Highlights from our player interviews after Tuesday practice.
Tyler Petite
On his feelings of being involved
Tyler Petite: “It was good, I think, especially for that game, that magnitude of a game, I was really excited about it. I think I’ve put in a lot of really good work in practice and I think I’ve been producing the way that I need to, to be able to play. It’s just awesome, it’s a blessing to be able to get that opportunity in a game like that. The biggest thing for me is, I just want our team to win, and so, whatever I can do to contribute to that, I’m going to do. If that’s playing a lot, then that’s playing a lot. If that’s playing not a lot, then I’ll do that. I just want to win and so it’s whatever I can do for my team.”
On his feeling of how much the tight end is being incorporated
TP: “I think we can definitely be used more. I think, honestly, if I were in Cody’s mind, I’d we still have a lot to prove as tight end group. We’re a bunch of new guys, we lost Randall (Telfer) last year and that was his go too tight end and Bryce (Dixon). I think we are still proving ourselves to be viable targets. I think that as we get more involved, we’ll make big plays. I think that we’ve made some good plays throughout the season but obviously, like I said, we still need to prove ourselves to Cody and the rest of the offense.”
On working with Lenny Vandermade
TP: “He’s awesome. He’s been in our room the whole year so it’s nothing new. We still know him and he’s still considered like our coach. Obviously he is now but even when Coach (Marques) Tui(asosopo) was with us, he’d put in tips every once and a while. So everyone knows him, everyone likes him. We’re not really restarting, we’re just picking up were we left off basically. We’re just still rolling, Lenny’s a great coach here, he played here so he knows what USC is about. He played on a losing team, he played on a winning team. So he knows what USC is and he knows kind of both sides of the spectrum, so it’s good to have him.”
Tee Martin
On his assessment of the team’s mood
Tee Martin: “It’s about as positive as you could possibly imagine, given the circumstances. I think these guys are really resilient, mentally tough. They went out and played their hearts out against Notre Dame. We fell short but you would think that their heads would be down a little bit. But we come in yesterday and there was a positive vibe around the building. Nobody was late for anything, everybody showed up early, on time and ready to go to work. Today was probably one of the better practices we’ve had in a long time.”
Su’a Cravens
On the challenges of Utah’s offense
Su’a Cravens: “Devontae Booker, he’s a beast. He’s not going to go down easy, they don’t make mistakes. They’re going to run the ball and they’re going to put up a lot of points if you don’t stop the run. So that’s our main focus.”
On how prepared they feel for Utah’s run game
SC: “Notre Dame had a great tailback last week. So I think we’ve had practice for him, he’s unique in what he does. He’s a complete back. We just have to stop him. That means we have to be physical at the line or tackle in the boundary or in open space, that’s what we’ll do.”
Zach Banner
On playing left tackle
Zach Banner: “I was recruited to play left tackle. They changed me and put me at right two years ago. It just happens, you have to step up.”
On the challenges that switching presents
ZB: “It’s the footwork, the hand placement, the stance. Kind of the the sight on the field, the view on the field.”
On playing left tackle before today
ZB: “Yeah, I played it in high school. I played two and two. I played my first two years at right, my second two at left. Then I played here, my first year, at left and right, kind of switched. I had my hip surgery, then last year I came in and played right because Chad was already a one year starter at left.”
Cody Kessler
On the interception he threw with one-on-one coverage
Cody Kessler: One-on-one, there’s no safety over the top, they had their safeties down low, one-on-one with JuJu (Smith-Schuster), I throw that same ball every time. I take that match up every time. I was hoping he would go up and get it but at the same time, he made a great play. You can’t take it away from him. There’s sometimes, they’re going to win, they’re going to win the play, they’re going to win the match up, and they did a great job. JuJu has won so many of those but sometimes they’re going to get a better play on the ball. He did that time and he made his play.”
On not having receiver depth
CK: “It’s tough, it’s different. It’s kind of like my sophomore year, kind of looking back at it. We had some games where we didn’t have a whole lot of depth and we didn’t have a whole lot of numbers. But it’s next guy up, the next guy has got to step up. I think in the game, Robby Kolanz had a catch and played some plays there, and he had to. Jalen (Greene) got to play a lot as a freshman, Tay (Deontay Burnett) as a freshman. We have a lot of young guys playing skill positions right now. They’re doing a great job with it. That’s my job, to get them prepared and to get on the same page as them ‘cause obviously in fall camp, I didn’t work a whole lot with them.”
De’Quan Hampton
On playing at Notre Dame
De’Quan Hampton: “My first game action was great, the vibe, the crowd was so amazing, gave a great amount of energy to the stadium. It felt very good to be on the field, very exciting to get your energy going. And I was happy to be on the field and do whatever my job was, make plays if possible. but it was fun though, I liked it a lot.”
