Highlights from our latest coach and player interviews ...
Bob Connelly
--He says the offensive line has practiced better this week since a rough outing in Monday’s scrimmage.
“Consistency is what we’re lacking right now. I’m surprised when they do something they’ve done right, wrong. That’s disappointing at time. I’m always disappointed that we’re not a bit further along. We’ve got to put consistent, good practices together.”
--He anticipates rotating players more than USC did last year with Tim Drevno.
“As we continue to build depth, as I gain confidence and trust in our twos, if there’s not a big drop-off from our first unit to our second unit, there could be some whole platoon changes, probably more individual changes early. With time, depending on the situation and the game, is going to determine how much or little we are going to substitute. Obviously the big guys like a Zach Banner, he’s going to get tired more quickly than maybe a Max Tuerk, or somebody a little lighter. That’s something we’ll have to monitor as we go. And again, depending on how the game’s going, how the flow of the game is going, how many reps we’re getting, how long a drive might be, you might see us switching a player or players in a middle of a drive sometimes,. You get into a 12, 13, 14-play drive. My goal is to work to play as many guys as we can and develop depth as we work through the season and give guys an opportunity to play before they’re forced to play, if something happened injury-wise.”
--He demoted Banner to the second team for much of Friday’s practice in place of Chuma Edoga. Connelly didn’t get into specifics but said Banner “decided to do some things that I’ve been asking him not to do for a while.”
“We’re trying to get his attention with playing time. Sometimes that’s what it takes. He’s got to come out and work to get better in some of the areas that we’re trying to focus on. Chuma is having a good camp, had a very god spring and is doing some good things. He’s a guy that we’ll be able to implement in the season. (It’s) partly trying to get Zach’s attention and partly deserving so for Chuma having a good camp and earning the reps.”
--He says Edoga is a key addition at tackle.
“He’s just a true freshman but the kid is talented. He has great athleticism. He understands the concepts pretty well and again, just in time, like anything, getting reps and building confidence, he has a chance to be a quality depth guy and potentially play a lot of football for us even this year. Right now we’re four deep for sure and we have some more guys that we have to work and continue to progress with.”
--Toa Lobendahn can play anywhere
“He’s a stud. He’s a gifted, gifted football player and he has the ability to play any of the five positions which is great for him and great for us. He’s going to allow me to keep the best five players on the field and allow us to fill in pieces of the puzzle and make sure the right combination is there.”
--He prefers Chris Brown, Jordan Austin and Nico Falah at guard, for now.
Uchenna Nwosu
--He’s being asked to do a lot of the things Su’a Cravens is doing.
“I like roaming around, not staying at one position. I get to test my(self) against bigs, skills, the fast slots, the outside receivers, the bigger receivers, so it’s really helping me improve my game overall and it’s making me be able to guard any position.”
--Cravens gives him advice on playing in space.
“Su’a gives me a lot of tips on how to beat them, take good angles and make good tackles. Always keep your head up and keep your eyes roaming around the field because you can get any threat from anywhere, from the backside to run to play action, so always keep your head on a swivel.”
--He estimates he’s in man coverage about 75 percent of the time at strong-side linebacker. That’s more than when he played safety in high school.
--He weighs about 230 pounds but wants to be between 235-237.
--He has an idea of his strengths and weakness.
“I have decent speed, I’ll be able to jam, re-route receivers, get them off their verts. I’d say I have a little bit of power as well to me. I have to improve on my one-on-one game as in with the slot receivers and in the open field with fast backs or slot receivers.”
Chris Hawkins
--After eight months of practice, he's feeling much more confident at safety.
“I know what I’m doing fully now, there’s no stutter in my go, there’s no hesitation. I’m fully a safety right now, I play corner too as well. But right now I know exactly what I’m doing whenever the play call is called.”
--He’s grown comfortable in the physicality of the safety position.
“Over the course of the summer, I was in the weight room really hard, I put on about seven or eight pounds. So I’m able to really be physical and not worry about my body getting hurt or anything like that. I just took on the physical aspect of it, of being able to make tackles. In the scrimmage we had the other day, I had some nice open-field tackles. I feel good right now, not hesitating to do anything, hesitant to make a tackle, I feel very strong right now.”
--Switching from safety to corner at practice doesn’t bother him.
“There’s no adapting, it’s just what I do. If Kevon (Seymour) is hurt and Adoree’ (Jackson) is on offense, then I know I have to go do that today. There’s no giddy-up in my mind, I know I have to play corner today, it’s what the team needs. At the same time if they pull me back, I’m able to go back fast to my safety mentality. It’s easy.”
--The challenge is staying well-versed at each position.
“Safety is a lot of communication, a lot. You have to know certain checks when the offense motions, you have to motion as well. At corner, you’re kind of on your own. There’s not a lot of communication at corner, you have to communicate certain things. But, it’s mostly just you’re on your own. So just knowing what you’re doing is the hardest part but I think I have it down pat right now.”
--He’s not discouraged by how he played last season.
“Last year at this time, I was playing some of the best football that I played in my life at corner. But during the season I went to nickel, got the holding penalties at the nickel spot and it altered my playing time. I was super confident back then and I’m super confident right now.”
--He knows what position he’s better at.
“Safety, absolutely. I’m able to affect the game more, blitz, stay back deep. I feel like I’m playing better, absolutely.”
--He’s been impressed with freshman tailback Aca’Cedric Ware.
“He runs hard, he runs very hard. He doesn’t go down easy, he’s always running full speed, so I like how he goes 110 the whole time.”
--Ronald Jones II reminds him of another back on USC’s roster.
“His cutting ability reminds me of Justin Davis. They cut very alike. For someone that young, Justin was that young doing it as well, it’s very special. They’re able to cut on a dime and stop on a dime like that. It’s amazing.”
