USC practiced for two hours at the Coliseum, which had a new and beautiful patch of grass. Team was in full pads.
Team periods were longer but didn't involve full tackling -- just thud tempo (play ends after initial contact).
The offense had its best day thus far.
***
Some observations:
Tre Madden didn't do much today because there was more contact involved. He stood out in position drills, though. I think he has the potential to be a big receiving threat. Cody Kessler loves throwing to his backs and Madden is very natural working out of the backfield.
Connor Spears started out with the first team and spent most of his time there. He caught the first pass in 11-on-11s.
Justin Davis had a really nice day. He had a handful of big gains while showing off his cutback ability. One of those runs came after Damien Mama pulled and then popped Michael Hutchings. I could hear the sound clearly while sitting a few dozen rows up the Coliseum.
Davis had a huge gain near the end of practice after seemingly improvising to the left sideline after starting up the middle. He's also coming along as a receiver.
Kessler hit JuJu Smith on a nice deep ball but I'm pretty sure Su'a Cravens sacked him first.
Kessler had another good ball to Jahleel Pinner about 20 yards deep. USC barely uses its fullbacks but the good thing about Pinner and Soma Vainuku is that they have differing skill sets.
Vainuku ran really well today. Sark likened him to a "freight train."
***
The offense looked even better in another 11-on-11 drill in which Kessler completed four consecutive passes.
The first was a crossing route to JuJu. The second was underthrown deep to Steven Mitchell, who baited John Plattenburg further downfield and then turned back and came down with a jump ball.
(Mitchell got more work as an outside receiver and did a number on the defensive backs. Love the way he's been practicing.)
Kessler then completed a check down to Darreus Rogers and underneath to Davis.
Smith had a couple steps on Kevon Seymour downfield the very next play but Kessler underthrew him.
***
The second team offense wasn't nearly as productive.
Isaac Whitney is clearly still learning the playbook. He's been a bit lost sometimes. "Play football, Isaac," Sark screamed at one point.
Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick primarily worked with the second team. Not a good sign.
Quinton Powell had a pair of sacks and an interception on Max Browne.
Browne was off an on today. Really hard to judge him though because he rarely gets to work with the best receivers.
James Toland had a good run between the tackles. He then had a better one where he made one of the linebackers miss (couldn't tell who) and darted up the sideline.
Cravens had another sack, this time between the first team D and a mix of offense.
Chris Hawkins, who I believe only worked at safety today, had a nice PBU on a pass from Jalen Greene. Hawkins was right on it. He also had a TFL.
***
Final thoughts:
Ajene Harris had a really good leaping catch on the sideline during 1-on-1s. Think I've said this before but he's also faster than you might think. He has another gear when he gets some room to operate.
Rogers made a pair of long catches. This is a very important spring for him.
I think it's really good for quarterbacks to enroll early and participate in spring ball. With that said, Ricky Town is taking his lumps. He threw a pick-six to walk-on CB Jalen Jones. He and JCF were also on different pages on a pass downfield.
I've mentioned that Matt Boermeester has a big leg. The reason there's still a competition for the starting job, though, is he has to become ore accurate. He struggled today.
JuJu rebounded today. Sark alluded to his thumb not being 100 percent. Smith, if you recall, briefly wore a cast during winter workouts. I asked him about whether it's bothering him but he didn't directly comment on the thumb. Either way, today he looked much more like the No. 1 receiver he's aiming to be.
Adoree' Jackson had a pair of INTs, including one where he was in soft coverage against Aaron Minor and then dove toward the line of scrimmage for a nifty catch. He's one-of-a-kind.
Chuma Edoga has struggled some at RT. He got beat a few times today, though he does move well.
The offense won the final three plays of practice to rally back for a 3-2 win in the final best-of-five. Practice concluded with a long touchdown pass from Kessler to Vainuku, who caught it up the seam and then made a couple people miss for a TD. Excellent play.
Leonard Williams was in attendance.
***
Sark again offered no comment on Bryce Dixon and I don't know that he will before the end of spring practice. Unless something changes, I'm going to stop noting his "no comment" after every practice. It's useless. As we've reported, he's been removed from the team but not kicked out of school following a meeting with student affairs, and the players have been informed he won't be available this spring.
USC's next practice is Thursday at 3:30 p.m. on Cromwell Field. It's open to the public.
