Notes and observations from Tuesday's practice ...
Team is in full pads. The season opener is in four days and you can feel as much in practice. They look ready to go.
11-on-11:
Cody Kessler opened with a swing pass to Tre Madden.
Kessler follows with a pass over the middle to JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Kessler looked sharp today. He seemed very aware of where everyone was and he spread it around quite a bit. He also seemed to have a good sense of where the pressure was coming from.
Browne comes in and throws one of his patented teardrops to Steven Mitchell Jr. for a long gain.
Biggie Marshall stays with Mitchell stride for stride and the pass falls incomplete. Biggie's athleticism is probably underrated. He's not just this hulking defensive back that moves like a linebacker. There's a reason he's at corner. He hasn't even gotten reps this fall at safety.
***
Ronald Jones II is getting a lot of work. He showed some rust but typically ran about the same as he did before sitting out a few practices. He has long strides.
Dom Davis took the majority of the reps following Madden. The diminutive freshman seems to have won over the staff over the past couple weeks by being a more physical back. He's running hard between the tackles and lowering his shoulder, which we weren't see much that first week of training camp.
Browne hits De'Quan Hampton over the top for a TD.
Watching Madden run, I've noticed some subtle differences between him and Buck Allen. Madden might have a better sense of timing. Either way, it's certainly different. Whereas Buck would run at one speed upon receiving the handoff, and sometimes begin sideways, Madden begins forward but waits for a hole to open before bursting through it.
A bad snap ruins a Madden run. There are still a few too many of those snaps.
7-on-7:
Kevon Seymour breaks up a pass. It's one of the few times a pass wasn't completed today.
Tyler Petite turns around to make an excellent falling catch. He has showed some tremendous hands. petite doesn't get as much run with the first team but he's going to play and eventually should be a real factor.
Kessler, who's backed his assertion that he'll take more risks in 1-on-1 situations, hits Tober downfield.
11-on-11:
Petite makes another diving catch.
JuJu delivers a vicious stiff arm on Marvell Tell. He's been making it a point this offseason to use his body and size more.
Jahleel Pinner catches a pass out of the backfield, makes a great spin and then rumbles to the end zone. He's targeted a few times each practice. The difference this fall is those passes have mostly been forward.
Isaac Whitney closes out practice with a pair of nice catches. He's been quiet this fall but maybe he'll play bigger in games. You never know.
Final notes:
Alex Wood and Matt Boermeester each made two of three field goals, making their lone attempts from 26 and splitting two attempts from 30.
Soma Vainuku also got a decent amount of carries. I expect him to be a part of the rotation in the opener. Interestingly, Aca'Cedric Ware got just a few carries today. He hasn't been featured much since training camp.
Rasheem Green continued to increase his workload. He's clearly not 100 percent but there seems to be a concerted effort to integrate him this year.
Chad Wheeler took all of the first-team reps at LT. Then it was Damien Mama at LG, Max Tuerk at C, Toa Lobendahn at RG and Zach banner at RT. Lobendahn told me he expects his primary position to be RG this season.
***
We saw a lot of combinations at safety, with Chris Hawkins, Leon McQuay, Tell and Matt Lopes all getting first-team reps. John Plattenburg primarily worked with the second team.
Connor Spears and Taylor McNamara split a lot of the first-team reps early. Petite had a great second half of practice.
Adoree' Jackson practiced exclusively on defense.
USC has entered its regular practice routine for the season, where it goes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Thursdays are closed to the media.
Team is in full pads. The season opener is in four days and you can feel as much in practice. They look ready to go.
11-on-11:
Cody Kessler opened with a swing pass to Tre Madden.
Kessler follows with a pass over the middle to JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Kessler looked sharp today. He seemed very aware of where everyone was and he spread it around quite a bit. He also seemed to have a good sense of where the pressure was coming from.
Browne comes in and throws one of his patented teardrops to Steven Mitchell Jr. for a long gain.
Biggie Marshall stays with Mitchell stride for stride and the pass falls incomplete. Biggie's athleticism is probably underrated. He's not just this hulking defensive back that moves like a linebacker. There's a reason he's at corner. He hasn't even gotten reps this fall at safety.
***
Ronald Jones II is getting a lot of work. He showed some rust but typically ran about the same as he did before sitting out a few practices. He has long strides.
Dom Davis took the majority of the reps following Madden. The diminutive freshman seems to have won over the staff over the past couple weeks by being a more physical back. He's running hard between the tackles and lowering his shoulder, which we weren't see much that first week of training camp.
Browne hits De'Quan Hampton over the top for a TD.
Watching Madden run, I've noticed some subtle differences between him and Buck Allen. Madden might have a better sense of timing. Either way, it's certainly different. Whereas Buck would run at one speed upon receiving the handoff, and sometimes begin sideways, Madden begins forward but waits for a hole to open before bursting through it.
A bad snap ruins a Madden run. There are still a few too many of those snaps.
7-on-7:
Kevon Seymour breaks up a pass. It's one of the few times a pass wasn't completed today.
Tyler Petite turns around to make an excellent falling catch. He has showed some tremendous hands. petite doesn't get as much run with the first team but he's going to play and eventually should be a real factor.
Kessler, who's backed his assertion that he'll take more risks in 1-on-1 situations, hits Tober downfield.
11-on-11:
Petite makes another diving catch.
JuJu delivers a vicious stiff arm on Marvell Tell. He's been making it a point this offseason to use his body and size more.
Jahleel Pinner catches a pass out of the backfield, makes a great spin and then rumbles to the end zone. He's targeted a few times each practice. The difference this fall is those passes have mostly been forward.
Isaac Whitney closes out practice with a pair of nice catches. He's been quiet this fall but maybe he'll play bigger in games. You never know.
Final notes:
Alex Wood and Matt Boermeester each made two of three field goals, making their lone attempts from 26 and splitting two attempts from 30.
Soma Vainuku also got a decent amount of carries. I expect him to be a part of the rotation in the opener. Interestingly, Aca'Cedric Ware got just a few carries today. He hasn't been featured much since training camp.
Rasheem Green continued to increase his workload. He's clearly not 100 percent but there seems to be a concerted effort to integrate him this year.
Chad Wheeler took all of the first-team reps at LT. Then it was Damien Mama at LG, Max Tuerk at C, Toa Lobendahn at RG and Zach banner at RT. Lobendahn told me he expects his primary position to be RG this season.
***
We saw a lot of combinations at safety, with Chris Hawkins, Leon McQuay, Tell and Matt Lopes all getting first-team reps. John Plattenburg primarily worked with the second team.
Connor Spears and Taylor McNamara split a lot of the first-team reps early. Petite had a great second half of practice.
Adoree' Jackson practiced exclusively on defense.
USC has entered its regular practice routine for the season, where it goes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Thursdays are closed to the media.