Bob Connelly
--He says the offensive line has practiced better this week since a rough outing in Monday’s scrimmage.
“Consistency is what we’re lacking right now. I’m surprised when they do something they’ve done right, wrong. That’s disappointing at time. I’m always disappointed that we’re not a bit further along. We’ve got to put consistent, good practices together.”
--He anticipates rotating players more than USC did last year with Tim Drevno.
“As we continue to build depth, as I gain confidence and trust in our twos, if there’s not a big drop-off from our first unit to our second unit, there could be some whole platoon changes, probably more individual changes early. With time, depending on the situation and the game, is going to determine how much or little we are going to substitute. Obviously the big guys like a Zach Banner, he’s going to get tired more quickly than maybe a Max Tuerk, or somebody a little lighter. That’s something we’ll have to monitor as we go. And again, depending on how the game’s going, how the flow of the game is going, how many reps we’re getting, how long a drive might be, you might see us switching a player or players in a middle of a drive sometimes,. You get into a 12, 13, 14-play drive. My goal is to work to play as many guys as we can and develop depth as we work through the season and give guys an opportunity to play before they’re forced to play, if something happened injury-wise.”
--He demoted Banner to the second team for much of Friday’s practice in place of Chuma Edoga. Connelly didn’t get into specifics but said Banner “decided to do some things that I’ve been asking him not to do for a while.”
“We’re trying to get his attention with playing time. Sometimes that’s what it takes. He’s got to come out and work to get better in some of the areas that we’re trying to focus on. Chuma is having a good camp, had a very god spring and is doing some good things. He’s a guy that we’ll be able to implement in the season. (It’s) partly trying to get Zach’s attention and partly deserving so for Chuma having a good camp and earning the reps.”
--He says Edoga is a key addition at tackle.
“He’s just a true freshman but the kid is talented. He has great athleticism. He understands the concepts pretty well and again, just in time, like anything, getting reps and building confidence, he has a chance to be a quality depth guy and potentially play a lot of football for us even this year. Right now we’re four deep for sure and we have some more guys that we have to work and continue to progress with.”
--Toa Lobendahn can play anywhere
“He’s a stud. He’s a gifted, gifted football player and he has the ability to play any of the five positions which is great for him and great for us. He’s going to allow me to keep the best five players on the field and allow us to fill in pieces of the puzzle and make sure the right combination is there.”
--He prefers Chris Brown, Jordan Austin and Nico Falah at guard, for now.
Uchenna Nwosu
--He’s being asked to do a lot of the things Su’a Cravens is doing.
“I like roaming around, not staying at one position. I get to test my(self) against bigs, skills, the fast slots, the outside receivers, the bigger receivers, so it’s really helping me improve my game overall and it’s making me be able to guard any position.”
--Cravens gives him advice on playing in space.
“Su’a gives me a lot of tips on how to beat them, take good angles and make good tackles. Always keep your head up and keep your eyes roaming around the field because you can get any threat from anywhere, from the backside to run to play action, so always keep your head on a swivel.”
--He estimates he’s in man coverage about 75 percent of the time at strong-side linebacker. That’s more than when he played safety in high school.
--He weighs about 230 pounds but wants to be between 235-237.
--He has an idea of his strengths and weakness.
“I have decent speed, I’ll be able to jam, re-route receivers, get them off their verts. I’d say I have a little bit of power as well to me. I have to improve on my one-on-one game as in with the slot receivers and in the open field with fast backs or slot receivers.”
Chris Hawkins
--After eight months of practice, he's feeling much more confident at safety.
“I know what I’m doing fully now, there’s no stutter in my go, there’s no hesitation. I’m fully a safety right now, I play corner too as well. But right now I know exactly what I’m doing whenever the play call is called.”
--He’s grown comfortable in the physicality of the safety position.
“Over the course of the summer, I was in the weight room really hard, I put on about seven or eight pounds. So I’m able to really be physical and not worry about my body getting hurt or anything like that. I just took on the physical aspect of it, of being able to make tackles. In the scrimmage we had the other day, I had some nice open-field tackles. I feel good right now, not hesitating to do anything, hesitant to make a tackle, I feel very strong right now.”
--Switching from safety to corner at practice doesn’t bother him.
“There’s no adapting, it’s just what I do. If Kevon (Seymour) is hurt and Adoree’ (Jackson) is on offense, then I know I have to go do that today. There’s no giddy-up in my mind, I know I have to play corner today, it’s what the team needs. At the same time if they pull me back, I’m able to go back fast to my safety mentality. It’s easy.”
--The challenge is staying well-versed at each position.
“Safety is a lot of communication, a lot. You have to know certain checks when the offense motions, you have to motion as well. At corner, you’re kind of on your own. There’s not a lot of communication at corner, you have to communicate certain things. But, it’s mostly just you’re on your own. So just knowing what you’re doing is the hardest part but I think I have it down pat right now.”
--He’s not discouraged by how he played last season.
“Last year at this time, I was playing some of the best football that I played in my life at corner. But during the season I went to nickel, got the holding penalties at the nickel spot and it altered my playing time. I was super confident back then and I’m super confident right now.”
--He knows what position he’s better at.
“Safety, absolutely. I’m able to affect the game more, blitz, stay back deep. I feel like I’m playing better, absolutely.”
--He’s been impressed with freshman tailback Aca’Cedric Ware.
“He runs hard, he runs very hard. He doesn’t go down easy, he’s always running full speed, so I like how he goes 110 the whole time.”
--Ronald Jones II reminds him of another back on USC’s roster.
“His cutting ability reminds me of Justin Davis. They cut very alike. For someone that young, Justin was that young doing it as well, it’s very special. They’re able to cut on a dime and stop on a dime like that. It’s amazing.”
