Highlights from our latest coach and player interviews ...
Bob Connelly
--He was pleased to use 10 linemen, eight of which received more than 20 snaps, but was generally disappointed with the line play.
“Our pass protection’s got to get better. And that was a collective deal. That wasn’t a scheme, that wasn’t an assignment, it wasn’t one guy here, one guy there. All of those aren’t the offensive line, there’s more that goes into that. But we got to do a better job protecting the quarterback as a unit. I thought the run game was pretty good. But it’s the first game with a new group and multiple players playing. I would expect a vast improvement from Game 1 to Game 2.”
--He believes part of the struggles were a natural byproduct of rotating so many players during fall practice.
“It’s hard. Offensive linemen, they’re comfortable playing next to guys, continuity is really important with the front play. We were mixing guys, some of it forcefully, because limitations on injuries and some of it just trying to provide opportunity for competition and depth. I think as guys get used to playing next to guys, I would expect that we continue to progress.”
--He said Toa Lobendahn will remain a swing guy, generally speaking, because he’s one of the five best linemen. “But he’s not going to play multiple positions throughout the game.”
Toa Lobendahn
--He said the offensive line was disappointed in its performance.
"It wasn’t good enough. We did all right. We got the W, good enough to get the W, but we got to pick it up if we’re going to expect better stuff in the Pac-12."
--He admits there might be a learning curve because of all the shuffling involved among the starting five.
"But doing it (right) is what they expect out of us. That’s what we expect from ourselves, to be able to pick it up no matter where we are. … It wasn’t even people getting beat. It was technical errors. One time the back didn’t pick up a guy and he came free. One time I took my eyes off the backer and then he came and got Cody."
--The plan is for him to only play right guard this week.
"From now on, or for at least this week, Coach said he’s going to let me focus on right guard, be the best right guard I can be for now. It’s going to help me this week (to just practice there)."
Clay Helton
--The depth at running back was apparent.
“I thought it really kept them fresh to be able to roll those guys in there. And they’re such a change of pace. You go from Tre Madden, who’s a power runner, you put 16 on the field and he’s a fastball, 25, I don’t know where he’s going with the ball but it turns up good. Each one has their own characteristics.”
--There were multiple factors that went into the five sacks.
“You got to remember, I’m an O-line coach’s son, so we believe in team protection around here. At the end of the day, not only is it the O-line, the running backs, it’s also the quarterback too. When you look at the five sacks, we had two assignment busts, we had a physical beat by a rookie right tackle and I felt Cody held on to the ball too long on two of them. We’re a team protection team, whether it’s back, quarterback, tight ends and offensive line, we all have to do our job. We did not function to our capability in the first half. I thought it was better in the second half."
--He also acknowledged the offense has to better on third down, citing a couple of missed opportunities their conversion rate from 6 of 10 to 3 of 10.
Taylor McNamara
--He was grateful to make his USC debut.
“It’s good to be back home. Being a part of something is fun."
Once he decided to transfer from Oklahoma, the process in becoming a Trojan was fairly simple.
"I sent my release to Pac-12 schools and Coach Helton gave me a call. It was a pretty easy decision for me, being able to be back home, close to my family, at such a great school academically, and obviously a great football program too. It was a pretty easy decision for me.”
--He said Oklahoma and USC are similar in that both programs have a championship mindset with high standards. He did note that USC's offense features its tight ends in the passing game more.
--He said he first heard from Helton in January or February. (This infers that USC knew long ago Bryce Dixon would likely not be available this year.)
“He told me that they had some things gong on at tight end and they needed a guy pretty badly. I was excited about it. I was surprised. It’s not very often where a program like this has a hole at the position. I’m thankful for it and trying to take advantage of it.”
Bob Connelly
--He was pleased to use 10 linemen, eight of which received more than 20 snaps, but was generally disappointed with the line play.
“Our pass protection’s got to get better. And that was a collective deal. That wasn’t a scheme, that wasn’t an assignment, it wasn’t one guy here, one guy there. All of those aren’t the offensive line, there’s more that goes into that. But we got to do a better job protecting the quarterback as a unit. I thought the run game was pretty good. But it’s the first game with a new group and multiple players playing. I would expect a vast improvement from Game 1 to Game 2.”
--He believes part of the struggles were a natural byproduct of rotating so many players during fall practice.
“It’s hard. Offensive linemen, they’re comfortable playing next to guys, continuity is really important with the front play. We were mixing guys, some of it forcefully, because limitations on injuries and some of it just trying to provide opportunity for competition and depth. I think as guys get used to playing next to guys, I would expect that we continue to progress.”
--He said Toa Lobendahn will remain a swing guy, generally speaking, because he’s one of the five best linemen. “But he’s not going to play multiple positions throughout the game.”
Toa Lobendahn
--He said the offensive line was disappointed in its performance.
"It wasn’t good enough. We did all right. We got the W, good enough to get the W, but we got to pick it up if we’re going to expect better stuff in the Pac-12."
--He admits there might be a learning curve because of all the shuffling involved among the starting five.
"But doing it (right) is what they expect out of us. That’s what we expect from ourselves, to be able to pick it up no matter where we are. … It wasn’t even people getting beat. It was technical errors. One time the back didn’t pick up a guy and he came free. One time I took my eyes off the backer and then he came and got Cody."
--The plan is for him to only play right guard this week.
"From now on, or for at least this week, Coach said he’s going to let me focus on right guard, be the best right guard I can be for now. It’s going to help me this week (to just practice there)."
Clay Helton
--The depth at running back was apparent.
“I thought it really kept them fresh to be able to roll those guys in there. And they’re such a change of pace. You go from Tre Madden, who’s a power runner, you put 16 on the field and he’s a fastball, 25, I don’t know where he’s going with the ball but it turns up good. Each one has their own characteristics.”
--There were multiple factors that went into the five sacks.
“You got to remember, I’m an O-line coach’s son, so we believe in team protection around here. At the end of the day, not only is it the O-line, the running backs, it’s also the quarterback too. When you look at the five sacks, we had two assignment busts, we had a physical beat by a rookie right tackle and I felt Cody held on to the ball too long on two of them. We’re a team protection team, whether it’s back, quarterback, tight ends and offensive line, we all have to do our job. We did not function to our capability in the first half. I thought it was better in the second half."
--He also acknowledged the offense has to better on third down, citing a couple of missed opportunities their conversion rate from 6 of 10 to 3 of 10.
Taylor McNamara
--He was grateful to make his USC debut.
“It’s good to be back home. Being a part of something is fun."
Once he decided to transfer from Oklahoma, the process in becoming a Trojan was fairly simple.
"I sent my release to Pac-12 schools and Coach Helton gave me a call. It was a pretty easy decision for me, being able to be back home, close to my family, at such a great school academically, and obviously a great football program too. It was a pretty easy decision for me.”
--He said Oklahoma and USC are similar in that both programs have a championship mindset with high standards. He did note that USC's offense features its tight ends in the passing game more.
--He said he first heard from Helton in January or February. (This infers that USC knew long ago Bryce Dixon would likely not be available this year.)
“He told me that they had some things gong on at tight end and they needed a guy pretty badly. I was excited about it. I was surprised. It’s not very often where a program like this has a hole at the position. I’m thankful for it and trying to take advantage of it.”
