and his timing with Pittman was perfect. You'd think they'd played together for years.

Daniels followed up that throw with a couple completions to Velus Jones, one to Tyler Vaughns and one to St. Brown. Mixed in was an even better throw to Pittman than the TD but Pittman dropped it. It wasn't the easiest of plays, as Pittman was running full speed toward the back of the end zone and had to track it basically over his head. Daniels placed it right between the hands and chest but it slipped through Pittman's arms. (Pittman talks about these plays here.)

Fink got the opening reps with the first team in 11-on-11. His first drive fizzled as a reverse to Velus Jones went nowhere. (As I've mentioned many times, this play almost never works in practice and yet they continue to try it in games.) Vavae Malepeai followed with a good run between the tackles. We saw a good amount of that from him today. A screen to Pittman went for a short gain. Fink's only got a few more reps -- team periods were shorter than they will be moving forward, likely because it was Day 1 and they weren't in pads -- and completed a short pass to Vavae and a first down to Keyshawn Young.

Sears led the second team and opened with a sharp throw to Williams and a checkdown to Carr. Looks like Sears is driving the ball better than he was in spring. His final rep was a QB keeper. Pittman later complimented him for not looking to scramble so quickly and as frequently. He felt like Sears has used his legs as a crutch at times.

Daniels also got some reps with the first team, though only some of them were against the first-team D. He threw to the far side of the field to Vaughns for a first down and then hit Vaughns again underneath. He made a nifty, sideways throw to Pittman while facing pressure that would remind you of Darnold in terms of sensibility -- like he was a point guard.

Then Daniels was picked off on a short throw over the middle. Ajene Harris did an excellent job of reading the play and breaking from his coverage. Daniels locked in on Pittman, who apparently didn't come back to the ball like he should have, which allowed Harris to jump in front of him.

Daniels' final two throws fell incomplete. Seemed like there might have been miscommunication with both. It's Day 1. Prior to this stretch, Daniels was outstanding. Unless Sears is consistently as good as he was today -- he can't afford to have a bad day, and he practiced like he understood that -- I expect Daniels to win this job. Before the season opener.

I almost forgot to post what I think might be the most important quote from Helton today...

"We're going to play a lot of kids and we're going to stay fresh. That's one of the things we all walked away learning. I told them last night, in that Ohio State Cotton Bowl, that I was extremely impressed by a team that had depth, that walked four D-linemen out, they'd play three or four snaps, and then the next four walked out, and it was hard. They were fresh the whole time and they were talented. That's what we want to be able to get to, and we have the capability of doing that."

USC will practice again Saturday before taking Sunday off.

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The first Coaches Poll has been released and USC came in at No. 15. I actually though the Trojans, who finished last year No. 10 in the Coaches and No. 12 in the AP, would begin the season a bit lower. But as we know from the dialogue on this board, expectations for this team are wide-ranging. I tend to be on the conservative side with this stuff.

Washington, at No. 6, is the highest-ranked Pac-12 team. Stanford is No. 13. Oregon, Utah, Washington State and Arizona also received votes. Here's the complete top 25.

Scheme analyst Murf Baldwin examines what USC is getting with its latest commit -- Class of 2019 TE Jude Wolfe.

https://usc.rivals.com/news/usc-commit-evaluation-te-jude-wolfe

The focus of the day will be on the marquee matchups Washington vs Auburn and Notre Dame vs Michigan, and of course the J.T. Daniels coming out party against an overmatched UNLV.... but I am hoping that the Lane Train and FAU give the OK Sooners a serious scare. It’s very possible.

USC held its second training camp practice today, going at it for two hours in only helmets with jerseys and shorts once again. The team has tomorrow off, before hitting the field from Monday through next Saturday.

Coach Clay Helton was struggling with what seemed like a bad cold today, leading to a shorter than usual rundown from him after practice. Despite this, he gave us a good amount of information to work with. He gave an outline of the scrimmage schedule for the remainder of camp, with one being held each of the next three Saturdays. The first two will be live scrimmages while the last will be a full mock game (that is closed to the media).

