Part 1
Injury Report: Steven Mitchell is limited, Kevon Seymour was completely back, Damien Mama was still out, Chad Wheeler is still out, Connor Spears is back, Justin Davis is still out, Rasheem Green is still very limited, Chad Wheeler is still out, Jordan Simmons is still out. Jonathan Lockett left the scrimmage and had his right elbow wrapped.
Claude Pelon was out but was walking around and seems fine.
Today's standouts (IMO): Greg Townsend with great pass rushing, Michael Hutchings (a great interception), Dom Davis (explosive in space), Porter Gustin (Best Rush End on the roster, probably), Kevon Seymour (best day he's had since since spring), Iman Marshall (forced fumble and fumble recovery). Basically the whole defense could be on this list.
The defense clearly won today's scrimmage. The offense scored four total touchdowns (by Adoree' Jackson, Tyler Petite and then 2 by Dominic Davis) and the defense almost had one (Michael Hutchings picked off Max Browne and took it over 80 yards but was tackled at the one yard line.) It was tough to move the ball on the ground as the OL was getting crushed. It was tough to throw too because of the pressure and a much improved secondary
Here are the notes:
Full pads today with the gold game pants.
Practice started at 2:30pm today but the real action started around 2:50pm today
Around that time was when positional group warms ups started to disperse. The DBs (Southeast end of Howard Jones field, artificial turf field), the DLs (turf field, Southwest side of Howard Jones field), LBs (just north of DL, south side of grass field at Howard Jones), the Backs (Northern most end of Howard Jones field) OL (Northwest side of Howard Jones, tucked between that field and Dedeaux) and the Receivers and QBs (middle of field) came together and then split into two different groups. The OL and DL headed towards the South side of the field, the artificial turf side, to go one-on-one. The rest of the team stayed on the North field to work on 7-on-7.
One-on-ones are almost impossible to see as there is a line of linemen just east of the drill, blocking the view of the media. But Zach Banner, who's head stands above the rest, did have a quality rep beating Christian Rector.
Cody Kessler starts slow in 7-on-7. Max Browne subs in for him at about 2:55. Kessler's drive was less than 4 minutes long and went nowhere.
Browne almost immediately hits De'Quan Hampton on a shallow drag route. But it's clear that it was the wrong route. Steve Sarkisian immediately chews out Hampton
Browne hits George Katrib on short comeback route. But on the next play, Connor Spears drops a pass from Browne. Browne then hits Robbie Kolanz but the drive stalls.
Sam Darnold subs in just minutes later. Darnold did not play in the scrimmage (as it was a ones vs two scrimmage for the most part) so this is where he got most of his action. Aca'Cedric Ware catches a pass out of the backfield from Darnold. And then Darnold hits Deontay Burnett. but again, the drive stalls and then whistles blow.
The team moves into special teams drills at about 3:00pm. Kick off drills start first.
Horns blow and it's to 11-on-11s
Adoree' Jackson goes in motion, gets a hand off and it's a moderate gain
Kessler throws a screen pass to Jackson, it goes nowhere.
Kessler throws a pass towards JuJu Smith-Schuster. Kevon Seymour has a great pass break.
Drive stalls, subs go in. The second team defensive line, with Kenny Bigelow and Cody Temple is actually looking quite stout. Two straight stuffed runs. Olajuwon Tucker is in on the tackles too.
Jonathan Lockett has a great pass break up that was intended for De'Quan Hampton. The defense starts to grab control early.
With Damien Mama out, Chris Brown got the majority of his reps. Right tackle seems like a heavy rotation of Zach Banner and Chuma Edoga.
FUMBLE! This will be read again and again today. Maybe three fumbles, maybe four today. Antwaun Woods smacks Tre Madden and forces a fumble. Iman Marshall recovers it.
Max Browne is back out there again and goes deep. Jalen Jones and Osa Masina put great coverage on Tyler Petite. Incomplete.
There is no run game today. The defensive line is absolutely crushing the offensive line. It's apparent that the offensive line is missing Wheeler and Mama. They just don't have an answer on first or second team.
Tyler Petite catches a pass from Browne. Quinton Powell pops him but doesn't wrap up. Petite continues to rumble. Best play for the offense in the scrimmage so far. Less than 20 yards though and it wouldn't have been anything if Powell had wrapped up.
Good screen pass from Browne to Christian Tober. The perimeter is blocked well. This is probably the second best offensive play so far and it went for less than ten yards.
Osa Masina meets Dom Davis on a run play and pulls him to the ground in a one-on-one situation. No gain.
Browne pressured, scrambled, throws it away
Jacob Daniel stuff Davis for no gain on a run play
Dom Davis finally gets into the open field but Jalen Jones makes a great open field tackle. Jones is quite the walk-on defensive back.
