USC's first scrimmage of fall camp stretched 20 series Saturday as the Trojans showcased the pace at which this new offense is expected to operate.
There were big plays and bad turnovers alike. Velus Jones, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Markese Stepp created the most highlights among the playmakers. The run game in general was uninspiring, even though coach Clay Helton felt differently afterward. And the young cornerbacks often looked overmatched.
"Today was good work. We got a lot of it -- we got a lot of plays, almost 100 plays today that we're going to be able to grade tape off of," Helton said. "We put them in some live scrimmage atmosphere, in some tackling situations and for the most part I thought the older guys played mature, I thought some young guys made some young guy mistakes. I thought defensively we did a nice job of creating turnovers."
Here were Helton's full comments as well as all the highlights from each series:
JT Daniels, 1s vs. 1s
-Several short passes, a drop by Tyler Vaughns and some rushing plays that didn't amount to much. Nothing noteworthy.
Matt Fink, 2s vs 2s
-Velus Jones beat freshman cornerback Adonis Otey for a long touchdown of about 40 yards down the left sideline. Jones burned Otey to create substantial separation and even with Fink's throw taking an extra moment to arrive he easily hauled it in for the first big strike of the day. This matchup would be revisited later in the scrimmage.
Kedon Slovis, 1s vs. 1s
Helton would say afterward that Amon-Ra St. Brown was "phenomenal" on Saturday as he looked like an ideal playmaker for Graham Harrell's offense, creating big plays in space while turning short passes into long gains. Slovis hit St. Brown in stride across the middle and he turned it into a pick-up of about 40 yards.
"What really stood out to me when you watch him was his yards after catch, to be able to catch it and all of a sudden it's a 15-yard gain after a catch, a 20-yard gain after a touch. I think it was 13 yards for a touchdown after a catch," Helton said. "His ability in space to get open and then do something with it after he gets it is special. You can see why he's one of the best in the country."
Slovis, meanwhile, was uncharacteristically erratic Saturday. He overthrew Devon Williams later in the series before Markese Stepp rushed in for an 11-yard touchdown. Chase Williams was the last line of defense at the goal line and had no chance of stopping Stepp, which is going to be the case for most DBs when the redshirt freshman running back gets some momentum going.
Jack Sears, 2s vs. 2s
-Freshman linebacker Tuasivi Nomura had a sack, redshirt-freshman cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart was called for pass interference and Sears then delivered his best highlight of the day with a long touchdown pass of about 65 yards to Jones, who again burned Otey for the big strike. Sears dropped a perfect ball in right over Jones' shoulder in stride.
Otey and Taylor-Stuart worked as the second-team cornerbacks while sophomore Olaijah Griffin and freshman Chris Steele worked with the first team. (Redshirt sophomore Greg Johnson worked at nickel again, with redshirt freshman Chase Williams moving to safety, as the coaches are cross training some guys at different positions.) As for Otey, he would bounce back with a couple nice plays later in the scrimmage, but in general the 4-star newcomer from Tennessee looks to be behind the other young corners at this point.
"We've told them I don't know if they'll go against a better group this year than what there getting," Helton said of the young corners going against USC's deep receiving corps. "That's the way you want it. You hope that Saturdays you're comfortable because you've gone against one of the best groups in the country. You can't get any better than what they're going against right now. So yeah, there's going to be failures, but I bet you they learn from them and I bet they end up looking better on Saturdays and that's what's most important."
Kedon Slovis, 3s vs. 3s
-Linebacker Spencer Gilbert dropped an easy interception. Slovis bounced back to complete a couple of short passes, but the drive didn't go anywhere.
JT Daniels, 1s vs. 1s
-The notable plays on this series were the non-plays. Daniels threw a short low pass that Johnson corralled, but it looked like the play had already been ruled dead. Daniels was perhaps just tossing the ball away as a result. He then dropped a nice ball into St. Brown's outstretched hands for what looked to be a long touchdown connection (with Williams in coverage), but the play was ruled a sack instead.
Jack Sears, 2s vs. 2s
-Walk-on running back Quincy Jountti fumbled after a big collision. It was not clear who jarred the ball out. With USC's running back depth thin and Vavae Malepeai still out with a knee injury, Jountti continues to get significant reps.
JT Daniels, 3s. vs. 3s
-The only notable play here was outside linebacker Bryce Matthews batting down a pass while coming off the edge.
