Highlights from our latest coach and player interviews ...
JuJu Smith-Schuster
--He said he and Cody Kessler are still working on their timing.
"We still got to work on a lot of stuff. He’s a great quarterback, a candidate for Heisman, but for Cody we have to work on deep balls. Other than that, he’s a great payer, makes the right reads. There were some plays where we were off, or I was off. And some of Cody's deep balls were overthrown. But we're facing it."
--There are a few things at play that need to be ironed out between Kessler and the receivers on throws downfield. The receivers continued to run a lot of deep routes in today’s practice.
"It’s the receiver running the route, (the quarterback) is going off of his steps and we're going off of our steps and the angle we have to take, if it’s upright, if it’s middle, if it’s across the field, it’s stuff like that. It’s just off the timing. It’s off the steps. We're getting the right steps and the right angle."
--He was frustrated with Tuesday’s practice and it manifested in him shoving Isaac Whitney.
“After we beat Arkansas State, I felt like my teammates kind of took it easy. Although it was the first practice coming back, we got a long weekend off and it was kind of sluggish. That’s unacceptable. To be honest, I even came out kind of sluggish. Toward the end of practice I was just getting frustrated. At that moment I just let it all out. I had to let my teammates know that this is not a game, this is serious. Idaho is going to give it their all because they’re playing against USC."
--He spoke with Whitney in the locker room afterward to clear the air.
"In the moment, it was out of anger and frustration and competitiveness, because I know we can work harder than what we did yesterday. After practice I talked to him, I told him what to do and how to do it. I’m not the type of guy to just yell at somebody and just get on them all practice. I’m going to be that guy who’s going to talk to you too and pat you on the butt when you do good. But when you mess up I’m going to get on you too. …
"I was frustrated. I got on him about it. I pushed him out of anger, frustration and competitiveness. Other than that, I came inside, went to the locker room, I talked to him and he has it down."
--When he was out of the game he made sure to help Whitney and De’Quan Hampton line up.
“We have two JC players that are supposed to play now, which they’re doing good right now. But it's just something that has to carry over. I can’t take it easy on them because at the end of the day we need them to play. When I’m out, when Darreus is out, when Steve's out, we need those guys to step up.”
--Arkansas State narrowed in on him after he scored a touchdown.
"What I noticed after that play, they were playing two man and they were double teaming me so it was hard for me to get the ball. Our coaching staff was using me as a decoy to get Steven the ball, Darreus and our other guys. Coaches say do your job and don’t try doing anything extra. With Cody, what I say (when) the play's broken, Just throw it my way and I'll be open. That’s how I see it."
--Being double-teamed further motivates him
"In my mind, I’m like, if I win on a double team, that looks good for NFL scouts. I love it. There was one play where I was open but Cody saw the double team and threw it to Tre (Madden). Me and Cody just need to work on certain routes and certain concepts."
--He’s not trying to be the next Marqise Lee, Robert Woods or Nelson Agholor.
"I want to be JuJu."
--He’s not discouraged with having just four receptions in the opener.
"I could have had more than that. That’s on me. But at the end of the day, it’s about winning. I’ve still got one more year left. We’ve got older guys who could possibly leave early, so I’m not worried about my stats right now. I’m worried about the team and how we can win every game. ...
"There were some plays I messed up. I could have had over 100 yards if I would have ran the right route or blocked the right dude. At the moment it was a mental mistake. I figured it out now and I got over it."
--He said the concentration level is where it needs to be this week.
"We’re not worried about Stanford. Stanford is next week. We’re worried about Idaho and how we could prepare to beat them. We’re just getting ready."
--He sensed a big play was coming just prior to his touchdown.
"Before I scored, I came out and (said), the corner is playing press-hop. When Coach called us in, I was like, I think this is my time to shine. So I got the ball and did what I had to do."
--Not being selected a team captain hasn’t deterred him from being a leader.
"You don’t need a ‘C’ on your chest to be a captain. You don’t need to be a senior to be a captain. Some guys are vocal. Some guys show it by how they play and their performance."
--He knows his Star Wars. When asked if he tries to lead in both fashions he indirectly quoted Yoda.
"I don’t try. I just do."
(Note: Whitney along with several other newcmers still have not been made available to the media during the week.)
Porter Gustin
--He was pleased but not satisfied with his debut.
“It was good to get out in the Coliseum, get my first game done with. I didn’t do as well as I like to but hopefully we’ll see improvement on Saturday. I was just thinking too much, I wasn’t playing physical enough. I’ll work on that and it’ll be changed by Saturday. I was trying to make sure I didn’t mess up on my assignment but I still have to play physical and play the game.”
--He sees his role as an edge-setter and run-stopper. He also wants to be able to play the pass well, too.
--He models his game after a couple of former Trojans.
“I like Clay Matthews, he plays sort of the same position. I loved Brian Cushing when he played here even though it was a different position.”
--It’s been a goal of his to carve out a role for himself immediately.
