Notes and observations from Saturday's scrimmage at the Coliseum:
(Rasheem Green, Jacob Daniel and Malik Dorton are the three first team interior linemen.)
Porter Gustin tackles Justin Davis for a loss.
Biggie Marshall breaks up a pass to De'Quan Hampton.
Davis runs for a nice gain to the right and is tackled again by Gustin.
Davis runs gets to the outside and punctuates about a 20-yard run by dropping his head and barreling over Biggie.
Gustin stuffs Ware near the line of scrimmage.
Browne makes a curious throw in the end zone and Biggie nearly picks it off. Hampton had to play DB to keep Biggie from an INT.
***
Darnold takes over immediately hits Isaac Whitney.
Olajuwon Tucker makes a tough open-field tackle on Ronald Jones II.
Whitney drops a screen.
Davis carries a defender while extending a 15-yard run.
***
Browne rolls to his left to escape pressure but can't connect with Deontay Burnett.
Green records a big TFL.
Green blows past Chuma Edoga again. He and Biggie, who was blitzing, essentially spoil the play.
Green stops Ware on a short run.
A blitzing Quinton Powell sacks Browne.
***
Darnold hits Ajene Harris over the middle and Powell pops Ajene, who holds on and gains a first down.
Darnold keeps a read-option and gets a few.
Browne completes a post to Hampton.
Davis runs to the right for a solid pickup.
Browne runs to his left and awkwardly slides a couple yards downfield.
***
Davis runs left for a big gain.
Davis runs left again and gets a handful more.
Browne hits Steven Mitchell Jr. in the flat for a small gain.
RoJo goes up the middle and scores on a 6-yard run.
***
RoJo runs right and, showing good patience, waits for the hole to open and picks up a first down.
RoJo goes up the middle for a short gain.
A high snap from Nico Falah busts the next play.
Darnold runs right for a few yards.
Uchenna Nwosu tackles RoJo in the backfield.
***
Despite another bad snap, Davis receives a late handoff and finds a hole for a 5-yard gain.
Ware runs up the middle for a handful.
Darnold connects with a wide open Harris for a 30-yard TD. Good read by Darnold, although the pass was slightly underthrown.
Jabari Rufin sacks Jalen Greene.
Ruffin deflects a pass over the middle.
***
Matt Boermeester connects on each of his seven field goal attempts, all from 34 yards out.
***
Red zone:
Jones gets a few yards up the middle but is pulled down by Green.
Browne completes a short pass to Rogers.
Play-action pass from Browne to Hampton.
Jones runs for a short gain.
Jones is initially stopped but a good second effort leads to a few yards. He's tackled by Daniel.
***
Jones is stopped. Browne dives toward the end zone but is ruled down after being touched by Leon McQuay.
Jones breaks through the middle for a short TD run.
Ware runs for a short gain.
Darnold throws a screen to Mitchell, who makes a defender miss and scores.
Davis runs off tackle and scoots upfield for a 25-yard TD run, which concludes the scrimmage.
***
Final thoughts:
Rasheem Green was excellent. For what this setting was, he was dominant. Best defensive player on the field, by far. Looks like he might be making a leap. We all know USC needs it. Helton highlighted the play of Uchenna Nwosu and Biggie Marshall afterward. They've both done really well these first two weeks.
We weren't given any official stats but Justin Davis had to have topped 100 yards. Just another standout day. He was really physical, as usual. I understand why people gravitate toward Jones but Jones is grossly underrated and thus underappreciated. He's not the flashiest but it'd be inaccurate to say he's merely serviceable. Don't know that I have a good adjective to describe him. Superb, perhaps.
Here's what Helton said about Davis after the scrimmage: "I think he's learned how to be a patient runner. When he first got here, it was like, get in the hole as fast as you can. Now I literally see him on outside zone, the best runners, the Le'Veon Bells, what do they do? They're patient. They come right off the butt of the tackle and they explode and I think his patience is really showing, and his maturity. He's put himself into the league of a really quality running back. I think he's going to be one of the better ones in the Pac-12." ... Quality -- Davis is quality.
I thought Browne was just OK today. Darnold was certainly better. Helton said he would have liked to have seen them get the ball out sooner a few times but pointed out that neither made any critical mistakes. There just wasn't much rhythm to the passing game, which was similar to what we saw for much of Week 1. I felt like USC had taken a step forward in that regard this week but the scrimmage suggested otherwise. I had Browne completing 4 of 8 passes and Darnold 4 of 5 with 2 TDs. (Darnold's lone incompletion was a drop.)
The offensive line can hang its hat on a strong performance today in terms of run blocking. Pass blocking was a different story. (This factors in to what I just noted about Browne and Darnold, of course.)
When asked whether either QB was ahead, Helton said Browne but then commended Darnold for his poise on a slightly bigger stage.
We have another edition of They Said It coming this weekend followed by Standouts from Week 2.