Matt Fink, 1s vs. 1s
-We didn't see a lot of Michael Pittman in the scrimmage, but he looked good when he was out there. Fink hit him on back-to-back completions, first beating Steele for a long gain down the left side and then finding Pittman for a touchdown as Steele missed a tackle. Hunter Echols also had a sack earlier in the series.
Kedon Slovis, 2s vs. 2s
-Linebacker Juliano Falaniko beat Drew Richmond around the left side and batted down a pass. Richmond, the grad transfer from Tennessee, continues to work primarily as the second-team left tackle while also subbing in for Austin Jackson on the first unit when needed. Richmond also played one series at left guard Saturday.
Slovis threw a nice back shoulder pass to Williams for a gain of about 20 yards down the left sideline and threw another nice deep ball that Williams couldn't reel in with Taylor-Stuart in coverage.
The momentum stalled for Slovis, though, as he was picked off by Otey on a pass down the right sideline. It happened at the far end of the field with the players on that sideline blocking the media's view so it's not clear exactly what happened. But a nice bounce-back moment for the freshman corner.
JT Daniels, 1s vs. 1s
Daniels is looking more comfortable operating at the pace Harrell demands. On this series he delivered a couple quick passes, linebacker Palaie Gaoteote had a nice pass break-up on a throw intended for tight end Erik Krommenhoek, Daniels came right back to connect with Krommenhoek and then found St. Brown on another smooth catch-and-run play for a touchdown. St. Brown burned past Chase Williams on the crossing route.
Matt Fink, 2s vs. 2s
-Jountti had a long run that looked to go for a touchdown, but the series continued nonetheless. That was the only notable play, though.
Jack Sears, 1s vs. 1s
-This was one of Sears' sharper series as he completed three short passes, scrambled for a nice gain and then connected with Devon Williams, who won a race to the pylon for the touchdown.
Kedon Slovis, 3s vs. 3s
-Otey had a pass break-up on a ball targeted for walk-on Matthew Hocum. Freshman running back Kenan Christon caught a short pass, slipped a defender and turned in a nice 15-yard gain. And then Otey had another PBU on a pass again intended for Hocum.
Matt Fink, 3s vs. 3s
-Nothing noteworthy here, so we'll note the third-team offensive line was left tackle Bernard Schirmer, left guard AJ Mageo, center Gino Quinones, right guard Liam Douglass and right tackle Jason Rodriguez.
There were big plays and bad turnovers alike. Velus Jones, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Markese Stepp created the most highlights among the playmakers. The run game in general was uninspiring, even though coach Clay Helton felt differently afterward. And the young cornerbacks often looked overmatched.
"Today was good work. We got a lot of it -- we got a lot of plays, almost 100 plays today that we're going to be able to grade tape off of," Helton said. "We put them in some live scrimmage atmosphere, in some tackling situations and for the most part I thought the older guys played mature, I thought some young guys made some young guy mistakes. I thought defensively we did a nice job of creating turnovers."
Here were Helton's full comments as well as all the highlights from each series:
JT Daniels, 1s vs. 1s
-Several short passes, a drop by Tyler Vaughns and some rushing plays that didn't amount to much. Nothing noteworthy.
Matt Fink, 2s vs 2s
-Velus Jones beat freshman cornerback Adonis Otey for a long touchdown of about 40 yards down the left sideline. Jones burned Otey to create substantial separation and even with Fink's throw taking an extra moment to arrive he easily hauled it in for the first big strike of the day. This matchup would be revisited later in the scrimmage.
Kedon Slovis, 1s vs. 1s
Helton would say afterward that Amon-Ra St. Brown was "phenomenal" on Saturday as he looked like an ideal playmaker for Graham Harrell's offense, creating big plays in space while turning short passes into long gains. Slovis hit St. Brown in stride across the middle and he turned it into a pick-up of about 40 yards.
"What really stood out to me when you watch him was his yards after catch, to be able to catch it and all of a sudden it's a 15-yard gain after a catch, a 20-yard gain after a touch. I think it was 13 yards for a touchdown after a catch," Helton said. "His ability in space to get open and then do something with it after he gets it is special. You can see why he's one of the best in the country."
Slovis, meanwhile, was uncharacteristically erratic Saturday. He overthrew Devon Williams later in the series before Markese Stepp rushed in for an 11-yard touchdown. Chase Williams was the last line of defense at the goal line and had no chance of stopping Stepp, which is going to be the case for most DBs when the redshirt freshman running back gets some momentum going.
