More highlights from our coach and player interviews following USC's rout of Idaho ...
Viane Talamaivao
--He isn’t overlooking Stanford despite its slow start.
"Regardless of their win-loss record so far, they’re an extremely tough team. That’s just Stanford. That’s who they are. They’re a tough team to play. They’re going to play us in a close game. It’s going to be a dogfight."
--He and the other offensive linemen were upset with having allowed five sacks the previous week.
"We took it very personal. It was on us. It was a learning experience. And we just took it upon ourselves this week to communicate better and have better protection."
--He played about half the game. He’s not sure how much rotating there will be moving forward.
"I feel like platooning is definitely a good tool. It keeps people fresh. We’ve been able to conserve bodies. But I feel like at some point it’s going to settle down. It’s going to solidify. If one group is hot, you got to roll with that group. If one group’s not, you got to find the right balance."
Max Tuerk
--He expects that with more reps and less rotating the line will find its rhythm.
"The more we practice at it, the better our communication gets and the more comfortable we get playing with each other."
--He doesn’t know why he was called for a holding penalty on Ronald Jones II’s long TD run.
"I pancaked him. That’s the worst feeling in the world. Someone score’s a touchdown and you get a holding call. I was pissed off at myself. That’s a bad feeling for an offensive lineman. I apologized to him after on the sideline."
Anthony Sarao
--USC is looking to quicker identify how they’re being attacked to begin second halves.
"Coming out of the second half and them scoring a touchdown, that’s unacceptable. It’s just something that we got to be able to see it and attack it and execute."
Kevon Seymour
--The defense is dissatisfied with its effort to begin the third quarter after allowing a touchdown for the second consecutive game.
“That’s completely unacceptable. We harp on finishing. That’s not a great way to start the second half. We’re going to fix that, go back to the film and see what was really wrong. But at the end of the day it’s up to us on defense to come out there with that aggression like it’s the first play of the game. It’s something that we struggle with.
“It’s surprising just because what we harp: finishing. It’s within. It’s digging into your own pride. Sure, it can be the other team, it can be the offensive coordinator. We don’t know what it is. But it’s really on us. It’s a thing we got to work on. It’s embarrassing.”
--USC isn’t resting on the fact that it has allowed only 15 points through two games.
"We’ve played OK as a defense. Just OK. We got way more in us."
--He took coming off the bench Saturday vs. Idaho in stride.
"I wouldn’t make a big deal at all. We’re all going to play. It was just a decision they made. They told me and I was OK with it. I was OK with it, as much as I could be. I’m not a selfish player. I love all my teammates as brothers."
--He believes he has a good idea of why he didn’t start and what the coaches are looking for from him.
“Probably just being great on every player. Being that player that they know I can be on every play, in practice and in games.”
Isaac Whitney
--He doesn’t have any residual feelings over JuJu Smith-Schuster shoving him in practice.
"Everybody needs to do their assignment and I just didn’t do my assignment on that (play), I missed the block. It was kind of surprising but I felt like I kind of deserved it because I didn’t do my job. In the moment, I was just surprised. But after we talked about it I understood why. I didn’t want to start a fight because I messed up, I didn’t do my job. There was no reason for me to get mad about it.”
--The team is looking forward to playing Stanford.
"I’m excited to play a good team so we can actually see how we measure up. I feel like we’re prepared. I feel like we’re ready."
--All the substituting has helped USC keep focus during its lopsided wins.
"We keep platooning, so everybody gets a chance to play and that keeps everybody fresh and ready to keep going."
Steve Sarkisian
--He expects a very different game this weekend. With that said, he’s curious to see if his team can play the way it has been.
“We have to be disciplined against Stanford because they’re going to play their brand of football and you don’t get as many opportunities. They’re a disciplined team, they’re going to do things right, so we need to make sure we’re disciplined, doing our things right, but still play our game. That’s going to be the challenge. There are two different styles here. We got to make sure we stick to our style and hopefully that prevails.”