On his play
DH: “I did good. I executed my job as best I can. They threw me the ball, I did my job, got the yard needed for the first. That’s all I can say, I did my job really.”
On if he’s seen improvement from himself
DH: “Yes I have, massive improvement, a lot.”
On where he’s improved
DH: “Just my effort. I feel like I’m back to myself route running, release wise, everything, one-on-ones, I just feel comfortable. Everything is comfortable, I’m not even thinking no more, I’m just playing at this point.”
Deontay Burnett
On playing against Notre Dame
Deontay Burnett: “It was a surreal moment for me, just getting my career started at ‘SC, having a few big catches in a big time rivalry was amazing.”
On if he feels like he was being overlooked
DB: “Totally, I feel like I was overlooked. I didn’t let that stop me from working, I kept a good work ethic and continued to work harder and harder. I knew I could play here. I had the mindset that I could play here.”
On if he felt like he would play early in his career
DB: “I believed it, I believed it. I don’t know if anyone else did, but I believed it.”
On what he showed at Notre Dame
DB: “Just executing, no mistakes because I know I have to take advantage of my opportunity. Just execute the best I can.”
On if he feels his role will continue
DB: “Yes I do. I feel like I’m going to be playing a little bit outside as well, maybe not this week ut as the season goes, I’m going to be playing outside too.”
Max Browne
On graduating and applying to grad school. He would start at January, could he be a free agent?
Max Browne: “100 percent. Staying here and hopefully getting my Masters from SC. Right now my plan is for that man to be the head coach. Everyone that suits up in pads is kind of on the same page with that. We’ve got to go out and win some ballgames.
On Clay Helton as a coach.
MB: “It’s awesome. He’s a great coach. Great at explaining things. I think the whole team, now that he’s the head man, sees the same thing. Even with the switch to Coach Tui it’s been awesome; just a new voice but saying the same things. So far, so good with the whole swap.”
On the uncertainty around USC
MB: “Coach Helton said it best: For better or worse, we’re kind of used to it. You approach every week as its own and just try to get a win each and every week.”
On USC still having an opportunity
MB: “As ugly as 3-3 may be, we’re excited about our chances. If we win out, one week at a time, our chances are pretty high of taking that South title.”
Tyler Petite
On his feelings of being involved
Tyler Petite: “It was good, I think, especially for that game, that magnitude of a game, I was really excited about it. I think I’ve put in a lot of really good work in practice and I think I’ve been producing the way that I need to, to be able to play. It’s just awesome, it’s a blessing to be able to get that opportunity in a game like that. The biggest thing for me is, I just want our team to win, and so, whatever I can do to contribute to that, I’m going to do. If that’s playing a lot, then that’s playing a lot. If that’s playing not a lot, then I’ll do that. I just want to win and so it’s whatever I can do for my team.”
On his feeling of how much the tight end is being incorporated
TP: “I think we can definitely be used more. I think, honestly, if I were in Cody’s mind, I’d we still have a lot to prove as tight end group. We’re a bunch of new guys, we lost Randall (Telfer) last year and that was his go too tight end and Bryce (Dixon). I think we are still proving ourselves to be viable targets. I think that as we get more involved, we’ll make big plays. I think that we’ve made some good plays throughout the season but obviously, like I said, we still need to prove ourselves to Cody and the rest of the offense.”
On working with Lenny Vandermade
TP: “He’s awesome. He’s been in our room the whole year so it’s nothing new. We still know him and he’s still considered like our coach. Obviously he is now but even when Coach (Marques) Tui(asosopo) was with us, he’d put in tips every once and a while. So everyone knows him, everyone likes him. We’re not really restarting, we’re just picking up were we left off basically. We’re just still rolling, Lenny’s a great coach here, he played here so he knows what USC is about. He played on a losing team, he played on a winning team. So he knows what USC is and he knows kind of both sides of the spectrum, so it’s good to have him.”
Tee Martin
On his assessment of the team’s mood
Tee Martin: “It’s about as positive as you could possibly imagine, given the circumstances. I think these guys are really resilient, mentally tough. They went out and played their hearts out against Notre Dame. We fell short but you would think that their heads would be down a little bit. But we come in yesterday and there was a positive vibe around the building. Nobody was late for anything, everybody showed up early, on time and ready to go to work. Today was probably one of the better practices we’ve had in a long time.”
Su’a Cravens
On the challenges of Utah’s offense
Su’a Cravens: “Devontae Booker, he’s a beast. He’s not going to go down easy, they don’t make mistakes. They’re going to run the ball and they’re going to put up a lot of points if you don’t stop the run. So that’s our main focus.”