Helton was a bit critical of the regression the offense showed today as practice got more physical, with more pressure being put on the quarterbacks. He pointed out that the offensive showing was “not as clean” as yesterday’s. He attributed this in large part to the young guys getting overwhelmed as camp picks up speed, and made sure to point out that it’s normal for that to happen. He did mention that today’s 7-on-7s would be the last for a while, as he wants the QBs to start getting used to more live pressure.

The flip side of a sloppy showing by the offense was a dominant performance by the defense. Ajene Harris and Biggie Marshall looked incredible once again, and coach Helton made sure to mention how impressed he was with his veteran DBs, referring to Ajene and his two interceptions in two days.

Coach Helton went on to acknowledge his faith in the entire defense, praising its experience and cohesion as a unit. They looked really good today as a group, breaking up a lot of passes, blowing up screens, getting to the quarterback, and forcing two turnovers.

Helton described his expectations for the run game, claiming he wants to run the ball about 40 times per game. That kind of workload can’t be carried by one back, and Helton acknowledged that fact, stating that USC’s best offenses had multiple elite backs. With Ced Ware looking good on his first-team reps and Stephen Carr looking fully healthy, along with an effective Vavae Malepai, Helton thinks the Trojans can look to replicate the benefits of shared touches in the backfield. He even made clear that he plans to utilize more two-back sets during the season, allowing the Trojans to have two of their most dangerous playmakers on the field simultaneously.

Injuries
-TE Daniel Imatorbhebe was a full participant after being held back yesterday. He seems fully ready to go.

-TB Stephen Carr was a full participant for the second straight day, serving as the second-team tailback. Any doubts about whether or not he was at full speed seemed to be quelled today as he took off for a deep touchdown reception.

-LB Cameron Smith and S Ykili Ross were both pulled from today’s practice with tight hamstrings. Coach Helton said it wasn’t anything serious, but they were pulled as a precautionary measure.

-LB Solomon Tuliaupupu (foot), LB Wole Betiku (hip), DT Jay Tufele (foot) and DL Jacob Lichtenstein (knee) remained out.

As planned, players and assistant coaches were not made available to the media today.

Rotations

Most of the rotations looked the same as yesterday, but there were some small changes that were noteworthy. Olaijah Griffin joined the second team at corner, joining Greg Johnson. Reuben Peters took over at MLB after Smith went down. Isaiah Pola-Mao filled in for the injured Ykili Ross at free safety on the second team. On offense, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Josh Imhatorbhebe manned the outside receiver spots for the second team, while Trevon Sidney played the slot.

Impressions

The receiver group didn’t flash as much as they did yesterday, and a lot of that was probably due to the regression in QB play. Tyler Vaughns had a monster catch over Isaiah Langley on a deep post from Matt Fink, coming back to the ball to go over Langley for the reception. As a whole, there wasn’t a lot that stood out from the group today.

The secondary looked incredible once again, especially veterans Biggie Marshall and Ajene Harris. Marshall broke up both balls thrown at him, both streaks to Michael Pittman which he blanketed completely. Harris once again looked to understand the game at a different level than everyone else on the field, seeming to know where the ball was going better than the receivers at times. His pick today was exemplary of that as he tracked Jack Sears’s eyes straight to the ball while the receiver ended up five yards away. Isaiah Langley did pretty well after being beaten early by Vaughns, breaking up a comeback route to St. Brown and allowing little separation much of the day.

The front 7 looked downright scary, appearing to be in the backfield on almost every play. Brandon Pili broke up one screen pass, while most others were swarmed almost immediately. There would have been quite a few sacks on the day had the quarterbacks been unprotected, and runs were stuffed frequently at or behind the line. Levi Jones made a nice play late in the 11 on 11 session, stripping the ball free from Stephen Carr on a stretch run.

Aca’Cedric Ware took the carries at 1st team tailback, and did a good job when he had anywhere to run. His burst looks great, outrunning defenders on a number of carries, and his agility looked special too on a lot of the jump cuts and jukes he hit. Stephen Carr looked to be full speed playing behind him on the second team, scoring on a wheel route out of the backfield.

