Another round of highlights of player interviews following USC's win Saturday.
Kenny Bigelow Jr.
--Given all the rotating, the coaches have encouraged players to “go out and play as hard as you can because the next guy is capable of coming in and doing what you’re doing.”
“We’ve got a talented group of guys. We don’t sub, we platoon. That means the next man up is as good as the man in front of him, that was the mentality we had coming into the game. We knew we’d see a lot of the faces we saw tonight.”
--He believes the defensive line is underrated.
“There are no question marks on this defensive line. We’ve got five seniors here and a bunch of young guys that can play. I feel like this defensive line is going to do great things this year.”
--The coaches have gotten through to the defense how important it is to cause turnovers.
“The ball is ours, take the ball. In any phase of the game, you see the ball, you go get the ball. I feel as though them hammering that into us makes us go out and have that mentality, like you see the ball, you should attack it.”
--He’d been waiting for this moment since his senior year of high school
“I feel like there’s always room to improve but I feel like I’ve shown, Kenny’s here, he’s going to be good.”
Tre Madden
--He felt a little different running the ball than he did in 2013.
“I feel way faster and a lot stronger. I worked this offseason on being a little quicker. I felt like I was doing a little too much sometimes. That’s just in my head."
--He said Zach Banner and Jahleel Pinner had great blocks to free him on the 65-yard TD run. The coaches told him beforehand he'd have to make just one or two guys miss and he'd be gone.
--Newfound depth changes everyone’s approach.
“There’s no excuses. We got numbers now. With the running back rotation, I can go all out on every play, and in three plays get a first down, and then have someone else come in. … It’s quality over here. That’s what we came to ‘SC for. You can see it in practice. Everyone’s competing and wants to get on the field and make plays. That’s what you saw tonight.”
--Ronald Jones II reminds him of an elite NFL running back.
“He’s a very fast man. He’s like Jamaal Charles.”
--As does Aca'Cedric Ware.
"He looks like Frank Gore to me. He a tough man. He’s going to be a good back."
--The players came away unsatisfied with how they played.
“You kind of get the feeling that there’s a little disappointment of how we performed. Some people feel like we could have done better. We put up a bunch of yards and a bunch of points and we still feel like we could do better. I like that. The expectation is great here.”
Adoree’ Jackson
--He felt tightness in his side after pulling away from a defender trying to tackle him by the ankle. He says next week he “should be ready to go.”
“It was being precautious, being smart. There’s no need to risk anything out there on my behalf.”
Steven Mitchell Jr.
--There were a couple occasions in which he could have scored but him and Cody Kessler just missed each other.
“It was real close. I talked to Cody and he said we’ll get it next time. I came pretty close both times. Practice makes perfect. We’re going to come in Tuesday and just work on deep balls. We talked about it in the locker room.”
--Out of curiosity, I asked who the fastest player on the team is. Mitchell said Kevon Seymour is the fastest in the 40. He said he’s second. He said Adoree’ Jackson is likely the fastest in the 100, but noted Dom Davis and Ronald Jones are up there. Mitchell believes he’s the fastest overall in terms of game speed.
--He would have returned punts in place of Jackson had he not been sidelined himself.
Isaac Whitney
--It’s not a coincidence that Whitney practiced better in game week compared to earlier in fall.
“At the beginning of camp there was a lot coming at me because we had the whole playbook. But as we kept progressing through camp I got really comfortable and now I feel like I can just go out there and play without thinking about what I’m doing. Once you go into the game week we condensed it down and focused on the plays we’re going to run. That really helped me a lot to slow down the game and be ready to play.”
--Whitney said he’s comfortable lining up outside on either side.
--He said he and Kessler are working on chemistry, particularly on how to get Whitney the ball when he’s not open. Whitney wants to show Kessler he can throw it his way and he’ll bring it in. A good example came near the end of the third quarter Saturday, as Whitney noticed Kessler under duress and broke off his route for a 7-yard completion.
“I saw him get in trouble and I always got to be there for my quarterback, so I came back to the ball and made a play. … I just want to be a playmaker and whenever they need me, I’m going to be there to make the play.”
Su’a Cravens
--He wasn’t surprised by the play of Chris Hawkins, whom he had suggested long ago would make for a better safety than cornerback. In fact, he believes Hawkins has big-time potential at his new position.
“As you can see it was a good move. He’s doing a lot of good things for our defense. He’s making tackles on the perimeter, he’s guarding tight ends, shutting down slot receivers. As long as he keeps doing his job, I don’t see why he wouldn’t be a first-team All-American safety. I could see him as a first-team Pac-12, or a first-team All-American. As long as he keeps working, the sky’s the limit for Chris.”
--The top-rated signing class looks as good as advertised. More importantly, it appears to give USC some real depth. Cravens was rotating every other series.
“You never know until you get to the game. Recruiting, five stars and four stars are nice, but you never know until they get in the game. I think today showed they can play. It was just Week 1 but it’s a confidence builder knowing that you had the young guys in there and the scoreboard stayed at 6. ... We didn’t have a lot of depth last year. People say we were tired in the fourth quarter. But we don’t have to say that anymore. We have guys that are ready to play and a lot of young guys that are confident.”