Jack Sears, 2s vs. 2s
-Freshman linebacker Tuasivi Nomura had a sack, redshirt-freshman cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart was called for pass interference and Sears then delivered his best highlight of the day with a long touchdown pass of about 65 yards to Jones, who again burned Otey for the big strike. Sears dropped a perfect ball in right over Jones' shoulder in stride.
Otey and Taylor-Stuart worked as the second-team cornerbacks while sophomore Olaijah Griffin and freshman Chris Steele worked with the first team. (Redshirt sophomore Greg Johnson worked at nickel again, with redshirt freshman Chase Williams moving to safety, as the coaches are cross training some guys at different positions.) As for Otey, he would bounce back with a couple nice plays later in the scrimmage, but in general the 4-star newcomer from Tennessee looks to be behind the other young corners at this point.
"We've told them I don't know if they'll go against a better group this year than what there getting," Helton said of the young corners going against USC's deep receiving corps. "That's the way you want it. You hope that Saturdays you're comfortable because you've gone against one of the best groups in the country. You can't get any better than what they're going against right now. So yeah, there's going to be failures, but I bet you they learn from them and I bet they end up looking better on Saturdays and that's what's most important."
Kedon Slovis, 3s vs. 3s
-Linebacker Spencer Gilbert dropped an easy interception. Slovis bounced back to complete a couple of short passes, but the drive didn't go anywhere.
JT Daniels, 1s vs. 1s
-The notable plays on this series were the non-plays. Daniels threw a short low pass that Johnson corralled, but it looked like the play had already been ruled dead. Daniels was perhaps just tossing the ball away as a result. He then dropped a nice ball into St. Brown's outstretched hands for what looked to be a long touchdown connection (with Williams in coverage), but the play was ruled a sack instead.
Jack Sears, 2s vs. 2s
-Walk-on running back Quincy Jountti fumbled after a big collision. It was not clear who jarred the ball out. With USC's running back depth thin and Vavae Malepeai still out with a knee injury, Jountti continues to get significant reps.
JT Daniels, 3s. vs. 3s
-The only notable play here was outside linebacker Bryce Matthews batting down a pass while coming off the edge.
Matt Fink, 1s vs. 1s
-We didn't see a lot of Michael Pittman in the scrimmage, but he looked good when he was out there. Fink hit him on back-to-back completions, first beating Steele for a long gain down the left side and then finding Pittman for a touchdown as Steele missed a tackle. Hunter Echols also had a sack earlier in the series.
Kedon Slovis, 2s vs. 2s
-Linebacker Juliano Falaniko beat Drew Richmond around the left side and batted down a pass. Richmond, the grad transfer from Tennessee, continues to work primarily as the second-team left tackle while also subbing in for Austin Jackson on the first unit when needed. Richmond also played one series at left guard Saturday.
Slovis threw a nice back shoulder pass to Williams for a gain of about 20 yards down the left sideline and threw another nice deep ball that Williams couldn't reel in with Taylor-Stuart in coverage.
The momentum stalled for Slovis, though, as he was picked off by Otey on a pass down the right sideline. It happened at the far end of the field with the players on that sideline blocking the media's view so it's not clear exactly what happened. But a nice bounce-back moment for the freshman corner.
JT Daniels, 1s vs. 1s
Daniels is looking more comfortable operating at the pace Harrell demands. On this series he delivered a couple quick passes, linebacker Palaie Gaoteote had a nice pass break-up on a throw intended for tight end Erik Krommenhoek, Daniels came right back to connect with Krommenhoek and then found St. Brown on another smooth catch-and-run play for a touchdown. St. Brown burned past Chase Williams on the crossing route.
Matt Fink, 2s vs. 2s
-Jountti had a long run that looked to go for a touchdown, but the series continued nonetheless. That was the only notable play, though.
Jack Sears, 1s vs. 1s
-This was one of Sears' sharper series as he completed three short passes, scrambled for a nice gain and then connected with Devon Williams, who won a race to the pylon for the touchdown.
Kedon Slovis, 3s vs. 3s
-Otey had a pass break-up on a ball targeted for walk-on Matthew Hocum. Freshman running back Kenan Christon caught a short pass, slipped a defender and turned in a nice 15-yard gain. And then Otey had another PBU on a pass again intended for Hocum.
Matt Fink, 3s vs. 3s
-Nothing noteworthy here, so we'll note the third-team offensive line was left tackle Bernard Schirmer, left guard AJ Mageo, center Gino Quinones, right guard Liam Douglass and right tackle Jason Rodriguez.