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USC CB Iman Marshall, DC Clancy Pendergast and WR Tyler Vaughns all spoke to TrojanSports.com after the first day of fall camp. Here are the highlights.

WR TYLER VAUGHNS
On JT Daniels’ elevating everyone’s game
“Yeah just how he comes in, his demeanor about everything it just elevates your game. It shows you that you have to bring something to the table that you didn’t have before. All our quarterbacks have something like that and you just have to come out here and compete everyday.

What he sees from Devon Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown
“They picked up the playbook very fast, faster than what I did. They’re doing really, really good right now. We’re going to see right now on film right now all the mistakes they made and all the mistakes I made and everybody else.”

On his preparation for camp
“Just knowing the routine of everything, I’m very prepared. I came in just knowing what we’re doing and everything like that more into the game so I feel very prepared for the season.”

What he worked on throughout the offseason
“My routes, I’m just trying to get them better and better. Just quicker, faster and better cuts.”

On his weight
“I added about like seven pounds. I couldn’t do more. I tried, I try my my best.”

If he feels the weighty
“I can feel it in my legs, my legs feel heavy but that’s just me getting used to my legs and trying to maintain throughout camp.”

IMAN MARSHALL
On his impression of the quarterbacks
“All the quarterbacks did their thing and played really well today. From Matt Fink to JT (Daniels) to Jack Sears, they all showed bright spots today in practice. But it’s the first day so I don’t like to take too much from practices. We need some more practices to get acclimated a little more.”

On going against Michael Pittman on Day 1
“It was a great practice today. He got me a couple times and that’s the part of the game. You win some, you lose some. But it was a great first day, a lot of stuff to look at and re-evaluate myself. I didn’t have my best day but I have to get out there tomorrow and come back better and stronger.”

CLANCY PENDERGAST
On how hard it is for freshman to get his attention with so much depth
“I think the freshmen that we’ve recruited all have pretty good football IQ and it’s important, our message throughout the course of summer, was we wanted the older guys coaching the younger guys out here, not only in the meeting room but on the field throughout the player run practice. So all the reports that we got were good from the oder players. And you could really see it show up, not only today but in the meetings that we had the last little bit today with the guys.”

On Marlon Tuipulotu
“He hit the sled really well early. I’ll be focusing more on the front guys once we get pads but we’re excited to have him back for sure.”

If this is the deepest defense he’s had
“There’s no question. In 2016, we were probably comfortable playing 15 or so guys and last year, you probably only tag three or so on to that. And this group right here is a little more competitive. We’re still going to compete to have 11 starters. There will be some guys throughout the course of camp that will demonstrate they can give us some reps in terms of maybe in different situations of game, maybe we can take reps off some other guys and keep other guys a little fresher.”

On the physicality of the team
“They’ve really worked hard in the offseason. I think Coach (Ivan) Lewis and his group in the weight room has done a really nice job. I’ve seen a change in their body types. The guys look bigger and leaner and stronger which is the jump you would like to see them make during the summer. So they’ve done a great job getting those guys ready and we just look forward to continuing to develop them practice by practice.”

On Kana’i Mauaga
“He’s a very slippery player. He can do a lot of different things for us. Being here in the spring and graduating early I think was good for both of us. He looks like he’s gotten bigger and that he’s one of those guys that’s really changed his body. I think he picked up where he left off based on the things I’ve seen so far. I think you’ll see him play multiple roles for us this year. His body type allows us to do different things for us.”

He Reportedly had knowledge of domestic violence being connected to a staff member for the last three years and he just fired him recently.

I posted my extended thoughts on the first practice late at night at the bottom of Quick Hits. Have a feeling they might have been missed by some because of that, so I am re-posting in case that happened. Here ya go...