Kenny Bigelow Jr.
--Given all the rotating, the coaches have encouraged players to “go out and play as hard as you can because the next guy is capable of coming in and doing what you’re doing.”
“We’ve got a talented group of guys. We don’t sub, we platoon. That means the next man up is as good as the man in front of him, that was the mentality we had coming into the game. We knew we’d see a lot of the faces we saw tonight.”
--He believes the defensive line is underrated.
“There are no question marks on this defensive line. We’ve got five seniors here and a bunch of young guys that can play. I feel like this defensive line is going to do great things this year.”
--The coaches have gotten through to the defense how important it is to cause turnovers.
“The ball is ours, take the ball. In any phase of the game, you see the ball, you go get the ball. I feel as though them hammering that into us makes us go out and have that mentality, like you see the ball, you should attack it.”
--He’d been waiting for this moment since his senior year of high school
“I feel like there’s always room to improve but I feel like I’ve shown, Kenny’s here, he’s going to be good.”
Tre Madden
--He felt a little different running the ball than he did in 2013.
“I feel way faster and a lot stronger. I worked this offseason on being a little quicker. I felt like I was doing a little too much sometimes. That’s just in my head."
--He said Zach Banner and Jahleel Pinner had great blocks to free him on the 65-yard TD run. The coaches told him beforehand he'd have to make just one or two guys miss and he'd be gone.
--Newfound depth changes everyone’s approach.
“There’s no excuses. We got numbers now. With the running back rotation, I can go all out on every play, and in three plays get a first down, and then have someone else come in. … It’s quality over here. That’s what we came to ‘SC for. You can see it in practice. Everyone’s competing and wants to get on the field and make plays. That’s what you saw tonight.”
--Ronald Jones II reminds him of an elite NFL running back.
“He’s a very fast man. He’s like Jamaal Charles.”
--As does Aca'Cedric Ware.
"He looks like Frank Gore to me. He a tough man. He’s going to be a good back."
--The players came away unsatisfied with how they played.
“You kind of get the feeling that there’s a little disappointment of how we performed. Some people feel like we could have done better. We put up a bunch of yards and a bunch of points and we still feel like we could do better. I like that. The expectation is great here.”
Adoree’ Jackson
--He felt tightness in his side after pulling away from a defender trying to tackle him by the ankle. He says next week he “should be ready to go.”
“It was being precautious, being smart. There’s no need to risk anything out there on my behalf.”
Steven Mitchell Jr.
--There were a couple occasions in which he could have scored but him and Cody Kessler just missed each other.
“It was real close. I talked to Cody and he said we’ll get it next time. I came pretty close both times. Practice makes perfect. We’re going to come in Tuesday and just work on deep balls. We talked about it in the locker room.”
--Out of curiosity, I asked who the fastest player on the team is. Mitchell said Kevon Seymour is the fastest in the 40. He said he’s second. He said Adoree’ Jackson is likely the fastest in the 100, but noted Dom Davis and Ronald Jones are up there. Mitchell believes he’s the fastest overall in terms of game speed.
--He would have returned punts in place of Jackson had he not been sidelined himself.
Isaac Whitney
--It’s not a coincidence that Whitney practiced better in game week compared to earlier in fall.
“At the beginning of camp there was a lot coming at me because we had the whole playbook. But as we kept progressing through camp I got really comfortable and now I feel like I can just go out there and play without thinking about what I’m doing. Once you go into the game week we condensed it down and focused on the plays we’re going to run. That really helped me a lot to slow down the game and be ready to play.”
--Whitney said he’s comfortable lining up outside on either side.
--He said he and Kessler are working on chemistry, particularly on how to get Whitney the ball when he’s not open. Whitney wants to show Kessler he can throw it his way and he’ll bring it in. A good example came near the end of the third quarter Saturday, as Whitney noticed Kessler under duress and broke off his route for a 7-yard completion.
“I saw him get in trouble and I always got to be there for my quarterback, so I came back to the ball and made a play. … I just want to be a playmaker and whenever they need me, I’m going to be there to make the play.”
Su’a Cravens
--He wasn’t surprised by the play of Chris Hawkins, whom he had suggested long ago would make for a better safety than cornerback. In fact, he believes Hawkins has big-time potential at his new position.
“As you can see it was a good move. He’s doing a lot of good things for our defense. He’s making tackles on the perimeter, he’s guarding tight ends, shutting down slot receivers. As long as he keeps doing his job, I don’t see why he wouldn’t be a first-team All-American safety. I could see him as a first-team Pac-12, or a first-team All-American. As long as he keeps working, the sky’s the limit for Chris.”
--The top-rated signing class looks as good as advertised. More importantly, it appears to give USC some real depth. Cravens was rotating every other series.
“You never know until you get to the game. Recruiting, five stars and four stars are nice, but you never know until they get in the game. I think today showed they can play. It was just Week 1 but it’s a confidence builder knowing that you had the young guys in there and the scoreboard stayed at 6. ... We didn’t have a lot of depth last year. People say we were tired in the fourth quarter. But we don’t have to say that anymore. We have guys that are ready to play and a lot of young guys that are confident.”
