USC practiced for two hours in full pads this morning at Cromwell. Pretty physical practice.
For the second time this spring, the Trojans did the 3-on-3 gauntlet where a DB, LB and DL are matched up with three offensive players in a narrow space. I guess it's USC's version of the Oklahoma drill.
Anyway, Scott Felix blew up the first play with a big hit. John Plattenburg also had a nice stop.
Darreus Rogers and Soma Vainuku opened up a huge lane for one of the backup punter/placekickers (two of them wear 46).
Claude Pelon tracked down a runner past the line of scrimmage and whirled him out of bounds.
***
Adoree' Jackson solely played offense for the second consecutive day. He's now practiced four times on offense and four on defense. He said he'll continue alternating until the spring game. He expects to play both ways that day.
He made a nice catch and spin move near the goal line to score in the red zone period. He then sprinted past the defense and caught a perfect spiral from Jalen Greene for a touchdown. Adoree' was wide open on the play.
Afterward, I talked to Adoree' about his competing interests in football and track. He wants to compete in track next spring and not participate in spring football.
***
The Kevon Seymour-JuJu Smith battle continued. And Kevon won again.
Team periods began with Kevon breaking up a pass to JuJu. JuJu later dropped a ball right in the numbers, with Kevon trailing close by.
Kevon had another PBU on JuJu during a red zone period.
BUT ... JuJu got the last laugh. He beat Kevon downfield for a touchdown in 7-on-7. Cody Kessler found JuJu after rolling to his right and leaving the pocket entirely. Great improvisation by Kessler and JuJu. This might have been the best play of the day for the offense.
With that said, Kevon has probably been USC's best player in spring. I spoke to him and DB coach Keith Heyward about his leap and will have more on that next week.
***
Justin Davis had another good day. He capped his day with about a 25-yard run in which he started up the middle, cut twice and finished down the sideline while throwing a stiff arm to pick up a few more yards. Stylistically, he reminds me of Stafon Johnson, though Davis is taller and quicker.
The offense as a whole rebounded today after a tough outing Thursday.
Kessler was a little erratic early, throwing one pass into the D-line, but overall performed well.
He got Ajene Harris involved. Ajene had a really nice one-hand catch from Max Browne, who fumbled the snap but quickly recovered. He also evaded a couple tackles for a long touchdown.
Sark singled out Ajene's play while noting, "I don't think we've gotten a full strength Ajene Harris since last training camp. Hopefully by fall camp that's what we get out of him because he's a good football player." I agree on both counts.
Browne scrambled for a first down.
Kessler extended another play by leaving the pocket amidst pressure and looking downfield. The play was whistled dead before he got rid of it but Kessler avoided the sack.
Vainuku got the bulk of the second-team carries and had a long gain early on.
Kessler showed off his improved core muscles, twisting to his left to throw a TD to JuJu, who was being defended by Plat on the play. He had another really good throw where he hit Rogers on the far side for a first down. It was maybe a 7-yard pass but it traveled a long way horizontally. Not an easy pass.
JuJu got some work in the slot today and caught a touchdown from there. He also caught a lateral throw from Kessler in the backfield that looked eerily similar to the first play from scrimmage against Utah. ... Why???
Isaac Whitney had another solid day. He turned a short comeback into an 85-yard touchdown. Whitney turned after making the catch, made one defender miss and outran the secondary.
Steven Mitchell caught a ball in the flat and then shot up the sideline like a rabbit. He looks super quick.
Su'a Cravens had a nice tackle near the line of scrimmage on Davis.
Pelon had a sack in 11-on-11. He's been good for one of those almost every day.
***
A few injury and rotation updates:
CB Lamont Simmons (hamstring) returned. OL Chuma Edoga (ankle) was held out. Jordan Austin took his second-team reps at RT.
Delvon Simmons did double duty, playing both defensive end and defensive tackle. Walk-on Joey Augello joined three other D-linemen on "Muscle Beach" -- where all the players rehabbing injuries work on the side.
Walk-on DB Ryan Dillard was also out.
Sark said Leon McQuay suffered some type of hip injury near the end of practice. He made a really good tackle in the backfield on Vainuku during a late team period. It could have happened then.
***
Final thoughts:
Walk-on Connor Spears again got the majority of first-team reps. What's strange is that Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick isn't even getting the second-team reps. Either Spears gets those or they don't use a tight end. JCF was barely involved today, and it's been trending in that direction for the past two weeks.
The only play I can remember going to him today was a pass over the middle in which he dropped after being hit by Lamar Dawson. He just doesn't look confident. I asked both Marques Tuiasosopo and Sark why JCF is buried and neither really acknowledged his lack of involvement.
For all the reps he's getting, Spears also isn't getting too many balls thrown his way either.
Olajuwon Tucker showed off his versatility. I tracked him during the final best-of-five challenge. In three consecutive plays, he closely guarded Spears, he blitzed and then he jammed Mitchell at the line of scrimmage.
The defense won the final challenge on a pick-six by Dawson. Kessler was under pressure and tried to force it over the middle. Dawson just read it perfectly.
USC's next practice is Tuesday at the Coliseum. It's closed.