Impressions:
You've heard it before and you'll surely hear it again: Amon-Ra St. Brown doesn't look like a freshman, much less someone who just completed his first college practice. He packs a lot into his frame, so much so that he almost looks like a running back. But his game is all receiver. And his tenacity is constant. Even in a QB-WR drill without DBs he's inclined to dive over the middle to make a difficult catch. Practice how you play, they say.

Matt Fink had a quiet first day. His first two passes in 7-on-7 fell incomplete, though one was dropped by Pittman. The other was broken up by Biggie Marshall.

Jack Sears opened with three consecutive completions (to three different receivers on three different types of routes), including the TD mentioned above to Devon Williams.

JT Daniels' first rep was a touchdown pass to Michael Pittman, a back shoulder toss that we just haven't seen much in recent years. (Matt Barkley was probably the last USC QB to regularly attempt such a throw.) Just as impressive as the execution was the gusto with which he threw it. This is the first that I'm really seeing of Daniels so I don't have preconceived notions about who he is or what he should be. But it's been impressive to see him diagnose a defense and have so much conviction about what he'll do and then make it happen. On this play, he knew he could put it exactly where it would need to be and the touch and his timing with Pittman was perfect. You'd think they'd played together for years.

Daniels followed up that throw with a couple completions to Velus Jones, one to Tyler Vaughns and one to St. Brown. Mixed in was an even better throw to Pittman than the TD but Pittman dropped it. It wasn't the easiest of plays, as Pittman was running full speed toward the back of the end zone and had to track it basically over his head. Daniels placed it right between the hands and chest but it slipped through Pittman's arms. (Pittman talks about these plays here.)

Fink got the opening reps with the first team in 11-on-11. His first drive fizzled as a reverse to Velus went nowhere. (As I've mentioned many times, this play almost never works in practice and yet they continue to try it in games.) Vavae Malepeai followed with a good run between the tackles. We saw a good amount of that from him today. A screen to Pittman went for a short gain. Fink's only got a few more reps -- team periods were shorter than they will be moving forward, likely because it was Day 1 and they weren't in pads -- and completed a short pass to Vavae and a first down to Keyshawn Young.

Sears led the second team and opened with a sharp throw to Williams and a checkdown to Stephen Carr. Looks like Sears is driving the ball better than he was in spring. His final rep was a QB keeper. Pittman later complimented him for not looking to scramble so quickly and as frequently. He felt like Sears has used his legs as a crutch at times.

Daniels also got some reps with the first team, though only some of them were against the first-team D. He threw to the far side of the field to Vaughns for a first down and then hit Vaughns again underneath. He made a nifty, sideways throw to Pittman while facing pressure that would remind you of Darnold in terms of sensibility -- like he was a point guard.

Then Daniels was picked off on a short throw over the middle. Ajene Harris did an excellent job of reading the play and breaking from his coverage. Daniels locked in on Pittman, who apparently didn't come back to the ball like he should have, which allowed Harris to jump in front of him.

Daniels' final two throws fell incomplete. Seemed like there might have been miscommunication with both. It's Day 1. Prior to this stretch, Daniels was outstanding. Unless Sears is consistently as good as he was today -- he can't afford to have a bad day, and he practiced like he understood that -- I expect Daniels to win this job. Before the season opener.

I almost forgot to post what I think might be the most important quote from Helton today...

"We're going to play a lot of kids and we're going to stay fresh. That's one of the things we all walked away learning. I told them last night, in that Ohio State Cotton Bowl, that I was extremely impressed by a team that had depth, that walked four D-linemen out, they'd play three or four snaps, and then the next four walked out, and it was hard. They were fresh the whole time and they were talented. That's what we want to be able to get to, and we have the capability of doing that."

USC will practice again Saturday before taking Sunday off.

I asked him if he would consider a transfer to USC and he told me this:

“Currently looking through all available options to find what’s best for me.”

So USC is under consideration but it appears that Wheatley is far away from announcing anything. We’ll look for an update from sources around USC as well. I’m not sure USC needs a tight end. The Trojans currently have 4 on the roster, Falo is young and has looked solid and usc is recruiting the heck out of that position this year.