Davis is fed the ball again and gets popped by John Plattenburg. But he manages to get a first down.
Browne is pressured again but finds Whitney. Whitney gains about nine yards. The offense is starting to move now.
De'Quan Hampton is targeted on a timing fade route to the end zone. He can't catch up to it and it falls incomplete.
Steven Mitchell makes a brief appearance here. Browne hits him on a screen pass and he picks up about 4 yards. USC moves the chains
Browne throws it to the endzone. Petite runs a shallow corner route on Plattenburg and catches it over him. TOUCHDOWN!!! Obvious size mismatch here.
But through the first three or four possessions it's obvious that the defense is ahead of the offense. Even with the one touchdown drive. The biggest mismatch seems to be upfront.
The score came on twos vs twos and with the first team back in, it's clear that Kevon Seymour is healthier. This might be his best day since spring camp. He's aggressive with tackles and forcing incompletions.
Kessler throws a bad incompletion and it's almost picked by Chris Hawkins. Kessler is struggling today but a lack of blocking could be the reason. There's a lot of pressure on both him and Browne.
Horn at 3:15
While the scrimmage is going on, former five-star defensive lineman Rasheem Green is on the south end of Howard Jones field, the turf field, getting one-on-one work in.
More special teams work on the north end of the field.
3:19 Special Teams work comes to an end. Back to scrimmaging. Offensive lines up in the shadow of its own goal post.
Want to call this ones vs ones but it's getting harder now. There seems to be a different mix of guys in.
Ykili Ross on a blitze forces Kessler to throw away a pass. In a game, this would have been likely called a safety.
Two decent runs by Ronald Jones back to back pull the offense out of a hole.
Kessler throws another incomplete pass. On the next play, Porter Gustin mauls Chuma Edoga and pushes him four feet backwards into Kessler. Kessler had just released the ball but it falls incomplete. Kessler hits the turf. Gustin is a beast.
Browne and other twos back in now.
Aca'Cedric Ware gets the ball from Browne and he's immediately thrown to the ground. Cody Temple and Malik Dorton made the play.
A tough stretch for Browne. A dominant Seymour shuts down one of his passes. On the next play, Gustin sacks him in the end zone for a safety.
Kessler and the ones back in now. He hits Jackson on a short route but Jackson makes a first down
Osa Masina shuts Davis down immediately on a run. He gets up and claps loudly in Davis' face. These linebackers are nasty.
Injury Report: Steven Mitchell is limited, Kevon Seymour was completely back, Damien Mama was still out, Chad Wheeler is still out, Connor Spears is back, Justin Davis is still out, Rasheem Green is still very limited, Chad Wheeler is still out, Jordan Simmons is still out. Jonathan Lockett left the scrimmage and had his right elbow wrapped.
Claude Pelon was out but was walking around and seems fine.
Today's standouts (IMO): Greg Townsend with great pass rushing, Michael Hutchings (a great interception), Dom Davis (explosive in space), Porter Gustin (Best Rush End on the roster, probably), Kevon Seymour (best day he's had since since spring), Iman Marshall (forced fumble and fumble recovery). Basically the whole defense could be on this list.
The defense clearly won today's scrimmage. The offense scored four total touchdowns (by Adoree' Jackson, Tyler Petite and then 2 by Dominic Davis) and the defense almost had one (Michael Hutchings picked off Max Browne and took it over 80 yards but was tackled at the one yard line.) It was tough to move the ball on the ground as the OL was getting crushed. It was tough to throw too because of the pressure and a much improved secondary
Here are the notes:
Full pads today with the gold game pants.
Practice started at 2:30pm today but the real action started around 2:50pm today
Around that time was when positional group warms ups started to disperse. The DBs (Southeast end of Howard Jones field, artificial turf field), the DLs (turf field, Southwest side of Howard Jones field), LBs (just north of DL, south side of grass field at Howard Jones), the Backs (Northern most end of Howard Jones field) OL (Northwest side of Howard Jones, tucked between that field and Dedeaux) and the Receivers and QBs (middle of field) came together and then split into two different groups. The OL and DL headed towards the South side of the field, the artificial turf side, to go one-on-one. The rest of the team stayed on the North field to work on 7-on-7.
One-on-ones are almost impossible to see as there is a line of linemen just east of the drill, blocking the view of the media. But Zach Banner, who's head stands above the rest, did have a quality rep beating Christian Rector.
Cody Kessler starts slow in 7-on-7. Max Browne subs in for him at about 2:55. Kessler's drive was less than 4 minutes long and went nowhere.
Browne almost immediately hits De'Quan Hampton on a shallow drag route. But it's clear that it was the wrong route. Steve Sarkisian immediately chews out Hampton
Browne hits George Katrib on short comeback route. But on the next play, Connor Spears drops a pass from Browne. Browne then hits Robbie Kolanz but the drive stalls.