On how prepared they feel for Utah’s run game
SC: “Notre Dame had a great tailback last week. So I think we’ve had practice for him, he’s unique in what he does. He’s a complete back. We just have to stop him. That means we have to be physical at the line or tackle in the boundary or in open space, that’s what we’ll do.”
Zach Banner
On playing left tackle
Zach Banner: “I was recruited to play left tackle. They changed me and put me at right two years ago. It just happens, you have to step up.”
On the challenges that switching presents
ZB: “It’s the footwork, the hand placement, the stance. Kind of the the sight on the field, the view on the field.”
On playing left tackle before today
ZB: “Yeah, I played it in high school. I played two and two. I played my first two years at right, my second two at left. Then I played here, my first year, at left and right, kind of switched. I had my hip surgery, then last year I came in and played right because Chad was already a one year starter at left.”
Cody Kessler
On the interception he threw with one-on-one coverage
Cody Kessler: One-on-one, there’s no safety over the top, they had their safeties down low, one-on-one with JuJu (Smith-Schuster), I throw that same ball every time. I take that match up every time. I was hoping he would go up and get it but at the same time, he made a great play. You can’t take it away from him. There’s sometimes, they’re going to win, they’re going to win the play, they’re going to win the match up, and they did a great job. JuJu has won so many of those but sometimes they’re going to get a better play on the ball. He did that time and he made his play.”
On not having receiver depth
CK: “It’s tough, it’s different. It’s kind of like my sophomore year, kind of looking back at it. We had some games where we didn’t have a whole lot of depth and we didn’t have a whole lot of numbers. But it’s next guy up, the next guy has got to step up. I think in the game, Robby Kolanz had a catch and played some plays there, and he had to. Jalen (Greene) got to play a lot as a freshman, Tay (Deontay Burnett) as a freshman. We have a lot of young guys playing skill positions right now. They’re doing a great job with it. That’s my job, to get them prepared and to get on the same page as them ‘cause obviously in fall camp, I didn’t work a whole lot with them.”
De’Quan Hampton
On playing at Notre Dame
De’Quan Hampton: “My first game action was great, the vibe, the crowd was so amazing, gave a great amount of energy to the stadium. It felt very good to be on the field, very exciting to get your energy going. And I was happy to be on the field and do whatever my job was, make plays if possible. but it was fun though, I liked it a lot.”
On his play
DH: “I did good. I executed my job as best I can. They threw me the ball, I did my job, got the yard needed for the first. That’s all I can say, I did my job really.”
On if he’s seen improvement from himself
DH: “Yes I have, massive improvement, a lot.”
On where he’s improved
DH: “Just my effort. I feel like I’m back to myself route running, release wise, everything, one-on-ones, I just feel comfortable. Everything is comfortable, I’m not even thinking no more, I’m just playing at this point.”
Deontay Burnett
On playing against Notre Dame
Deontay Burnett: “It was a surreal moment for me, just getting my career started at ‘SC, having a few big catches in a big time rivalry was amazing.”
On if he feels like he was being overlooked
DB: “Totally, I feel like I was overlooked. I didn’t let that stop me from working, I kept a good work ethic and continued to work harder and harder. I knew I could play here. I had the mindset that I could play here.”
On if he felt like he would play early in his career
DB: “I believed it, I believed it. I don’t know if anyone else did, but I believed it.”
On what he showed at Notre Dame
DB: “Just executing, no mistakes because I know I have to take advantage of my opportunity. Just execute the best I can.”
On if he feels his role will continue
DB: “Yes I do. I feel like I’m going to be playing a little bit outside as well, maybe not this week ut as the season goes, I’m going to be playing outside too.”
Max Browne
On graduating and applying to grad school. He would start at January, could he be a free agent?
Max Browne: “100 percent. Staying here and hopefully getting my Masters from SC. Right now my plan is for that man to be the head coach. Everyone that suits up in pads is kind of on the same page with that. We’ve got to go out and win some ballgames.
On Clay Helton as a coach.
MB: “It’s awesome. He’s a great coach. Great at explaining things. I think the whole team, now that he’s the head man, sees the same thing. Even with the switch to Coach Tui it’s been awesome; just a new voice but saying the same things. So far, so good with the whole swap.”
On the uncertainty around USC
MB: “Coach Helton said it best: For better or worse, we’re kind of used to it. You approach every week as its own and just try to get a win each and every week.”
On USC still having an opportunity
MB: “As ugly as 3-3 may be, we’re excited about our chances. If we win out, one week at a time, our chances are pretty high of taking that South title.”