This post was edited on 3/10 7:40 PM by Adam Maya
Team periods were longer but didn't involve full tackling -- just thud tempo (play ends after initial contact).
The offense had its best day thus far.
***
Some observations:
Tre Madden didn't do much today because there was more contact involved. He stood out in position drills, though. I think he has the potential to be a big receiving threat. Cody Kessler loves throwing to his backs and Madden is very natural working out of the backfield.
Connor Spears started out with the first team and spent most of his time there. He caught the first pass in 11-on-11s.
Justin Davis had a really nice day. He had a handful of big gains while showing off his cutback ability. One of those runs came after Damien Mama pulled and then popped Michael Hutchings. I could hear the sound clearly while sitting a few dozen rows up the Coliseum.
Davis had a huge gain near the end of practice after seemingly improvising to the left sideline after starting up the middle. He's also coming along as a receiver.
Kessler hit JuJu Smith on a nice deep ball but I'm pretty sure Su'a Cravens sacked him first.
Kessler had another good ball to Jahleel Pinner about 20 yards deep. USC barely uses its fullbacks but the good thing about Pinner and Soma Vainuku is that they have differing skill sets.
Vainuku ran really well today. Sark likened him to a "freight train."
***
The offense looked even better in another 11-on-11 drill in which Kessler completed four consecutive passes.
The first was a crossing route to JuJu. The second was underthrown deep to Steven Mitchell, who baited John Plattenburg further downfield and then turned back and came down with a jump ball.
(Mitchell got more work as an outside receiver and did a number on the defensive backs. Love the way he's been practicing.)
Kessler then completed a check down to Darreus Rogers and underneath to Davis.
Smith had a couple steps on Kevon Seymour downfield the very next play but Kessler underthrew him.
***
The second team offense wasn't nearly as productive.
Isaac Whitney is clearly still learning the playbook. He's been a bit lost sometimes. "Play football, Isaac," Sark screamed at one point.
Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick primarily worked with the second team. Not a good sign.
Quinton Powell had a pair of sacks and an interception on Max Browne.
Browne was off an on today. Really hard to judge him though because he rarely gets to work with the best receivers.
James Toland had a good run between the tackles. He then had a better one where he made one of the linebackers miss (couldn't tell who) and darted up the sideline.
Cravens had another sack, this time between the first team D and a mix of offense.
Chris Hawkins, who I believe only worked at safety today, had a nice PBU on a pass from Jalen Greene. Hawkins was right on it. He also had a TFL.
***
Final thoughts:
Ajene Harris had a really good leaping catch on the sideline during 1-on-1s. Think I've said this before but he's also faster than you might think. He has another gear when he gets some room to operate.
Rogers made a pair of long catches. This is a very important spring for him.
I think it's really good for quarterbacks to enroll early and participate in spring ball. With that said, Ricky Town is taking his lumps. He threw a pick-six to walk-on CB Jalen Jones. He and JCF were also on different pages on a pass downfield.
I've mentioned that Matt Boermeester has a big leg. The reason there's still a competition for the starting job, though, is he has to become ore accurate. He struggled today.
JuJu rebounded today. Sark alluded to his thumb not being 100 percent. Smith, if you recall, briefly wore a cast during winter workouts. I asked him about whether it's bothering him but he didn't directly comment on the thumb. Either way, today he looked much more like the No. 1 receiver he's aiming to be.
Adoree' Jackson had a pair of INTs, including one where he was in soft coverage against Aaron Minor and then dove toward the line of scrimmage for a nifty catch. He's one-of-a-kind.
Chuma Edoga has struggled some at RT. He got beat a few times today, though he does move well.
The offense won the final three plays of practice to rally back for a 3-2 win in the final best-of-five. Practice concluded with a long touchdown pass from Kessler to Vainuku, who caught it up the seam and then made a couple people miss for a TD. Excellent play.
Leonard Williams was in attendance.
***
Sark again offered no comment on Bryce Dixon and I don't know that he will before the end of spring practice. Unless something changes, I'm going to stop noting his "no comment" after every practice. It's useless. As we've reported, he's been removed from the team but not kicked out of school following a meeting with student affairs, and the players have been informed he won't be available this spring.
USC's next practice is Thursday at 3:30 p.m. on Cromwell Field. It's open to the public.
This post was edited on 3/10 7:40 PM by Adam Maya