(Rasheem Green, Jacob Daniel and Malik Dorton are the three first team interior linemen.)
Porter Gustin tackles Justin Davis for a loss.
Biggie Marshall breaks up a pass to De'Quan Hampton.
Davis runs for a nice gain to the right and is tackled again by Gustin.
Davis runs gets to the outside and punctuates about a 20-yard run by dropping his head and barreling over Biggie.
Gustin stuffs Ware near the line of scrimmage.
Browne makes a curious throw in the end zone and Biggie nearly picks it off. Hampton had to play DB to keep Biggie from an INT.
***
Darnold takes over immediately hits Isaac Whitney.
Olajuwon Tucker makes a tough open-field tackle on Ronald Jones II.
Whitney drops a screen.
Davis carries a defender while extending a 15-yard run.
***
Browne rolls to his left to escape pressure but can't connect with Deontay Burnett.
Green records a big TFL.
Green blows past Chuma Edoga again. He and Biggie, who was blitzing, essentially spoil the play.
Green stops Ware on a short run.
A blitzing Quinton Powell sacks Browne.
***
Darnold hits Ajene Harris over the middle and Powell pops Ajene, who holds on and gains a first down.
Darnold keeps a read-option and gets a few.
Browne completes a post to Hampton.
Davis runs to the right for a solid pickup.
Browne runs to his left and awkwardly slides a couple yards downfield.
***
Davis runs left for a big gain.
Davis runs left again and gets a handful more.
Browne hits Steven Mitchell Jr. in the flat for a small gain.
RoJo goes up the middle and scores on a 6-yard run.
***
RoJo runs right and, showing good patience, waits for the hole to open and picks up a first down.
RoJo goes up the middle for a short gain.
A high snap from Nico Falah busts the next play.
Darnold runs right for a few yards.
Uchenna Nwosu tackles RoJo in the backfield.
***
Despite another bad snap, Davis receives a late handoff and finds a hole for a 5-yard gain.
Ware runs up the middle for a handful.
Darnold connects with a wide open Harris for a 30-yard TD. Good read by Darnold, although the pass was slightly underthrown.
Jabari Rufin sacks Jalen Greene.
Ruffin deflects a pass over the middle.
***
Matt Boermeester connects on each of his seven field goal attempts, all from 34 yards out.
***
Red zone:
Jones gets a few yards up the middle but is pulled down by Green.
Browne completes a short pass to Rogers.
Play-action pass from Browne to Hampton.
Jones runs for a short gain.
Jones is initially stopped but a good second effort leads to a few yards. He's tackled by Daniel.
***
Jones is stopped. Browne dives toward the end zone but is ruled down after being touched by Leon McQuay.
Jones breaks through the middle for a short TD run.
Ware runs for a short gain.
Darnold throws a screen to Mitchell, who makes a defender miss and scores.
Davis runs off tackle and scoots upfield for a 25-yard TD run, which concludes the scrimmage.
***
Final thoughts:
Rasheem Green was excellent. For what this setting was, he was dominant. Best defensive player on the field, by far. Looks like he might be making a leap. We all know USC needs it. Helton highlighted the play of Uchenna Nwosu and Biggie Marshall afterward. They've both done really well these first two weeks.
We weren't given any official stats but Justin Davis had to have topped 100 yards. Just another standout day. He was really physical, as usual. I understand why people gravitate toward Jones but Jones is grossly underrated and thus underappreciated. He's not the flashiest but it'd be inaccurate to say he's merely serviceable. Don't know that I have a good adjective to describe him. Superb, perhaps.
Here's what Helton said about Davis after the scrimmage: "I think he's learned how to be a patient runner. When he first got here, it was like, get in the hole as fast as you can. Now I literally see him on outside zone, the best runners, the Le'Veon Bells, what do they do? They're patient. They come right off the butt of the tackle and they explode and I think his patience is really showing, and his maturity. He's put himself into the league of a really quality running back. I think he's going to be one of the better ones in the Pac-12." ... Quality -- Davis is quality.
I thought Browne was just OK today. Darnold was certainly better. Helton said he would have liked to have seen them get the ball out sooner a few times but pointed out that neither made any critical mistakes. There just wasn't much rhythm to the passing game, which was similar to what we saw for much of Week 1. I felt like USC had taken a step forward in that regard this week but the scrimmage suggested otherwise. I had Browne completing 4 of 8 passes and Darnold 4 of 5 with 2 TDs. (Darnold's lone incompletion was a drop.)
The offensive line can hang its hat on a strong performance today in terms of run blocking. Pass blocking was a different story. (This factors in to what I just noted about Browne and Darnold, of course.)
When asked whether either QB was ahead, Helton said Browne but then commended Darnold for his poise on a slightly bigger stage.
We have another edition of They Said It coming this weekend followed by Standouts from Week 2.
