(**I'm going to write more about the Trojans' consistent second-half drop-offs later this week, but you'll see we tried to press Helton a number of different ways on that topic tonight. ... Also, I didn't get through to the conference call until a few moments into his opening statements, so I started the transcript where I jumped in.**)
Opening comments ...
"Had a long field, which it felt like the majority of the night that's the way the drives were. I think we averaged the -19 yard line in the first and second half, and after starting the second quarter I think the best field position we had was the -28. Coming out of that second half, it like [we] really had the opportunity to get up two scores on the first two drives. We go 11 plays, 77-yard drive, leave it on the 3-yard line and kick a field goal, and come back the next drive and have a 10-play, 48-yard drive that ends up with two penalties at the end that gets us out of field-goal range. There were a limited number of possessions in that second half and those two will be the ones that haunt me.
"Defensively, obviously it stands out, the rushing yardage. After watching the film with Clancy, we lost our gap integrity, especially when they were in their 13 heavy personnel grouping. I think anytime you look up and you see four of the five leading tacklers were your DBs and two of the three top leading tacklers were your corners, something's going on there. Whether it was a misalignment or not falling back on a particular gap-integrity responsibility, that's what got us. Scheme-wise you can tell they were trying to get the ball outside on the perimeter to our DBS -- our DBs held up well for the most part, but obviously the gap integrity cost us in the run game.
"Special teams wise, I thought that played a huge part on the night. To steal an extra possession on the punt fake on the fourth-and-1 and to have a blocked punt by Jake Russell, I thought those two plays alone led to 14 points on the night.
"Our mindset from here is that we have a tremendous opportunity ahead of us this week. We have the chance to compete for the Shillelagh and attempt to earn a huge victory for our seniors in their last game at the Coliseum. We will prepare with great energy and great focus -- that will be demanded from each coach and each player -- and we look forward to this opportunity and look forward to competing for the Shillelagh."
Injuries ...
"Defensive line wise, Jake Lichtenstein suffered an AC sprain that we'll be monitoring throughout the week. Jay Tufele suffered a foot sprain that he had to leave the game late with. We'll monitor him throughout the week. John Houston suffered a hamstring strain right before half and did not come back in the second half. Marvell Tell suffered an ankle sprain that we'll monitor throughout the week. Ced Ware left the game with an AC sprain late that we'll monitor throughout the week. Josh Falo got a knee contusion that we'll monitor. Michael Pittman got a hip pointer that we will monitor through the week. Chuma Edoga did not play in the game due to knee soreness and hyperextension. Hopefully we'll get him back this week. And Alijah Vera-Tucker suffered an MCL sprain during the game and we'll monitor him throughout the week."
On getting USC up to the physical challenge vs. Notre Dame ...
"I think the main [thing], like I said earlier, is not losing the gap responsibility. That was the cause -- when we fit the gaps right, the plays were stopped. But numerous times, and we took turns to be honest with you at different positions of falling out of gaps and leaving spaces open. Plus, I think credit to Coach Kelly. I think he had a nice scheme of getting the balls out on the perimeter and trying to make the DBs tackle consistently. He loaded up in the 13 personnel grouping and stayed in in it, something he had not done a ton of prior to our game. But the main concern for me right now and for Coach Clancy, is to make sure sure that from a responsibility of gap integrity, we have to be a lot better than we were in the last game. That caused the explosion runs, that caused the chains to move, but when it was fit the correct way, the ball was [stopped].
"From an offensive standpoint, to average 5 yards a carry to really I thought maintain pass protection extremely well, I thought they held their own. We were able to get 450 yards of offense on a long field. The thing that haunts me is those two drives at the beginning of the second half -- not finishing those off and creating a two-score advantage or a two-score lead advantage, which I was hoping would get them out of the 13 personnel and have to throw it a little bit more with the quarterback. Our main concern right now is the gap integrity."
On whether today was any different in the office with all the speculation about his future ...
"No, not one thing different. Not one thing. We reported at the same time, had the same offense and defensive staff meeting, had the same injury report meeting, had the same staff meeting we had altogether to discuss personnel and then started game-planning on Notre Dame. Nothing changes for us, and that's the way we'll always be here is we give the most energy and most focus we can on the opponent at hand, no matter if we're doing really well as a team or if you're sitting here at 5-6. We are going to give our utmost effort to try to win the next game and nothing changes. So it is status quo right here right now."
On the offensive drop-off in the second half ...
"I think one is what I talked to your earlier about was drive starts. I was really hoping we could flip the field, but when you look up, you only had five drives in the second half and they started at the -20, the -13, the -25, the -12 and the -28. So you're on a long field. That first drive we go 11 plays, 77 yards, end up on the 3-yard line and kick a field goal, and then the second drive we go 10 plays, 48 yards and we're first-and-10 on the 28 and suffer two critical penalties that push us outside of field goal range to try to make it a two-score game, end up punting down to the 5 yard line and they have a long drive of their own that creates a 1-point lead. So I think one was the long field position and then, two, just not finishing drives on those long fields, especially the first two. I thought the kids put us in position to be successful, but we just did not finish those two drives in that third quarter and I thought that was really the key for me, to be able to get up two scores and get them out of their comfort zone where they had to go throw the ball was important, and we didn't get it done there on those two long drives."