Sam Darnold subs in just minutes later. Darnold did not play in the scrimmage (as it was a ones vs two scrimmage for the most part) so this is where he got most of his action. Aca'Cedric Ware catches a pass out of the backfield from Darnold. And then Darnold hits Deontay Burnett. but again, the drive stalls and then whistles blow.
The team moves into special teams drills at about 3:00pm. Kick off drills start first.
Horns blow and it's to 11-on-11s
Adoree' Jackson goes in motion, gets a hand off and it's a moderate gain
Kessler throws a screen pass to Jackson, it goes nowhere.
Kessler throws a pass towards JuJu Smith-Schuster. Kevon Seymour has a great pass break.
Drive stalls, subs go in. The second team defensive line, with Kenny Bigelow and Cody Temple is actually looking quite stout. Two straight stuffed runs. Olajuwon Tucker is in on the tackles too.
Jonathan Lockett has a great pass break up that was intended for De'Quan Hampton. The defense starts to grab control early.
With Damien Mama out, Chris Brown got the majority of his reps. Right tackle seems like a heavy rotation of Zach Banner and Chuma Edoga.
FUMBLE! This will be read again and again today. Maybe three fumbles, maybe four today. Antwaun Woods smacks Tre Madden and forces a fumble. Iman Marshall recovers it.
Max Browne is back out there again and goes deep. Jalen Jones and Osa Masina put great coverage on Tyler Petite. Incomplete.
There is no run game today. The defensive line is absolutely crushing the offensive line. It's apparent that the offensive line is missing Wheeler and Mama. They just don't have an answer on first or second team.
Tyler Petite catches a pass from Browne. Quinton Powell pops him but doesn't wrap up. Petite continues to rumble. Best play for the offense in the scrimmage so far. Less than 20 yards though and it wouldn't have been anything if Powell had wrapped up.
Good screen pass from Browne to Christian Tober. The perimeter is blocked well. This is probably the second best offensive play so far and it went for less than ten yards.
Osa Masina meets Dom Davis on a run play and pulls him to the ground in a one-on-one situation. No gain.
Browne pressured, scrambled, throws it away
Jacob Daniel stuff Davis for no gain on a run play
Dom Davis finally gets into the open field but Jalen Jones makes a great open field tackle. Jones is quite the walk-on defensive back.
Davis is fed the ball again and gets popped by John Plattenburg. But he manages to get a first down.
Browne is pressured again but finds Whitney. Whitney gains about nine yards. The offense is starting to move now.
De'Quan Hampton is targeted on a timing fade route to the end zone. He can't catch up to it and it falls incomplete.
Steven Mitchell makes a brief appearance here. Browne hits him on a screen pass and he picks up about 4 yards. USC moves the chains
Browne throws it to the endzone. Petite runs a shallow corner route on Plattenburg and catches it over him. TOUCHDOWN!!! Obvious size mismatch here.
But through the first three or four possessions it's obvious that the defense is ahead of the offense. Even with the one touchdown drive. The biggest mismatch seems to be upfront.
The score came on twos vs twos and with the first team back in, it's clear that Kevon Seymour is healthier. This might be his best day since spring camp. He's aggressive with tackles and forcing incompletions.
Kessler throws a bad incompletion and it's almost picked by Chris Hawkins. Kessler is struggling today but a lack of blocking could be the reason. There's a lot of pressure on both him and Browne.
Horn at 3:15
While the scrimmage is going on, former five-star defensive lineman Rasheem Green is on the south end of Howard Jones field, the turf field, getting one-on-one work in.
More special teams work on the north end of the field.
3:19 Special Teams work comes to an end. Back to scrimmaging. Offensive lines up in the shadow of its own goal post.
Want to call this ones vs ones but it's getting harder now. There seems to be a different mix of guys in.
Ykili Ross on a blitze forces Kessler to throw away a pass. In a game, this would have been likely called a safety.
Two decent runs by Ronald Jones back to back pull the offense out of a hole.
Kessler throws another incomplete pass. On the next play, Porter Gustin mauls Chuma Edoga and pushes him four feet backwards into Kessler. Kessler had just released the ball but it falls incomplete. Kessler hits the turf. Gustin is a beast.
Browne and other twos back in now.
Aca'Cedric Ware gets the ball from Browne and he's immediately thrown to the ground. Cody Temple and Malik Dorton made the play.
A tough stretch for Browne. A dominant Seymour shuts down one of his passes. On the next play, Gustin sacks him in the end zone for a safety.
Kessler and the ones back in now. He hits Jackson on a short route but Jackson makes a first down
Osa Masina shuts Davis down immediately on a run. He gets up and claps loudly in Davis' face. These linebackers are nasty.
