Undeterred by the rain, USC practiced for two hours Tuesday at Cromwell. The team was in half pads.
Claude Pelon was not present -- Sark said he needed to tend to academics. John Plattenburg was a limited participant -- Sark said it was to allow him to nurse an ankle injury.
In turn, Leon McQuay spent the day with the first team. He had a bit of a rough outing, as did most of the secondary. On the flip side, the receivers had a huge day.
***
Highlights from 7-on-7:
Ajene Harris and McQuay wrestled for a pass near the sideline - Ajene won.
JuJu Smith beat out Kevon Seymour on a 50-50 ball downfield.
Steven Mitchell recorded a long gain after making a couple people in a tight space.
Justin Davis was unable to hold on to a short pass out of the backfield after being swallowed by a pair of defenders.
Connor Spears and Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick, who have begun to split more reps, both caught balls underneath.
Adoree' Jackson caught a play-action pass.
Soma Vainuku had a long gain up the middle.
Mitchell beat Matt Lopes, who tackled him by his shoestring just short of the end zone.
Walk-on DE Jeff Miller made a good tackle after pursuing a ball-carrier past the line.
***
Highlights from 11-on-11:
Cody Kessler hit Adoree' in the slot.
Kessler connects with Ajene, who beat both safeties on the play and hauled it in with one hand. Perfect throw by Kessler.
Mitchell catches a screen pass and beats a safety to the outside for a big gain.
Robby Kolanz pushes off to win a 50-50 against Lamont Simmons on a downfield throw from Max Browne.
Browne goes over the top to Isaac Whitney for a touchdown.
***
More 7s:
JuJu dives across the middle of the field to bring in a low throw, in front of Kevon. This play went really long though and probably would have been a coverage sack.
Adoree' gets behind the entire defense but Kessler misses him.
Browne connects with Aaron Minor deep. Ajene was right there and probably gets it if Minor doesn't.
Browne hits Adoree'. Browne really picked apart the DBs in these periods.
Jalen Greene got some more reps and had a good day. He hit JuJu for a medium gain -- JuJu, as always, was being guarded by Kevon.
Greene went over the middle to Adoree', who held on after leaving both feet and getting hit by Chris Hawkins and Plattenburg while still in the air.
Ajene catches a crossing route and then beats Lamar Dawson and McQuay to the sideline for a long gain.
Ricky Town found Adoree' up the seam for a long touchdown.
Town then went deep to Mitchell. Good throw; just got there a bit late.
Town finished his reps with another completion underneath to Ajene.
***
More 11s:
Browne threw a short TD pass to Whitney.
Davis cut outside and left three defenders in his tracks, including Su'a Cravens, for a big pickup.
Damien Mama nicely picked up a blitz from McQuay, buying Kessler more time on an eventual incompletion. Great coverage on the play.
Jonathan Lockett closely guarded Darreus Rogers to prevent a touchdown.
Browne completed a short pass to JCF.
Ajene caught another ball from the slot and eluded a couple tacklers for a nice gain. He's really been tacking on the YAC.
***
Final notes:
The QBs continued to work on scrambling outside the pocket. Late in practice, Kessler, who's been moving well to his right, was unable to hit Mitchell in the corner of the end zone.
Browne followed that up by going to his right and completing a pass downfield.
Kessler bought himself some time, sliding around the pocket just in front of the end zone before hitting Mitchell at about midfield. It was quite a scene as everyone was looking at Kessler and then watched as he flung the ball halfway down the field and Mitchell is standing there and waiting, without a defender standing within 20 yards of him. Definitely a blown coverage there.
A moment later, Adoree' caught about a 40-yard pass and then beat McQuay down the sideline for a 90-yard touchdown, which he punctuated with a backflip. A couple teammates then patted him down like a bouncer would.
Despite such a dominant day for the offense, the defense had the last laugh. In the best-of-five challenge, Dawson had a pass break-up on Christian Tober, Kevon had one on JuJu and Kessler was sacked on the final play. There were a couple guys in the backfield, but I believe Delvon Simmons got there first.
Tre Madden participated in a few 11-on-11 snaps but was not involved in any contact.
Thursday's practice, the second-to-last of spring, is also open. It's at Cromwell at 3:30. Saturday is the spring game. It begins at 3 at the Coliseum. We'll be hosting a tailgate at noon. Details are here. Hope to see you guys out there.