(Continued in part 2 below)
Opening comments ...
"Had a long field, which it felt like the majority of the night that's the way the drives were. I think we averaged the -19 yard line in the first and second half, and after starting the second quarter I think the best field position we had was the -28. Coming out of that second half, it like [we] really had the opportunity to get up two scores on the first two drives. We go 11 plays, 77-yard drive, leave it on the 3-yard line and kick a field goal, and come back the next drive and have a 10-play, 48-yard drive that ends up with two penalties at the end that gets us out of field-goal range. There were a limited number of possessions in that second half and those two will be the ones that haunt me.
"Defensively, obviously it stands out, the rushing yardage. After watching the film with Clancy, we lost our gap integrity, especially when they were in their 13 heavy personnel grouping. I think anytime you look up and you see four of the five leading tacklers were your DBs and two of the three top leading tacklers were your corners, something's going on there. Whether it was a misalignment or not falling back on a particular gap-integrity responsibility, that's what got us. Scheme-wise you can tell they were trying to get the ball outside on the perimeter to our DBS -- our DBs held up well for the most part, but obviously the gap integrity cost us in the run game.
"Special teams wise, I thought that played a huge part on the night. To steal an extra possession on the punt fake on the fourth-and-1 and to have a blocked punt by Jake Russell, I thought those two plays alone led to 14 points on the night.
"Our mindset from here is that we have a tremendous opportunity ahead of us this week. We have the chance to compete for the Shillelagh and attempt to earn a huge victory for our seniors in their last game at the Coliseum. We will prepare with great energy and great focus -- that will be demanded from each coach and each player -- and we look forward to this opportunity and look forward to competing for the Shillelagh."
Injuries ...
"Defensive line wise, Jake Lichtenstein suffered an AC sprain that we'll be monitoring throughout the week. Jay Tufele suffered a foot sprain that he had to leave the game late with. We'll monitor him throughout the week. John Houston suffered a hamstring strain right before half and did not come back in the second half. Marvell Tell suffered an ankle sprain that we'll monitor throughout the week. Ced Ware left the game with an AC sprain late that we'll monitor throughout the week. Josh Falo got a knee contusion that we'll monitor. Michael Pittman got a hip pointer that we will monitor through the week. Chuma Edoga did not play in the game due to knee soreness and hyperextension. Hopefully we'll get him back this week. And Alijah Vera-Tucker suffered an MCL sprain during the game and we'll monitor him throughout the week."
On getting USC up to the physical challenge vs. Notre Dame ...
"I think the main [thing], like I said earlier, is not losing the gap responsibility. That was the cause -- when we fit the gaps right, the plays were stopped. But numerous times, and we took turns to be honest with you at different positions of falling out of gaps and leaving spaces open. Plus, I think credit to Coach Kelly. I think he had a nice scheme of getting the balls out on the perimeter and trying to make the DBs tackle consistently. He loaded up in the 13 personnel grouping and stayed in in it, something he had not done a ton of prior to our game. But the main concern for me right now and for Coach Clancy, is to make sure sure that from a responsibility of gap integrity, we have to be a lot better than we were in the last game. That caused the explosion runs, that caused the chains to move, but when it was fit the correct way, the ball was [stopped].
"From an offensive standpoint, to average 5 yards a carry to really I thought maintain pass protection extremely well, I thought they held their own. We were able to get 450 yards of offense on a long field. The thing that haunts me is those two drives at the beginning of the second half -- not finishing those off and creating a two-score advantage or a two-score lead advantage, which I was hoping would get them out of the 13 personnel and have to throw it a little bit more with the quarterback. Our main concern right now is the gap integrity."
On whether today was any different in the office with all the speculation about his future ...
"No, not one thing different. Not one thing. We reported at the same time, had the same offense and defensive staff meeting, had the same injury report meeting, had the same staff meeting we had altogether to discuss personnel and then started game-planning on Notre Dame. Nothing changes for us, and that's the way we'll always be here is we give the most energy and most focus we can on the opponent at hand, no matter if we're doing really well as a team or if you're sitting here at 5-6. We are going to give our utmost effort to try to win the next game and nothing changes. So it is status quo right here right now."
On the offensive drop-off in the second half ...
"I think one is what I talked to your earlier about was drive starts. I was really hoping we could flip the field, but when you look up, you only had five drives in the second half and they started at the -20, the -13, the -25, the -12 and the -28. So you're on a long field. That first drive we go 11 plays, 77 yards, end up on the 3-yard line and kick a field goal, and then the second drive we go 10 plays, 48 yards and we're first-and-10 on the 28 and suffer two critical penalties that push us outside of field goal range to try to make it a two-score game, end up punting down to the 5 yard line and they have a long drive of their own that creates a 1-point lead. So I think one was the long field position and then, two, just not finishing drives on those long fields, especially the first two. I thought the kids put us in position to be successful, but we just did not finish those two drives in that third quarter and I thought that was really the key for me, to be able to get up two scores and get them out of their comfort zone where they had to go throw the ball was important, and we didn't get it done there on those two long drives."
(Continued in part 2 below)
