Observations from Tuesday's practice:
Isaac Whitney, Deontay Burnett and Aca'Cedric Ware were newcomers among kick returners.
Uchenna Nwosu has noticeably bulked up. He looks especially chiseled in his arms.
Team periods were limited today, as the emphasis was on instruction.
1-on-1s:
Steven Mitchell Jr. makes a nice adjustment on an underthrown pass from Max Browne.
Burnett makes a basket catch to beat John Plattenburg.
Whitney makes a nice grab vs. Jonathan Lockett.
Matt Fink goes deep to Mitchell.
Burnett makes a diving catch in front of Marvell Tell.
Michael Pittman beats Isaiah Langley deep. Pretty throw from Max Browne.
Ykili Ross breaks up a pass intended for Ajene Harris.
Walk-on safety Deion Hart picks off Fink.
Sam Darnold hits Mitchell deep.
Biggie Marshall deflects a pass to De'Quan Hampton.
Harris runs a post and makes a tough catch in the corner.
Dom Davis receives a pass out of the backfield and scoots upfield for a ice gain.
***
11-on-11:
Browne got the first reps. Then Darnold. Jalen Greene and Fink alternated from there.
Greene connects downfield to Whitney.
Darnold was sacked by Joel Foy.
Browne drops one in on the sideline to JuJu but he can't hang on. Wasn't an easy play but JuJu probably should have caught it.
Browne overthrows Hampton by 10 yards.
Browne goes back to JuJu, who secures a 50-50 ball downfield on Biggie. Might have been the play of the day right there.
Fink hits Whitney on an intermediate route.
Rasheem Green sacks Browne.
Browne fires too low to JuJu.
Browne is sacked by Jabari Ruffin.
***
Practice concluded with the best-of-five competition. It's apparently one of the few things Clay Helton is carrying over from the Steve Sarkisian era. (It makes me wonder if this exercise was actually Helton's idea to begin with. Sark introduced the final challenge somewhat out of nowhere last spring and it continued in the fall. When Helton took over, though, he discontinued it. FWIW, I think it makes more sense to have this contest in spring and training camp because there isn't a game that week to prepare for; the focus should be on the game plan more during the season.)
Darreus Rogers catches a first down .
Mitchell catches a short pass but doesn't pick up the necessary yards for the point.
Porter Gustin and Green sack Browne. Had it been live action Gustin was in position to slam the QB. And he got there so fast.
Browne overthrows Harris in the end zone -- the defense wins.
***
Final notes:
None of the quarterbacks were particularly accurate today. The timing just wasn't there.
As Helton noted, Pittman looked like he'd been here before.
Whitney was probably targeted the most behind JuJu.
Tyler Petite ran a lot of downfield routes. Looks like the Trojans really do want to include the tight end position more in the passing game. Helton noted afterward that, aside from Taylor McNamara, the tight ends need to become better blockers for USC to fully utilize them. He reiterated that they'd like to have them serve as a hybrid player who can line up in the backfield or on the line and thus be a veiled threat in both the run and pass game.
Isaac Whitney, Deontay Burnett and Aca'Cedric Ware were newcomers among kick returners.
Uchenna Nwosu has noticeably bulked up. He looks especially chiseled in his arms.
Team periods were limited today, as the emphasis was on instruction.
1-on-1s:
Steven Mitchell Jr. makes a nice adjustment on an underthrown pass from Max Browne.
Burnett makes a basket catch to beat John Plattenburg.
Whitney makes a nice grab vs. Jonathan Lockett.
Matt Fink goes deep to Mitchell.
Burnett makes a diving catch in front of Marvell Tell.
Michael Pittman beats Isaiah Langley deep. Pretty throw from Max Browne.
Ykili Ross breaks up a pass intended for Ajene Harris.
Walk-on safety Deion Hart picks off Fink.
Sam Darnold hits Mitchell deep.
Biggie Marshall deflects a pass to De'Quan Hampton.
Harris runs a post and makes a tough catch in the corner.
Dom Davis receives a pass out of the backfield and scoots upfield for a ice gain.
***
11-on-11:
Browne got the first reps. Then Darnold. Jalen Greene and Fink alternated from there.
Greene connects downfield to Whitney.
Darnold was sacked by Joel Foy.
Browne drops one in on the sideline to JuJu but he can't hang on. Wasn't an easy play but JuJu probably should have caught it.
Browne overthrows Hampton by 10 yards.
Browne goes back to JuJu, who secures a 50-50 ball downfield on Biggie. Might have been the play of the day right there.
Fink hits Whitney on an intermediate route.
Rasheem Green sacks Browne.
Browne fires too low to JuJu.
Browne is sacked by Jabari Ruffin.
***
Practice concluded with the best-of-five competition. It's apparently one of the few things Clay Helton is carrying over from the Steve Sarkisian era. (It makes me wonder if this exercise was actually Helton's idea to begin with. Sark introduced the final challenge somewhat out of nowhere last spring and it continued in the fall. When Helton took over, though, he discontinued it. FWIW, I think it makes more sense to have this contest in spring and training camp because there isn't a game that week to prepare for; the focus should be on the game plan more during the season.)
Darreus Rogers catches a first down .
Mitchell catches a short pass but doesn't pick up the necessary yards for the point.
Porter Gustin and Green sack Browne. Had it been live action Gustin was in position to slam the QB. And he got there so fast.
Browne overthrows Harris in the end zone -- the defense wins.
***
Final notes:
None of the quarterbacks were particularly accurate today. The timing just wasn't there.
As Helton noted, Pittman looked like he'd been here before.
Whitney was probably targeted the most behind JuJu.
Tyler Petite ran a lot of downfield routes. Looks like the Trojans really do want to include the tight end position more in the passing game. Helton noted afterward that, aside from Taylor McNamara, the tight ends need to become better blockers for USC to fully utilize them. He reiterated that they'd like to have them serve as a hybrid player who can line up in the backfield or on the line and thus be a veiled threat in both the run and pass game.