Viane Talamaivao
--He isn’t overlooking Stanford despite its slow start.
"Regardless of their win-loss record so far, they’re an extremely tough team. That’s just Stanford. That’s who they are. They’re a tough team to play. They’re going to play us in a close game. It’s going to be a dogfight."
--He and the other offensive linemen were upset with having allowed five sacks the previous week.
"We took it very personal. It was on us. It was a learning experience. And we just took it upon ourselves this week to communicate better and have better protection."
--He played about half the game. He’s not sure how much rotating there will be moving forward.
"I feel like platooning is definitely a good tool. It keeps people fresh. We’ve been able to conserve bodies. But I feel like at some point it’s going to settle down. It’s going to solidify. If one group is hot, you got to roll with that group. If one group’s not, you got to find the right balance."
Max Tuerk
--He expects that with more reps and less rotating the line will find its rhythm.
"The more we practice at it, the better our communication gets and the more comfortable we get playing with each other."
--He doesn’t know why he was called for a holding penalty on Ronald Jones II’s long TD run.
"I pancaked him. That’s the worst feeling in the world. Someone score’s a touchdown and you get a holding call. I was pissed off at myself. That’s a bad feeling for an offensive lineman. I apologized to him after on the sideline."
Anthony Sarao
--USC is looking to quicker identify how they’re being attacked to begin second halves.
"Coming out of the second half and them scoring a touchdown, that’s unacceptable. It’s just something that we got to be able to see it and attack it and execute."
Kevon Seymour
--The defense is dissatisfied with its effort to begin the third quarter after allowing a touchdown for the second consecutive game.
“That’s completely unacceptable. We harp on finishing. That’s not a great way to start the second half. We’re going to fix that, go back to the film and see what was really wrong. But at the end of the day it’s up to us on defense to come out there with that aggression like it’s the first play of the game. It’s something that we struggle with.
“It’s surprising just because what we harp: finishing. It’s within. It’s digging into your own pride. Sure, it can be the other team, it can be the offensive coordinator. We don’t know what it is. But it’s really on us. It’s a thing we got to work on. It’s embarrassing.”
--USC isn’t resting on the fact that it has allowed only 15 points through two games.
"We’ve played OK as a defense. Just OK. We got way more in us."
--He took coming off the bench Saturday vs. Idaho in stride.
"I wouldn’t make a big deal at all. We’re all going to play. It was just a decision they made. They told me and I was OK with it. I was OK with it, as much as I could be. I’m not a selfish player. I love all my teammates as brothers."
--He believes he has a good idea of why he didn’t start and what the coaches are looking for from him.
“Probably just being great on every player. Being that player that they know I can be on every play, in practice and in games.”
Isaac Whitney
--He doesn’t have any residual feelings over JuJu Smith-Schuster shoving him in practice.
"Everybody needs to do their assignment and I just didn’t do my assignment on that (play), I missed the block. It was kind of surprising but I felt like I kind of deserved it because I didn’t do my job. In the moment, I was just surprised. But after we talked about it I understood why. I didn’t want to start a fight because I messed up, I didn’t do my job. There was no reason for me to get mad about it.”
--The team is looking forward to playing Stanford.
"I’m excited to play a good team so we can actually see how we measure up. I feel like we’re prepared. I feel like we’re ready."
--All the substituting has helped USC keep focus during its lopsided wins.
"We keep platooning, so everybody gets a chance to play and that keeps everybody fresh and ready to keep going."
Steve Sarkisian
--He expects a very different game this weekend. With that said, he’s curious to see if his team can play the way it has been.
“We have to be disciplined against Stanford because they’re going to play their brand of football and you don’t get as many opportunities. They’re a disciplined team, they’re going to do things right, so we need to make sure we’re disciplined, doing our things right, but still play our game. That’s going to be the challenge. There are two different styles here. We got to make sure we stick to our style and hopefully that prevails.”