This post was edited on 3/28 5:46 PM by Adam Maya
For the second time this spring, the Trojans did the 3-on-3 gauntlet where a DB, LB and DL are matched up with three offensive players in a narrow space. I guess it's USC's version of the Oklahoma drill.
Anyway, Scott Felix blew up the first play with a big hit. John Plattenburg also had a nice stop.
Darreus Rogers and Soma Vainuku opened up a huge lane for one of the backup punter/placekickers (two of them wear 46).
Claude Pelon tracked down a runner past the line of scrimmage and whirled him out of bounds.
***
Adoree' Jackson solely played offense for the second consecutive day. He's now practiced four times on offense and four on defense. He said he'll continue alternating until the spring game. He expects to play both ways that day.
He made a nice catch and spin move near the goal line to score in the red zone period. He then sprinted past the defense and caught a perfect spiral from Jalen Greene for a touchdown. Adoree' was wide open on the play.
Afterward, I talked to Adoree' about his competing interests in football and track. He wants to compete in track next spring and not participate in spring football.
***
The Kevon Seymour-JuJu Smith battle continued. And Kevon won again.
Team periods began with Kevon breaking up a pass to JuJu. JuJu later dropped a ball right in the numbers, with Kevon trailing close by.
Kevon had another PBU on JuJu during a red zone period.
BUT ... JuJu got the last laugh. He beat Kevon downfield for a touchdown in 7-on-7. Cody Kessler found JuJu after rolling to his right and leaving the pocket entirely. Great improvisation by Kessler and JuJu. This might have been the best play of the day for the offense.
With that said, Kevon has probably been USC's best player in spring. I spoke to him and DB coach Keith Heyward about his leap and will have more on that next week.
***
Justin Davis had another good day. He capped his day with about a 25-yard run in which he started up the middle, cut twice and finished down the sideline while throwing a stiff arm to pick up a few more yards. Stylistically, he reminds me of Stafon Johnson, though Davis is taller and quicker.
The offense as a whole rebounded today after a tough outing Thursday.
Kessler was a little erratic early, throwing one pass into the D-line, but overall performed well.
He got Ajene Harris involved. Ajene had a really nice one-hand catch from Max Browne, who fumbled the snap but quickly recovered. He also evaded a couple tackles for a long touchdown.
Sark singled out Ajene's play while noting, "I don't think we've gotten a full strength Ajene Harris since last training camp. Hopefully by fall camp that's what we get out of him because he's a good football player." I agree on both counts.
Browne scrambled for a first down.
Kessler extended another play by leaving the pocket amidst pressure and looking downfield. The play was whistled dead before he got rid of it but Kessler avoided the sack.
Vainuku got the bulk of the second-team carries and had a long gain early on.
Kessler showed off his improved core muscles, twisting to his left to throw a TD to JuJu, who was being defended by Plat on the play. He had another really good throw where he hit Rogers on the far side for a first down. It was maybe a 7-yard pass but it traveled a long way horizontally. Not an easy pass.
JuJu got some work in the slot today and caught a touchdown from there. He also caught a lateral throw from Kessler in the backfield that looked eerily similar to the first play from scrimmage against Utah. ... Why???
Isaac Whitney had another solid day. He turned a short comeback into an 85-yard touchdown. Whitney turned after making the catch, made one defender miss and outran the secondary.
Steven Mitchell caught a ball in the flat and then shot up the sideline like a rabbit. He looks super quick.
Su'a Cravens had a nice tackle near the line of scrimmage on Davis.
Pelon had a sack in 11-on-11. He's been good for one of those almost every day.
***
A few injury and rotation updates:
CB Lamont Simmons (hamstring) returned. OL Chuma Edoga (ankle) was held out. Jordan Austin took his second-team reps at RT.
Delvon Simmons did double duty, playing both defensive end and defensive tackle. Walk-on Joey Augello joined three other D-linemen on "Muscle Beach" -- where all the players rehabbing injuries work on the side.
Walk-on DB Ryan Dillard was also out.
Sark said Leon McQuay suffered some type of hip injury near the end of practice. He made a really good tackle in the backfield on Vainuku during a late team period. It could have happened then.
***
Final thoughts:
Walk-on Connor Spears again got the majority of first-team reps. What's strange is that Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick isn't even getting the second-team reps. Either Spears gets those or they don't use a tight end. JCF was barely involved today, and it's been trending in that direction for the past two weeks.
The only play I can remember going to him today was a pass over the middle in which he dropped after being hit by Lamar Dawson. He just doesn't look confident. I asked both Marques Tuiasosopo and Sark why JCF is buried and neither really acknowledged his lack of involvement.
For all the reps he's getting, Spears also isn't getting too many balls thrown his way either.
Olajuwon Tucker showed off his versatility. I tracked him during the final best-of-five challenge. In three consecutive plays, he closely guarded Spears, he blitzed and then he jammed Mitchell at the line of scrimmage.
The defense won the final challenge on a pick-six by Dawson. Kessler was under pressure and tried to force it over the middle. Dawson just read it perfectly.
USC's next practice is Tuesday at the Coliseum. It's closed.
This post was edited on 3/28 5:46 PM by Adam Maya