This post was edited on 4/7 5:21 PM by Adam Maya
Claude Pelon was not present -- Sark said he needed to tend to academics. John Plattenburg was a limited participant -- Sark said it was to allow him to nurse an ankle injury.
In turn, Leon McQuay spent the day with the first team. He had a bit of a rough outing, as did most of the secondary. On the flip side, the receivers had a huge day.
***
Highlights from 7-on-7:
Ajene Harris and McQuay wrestled for a pass near the sideline - Ajene won.
JuJu Smith beat out Kevon Seymour on a 50-50 ball downfield.
Steven Mitchell recorded a long gain after making a couple people in a tight space.
Justin Davis was unable to hold on to a short pass out of the backfield after being swallowed by a pair of defenders.
Connor Spears and Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick, who have begun to split more reps, both caught balls underneath.
Adoree' Jackson caught a play-action pass.
Soma Vainuku had a long gain up the middle.
Mitchell beat Matt Lopes, who tackled him by his shoestring just short of the end zone.
Walk-on DE Jeff Miller made a good tackle after pursuing a ball-carrier past the line.
***
Highlights from 11-on-11:
Cody Kessler hit Adoree' in the slot.
Kessler connects with Ajene, who beat both safeties on the play and hauled it in with one hand. Perfect throw by Kessler.
Mitchell catches a screen pass and beats a safety to the outside for a big gain.
Robby Kolanz pushes off to win a 50-50 against Lamont Simmons on a downfield throw from Max Browne.
Browne goes over the top to Isaac Whitney for a touchdown.
***
More 7s:
JuJu dives across the middle of the field to bring in a low throw, in front of Kevon. This play went really long though and probably would have been a coverage sack.
Adoree' gets behind the entire defense but Kessler misses him.
Browne connects with Aaron Minor deep. Ajene was right there and probably gets it if Minor doesn't.
Browne hits Adoree'. Browne really picked apart the DBs in these periods.
Jalen Greene got some more reps and had a good day. He hit JuJu for a medium gain -- JuJu, as always, was being guarded by Kevon.
Greene went over the middle to Adoree', who held on after leaving both feet and getting hit by Chris Hawkins and Plattenburg while still in the air.
Ajene catches a crossing route and then beats Lamar Dawson and McQuay to the sideline for a long gain.
Ricky Town found Adoree' up the seam for a long touchdown.
Town then went deep to Mitchell. Good throw; just got there a bit late.
Town finished his reps with another completion underneath to Ajene.
***
More 11s:
Browne threw a short TD pass to Whitney.
Davis cut outside and left three defenders in his tracks, including Su'a Cravens, for a big pickup.
Damien Mama nicely picked up a blitz from McQuay, buying Kessler more time on an eventual incompletion. Great coverage on the play.
Jonathan Lockett closely guarded Darreus Rogers to prevent a touchdown.
Browne completed a short pass to JCF.
Ajene caught another ball from the slot and eluded a couple tacklers for a nice gain. He's really been tacking on the YAC.
***
Final notes:
The QBs continued to work on scrambling outside the pocket. Late in practice, Kessler, who's been moving well to his right, was unable to hit Mitchell in the corner of the end zone.
Browne followed that up by going to his right and completing a pass downfield.
Kessler bought himself some time, sliding around the pocket just in front of the end zone before hitting Mitchell at about midfield. It was quite a scene as everyone was looking at Kessler and then watched as he flung the ball halfway down the field and Mitchell is standing there and waiting, without a defender standing within 20 yards of him. Definitely a blown coverage there.
A moment later, Adoree' caught about a 40-yard pass and then beat McQuay down the sideline for a 90-yard touchdown, which he punctuated with a backflip. A couple teammates then patted him down like a bouncer would.
Despite such a dominant day for the offense, the defense had the last laugh. In the best-of-five challenge, Dawson had a pass break-up on Christian Tober, Kevon had one on JuJu and Kessler was sacked on the final play. There were a couple guys in the backfield, but I believe Delvon Simmons got there first.
Tre Madden participated in a few 11-on-11 snaps but was not involved in any contact.
Thursday's practice, the second-to-last of spring, is also open. It's at Cromwell at 3:30. Saturday is the spring game. It begins at 3 at the Coliseum. We'll be hosting a tailgate at noon. Details are here. Hope to see you guys out there.
This post was edited on 4/7 5:21 PM by Adam Maya