"Just to be able to get the experience when I’m younger and in camp. I just wanted to come out here and prove I can play even at so young. I’ve worked in the weight room enough, I think I’m able to hang with them physically, I just have to show it in the games."
--He weighs 254 pounds. He believes this where he’ll stay at.
“Depends on where coach wants me at, see if I’m fast enough or be able to bend enough.”
Peter Sirmon
--The plan moving forward is to continue rotating a lot of players in games and integrating the freshmen.
“I think as we continue to build with talent in our recruiting classes, I think on defense we should really have the idea of young guys come in and play. I think they’re capable of playing, they’re capable of helping us. Last year, we played Arizona and Hayes Pullard, I think played, if I remember, 115 snaps and Anthony Sarao played upwards of 121 (including his snaps) on special teams. Which is just ridiculous. So as long as the opponents keep feeding us 87, 95 snaps a game, I think we’re going to play, at linebacker, 10 to 12 guys a game, and I’ll be happy with it.”
--The freshmen linebackers have shown a “great desire to improve” after being thrown into the fire at during camp.
"You see some flashes early on and then you usually see a little bit of them getting worn down. And now I think you’re starting to see their legs getting back, we’ve starting to pare down with some of the defensive calls so it’s a little bit easier to compartmentalize what we’re actually going to do instead of having access to the full playbook. So I think that helps them improve and then, just, they’re very talented, they’re very talented players. As they get comfortable, you’ll see those instincts and just the God-given talents show out.”
--He has his own method for nurturing young players with high ceilings.
“What I love as a coach is I’m in charge of the culture and the direction of the linebacker room. When you get young guys, you have one way and one chance to do it right. So it’s very important in development. I was very fortunate when I was at Tennessee I had two extremely talented freshmen (Curt Maggit and A.J. Johnson). We started two true freshmen that year when I was there coaching linebackers. Shaq Thompson, when he was a true freshman, coached him. I think there’s a style to coaching guys with talent and it’s different. I think it really is. As you develop them, you don’t over-coach them. You get them to where they need to be aligned. I’m over the top with technique and effort. We talk about eye control, toughness and all those intangibles, and then you start to see their abilities and why we recruited them shine through.”
JuJu Smith-Schuster
--He said he and Cody Kessler are still working on their timing.
"We still got to work on a lot of stuff. He’s a great quarterback, a candidate for Heisman, but for Cody we have to work on deep balls. Other than that, he’s a great payer, makes the right reads. There were some plays where we were off, or I was off. And some of Cody's deep balls were overthrown. But we're facing it."
--There are a few things at play that need to be ironed out between Kessler and the receivers on throws downfield. The receivers continued to run a lot of deep routes in today’s practice.
"It’s the receiver running the route, (the quarterback) is going off of his steps and we're going off of our steps and the angle we have to take, if it’s upright, if it’s middle, if it’s across the field, it’s stuff like that. It’s just off the timing. It’s off the steps. We're getting the right steps and the right angle."
--He was frustrated with Tuesday’s practice and it manifested in him shoving Isaac Whitney.
“After we beat Arkansas State, I felt like my teammates kind of took it easy. Although it was the first practice coming back, we got a long weekend off and it was kind of sluggish. That’s unacceptable. To be honest, I even came out kind of sluggish. Toward the end of practice I was just getting frustrated. At that moment I just let it all out. I had to let my teammates know that this is not a game, this is serious. Idaho is going to give it their all because they’re playing against USC."
--He spoke with Whitney in the locker room afterward to clear the air.
"In the moment, it was out of anger and frustration and competitiveness, because I know we can work harder than what we did yesterday. After practice I talked to him, I told him what to do and how to do it. I’m not the type of guy to just yell at somebody and just get on them all practice. I’m going to be that guy who’s going to talk to you too and pat you on the butt when you do good. But when you mess up I’m going to get on you too. …
"I was frustrated. I got on him about it. I pushed him out of anger, frustration and competitiveness. Other than that, I came inside, went to the locker room, I talked to him and he has it down."
--When he was out of the game he made sure to help Whitney and De’Quan Hampton line up.
“We have two JC players that are supposed to play now, which they’re doing good right now. But it's just something that has to carry over. I can’t take it easy on them because at the end of the day we need them to play. When I’m out, when Darreus is out, when Steve's out, we need those guys to step up.”
--Arkansas State narrowed in on him after he scored a touchdown.
"What I noticed after that play, they were playing two man and they were double teaming me so it was hard for me to get the ball. Our coaching staff was using me as a decoy to get Steven the ball, Darreus and our other guys. Coaches say do your job and don’t try doing anything extra. With Cody, what I say (when) the play's broken, Just throw it my way and I'll be open. That’s how I see it."
--Being double-teamed further motivates him
"In my mind, I’m like, if I win on a double team, that looks good for NFL scouts. I love it. There was one play where I was open but Cody saw the double team and threw it to Tre (Madden). Me and Cody just need to work on certain routes and certain concepts."
--He’s not trying to be the next Marqise Lee, Robert Woods or Nelson Agholor.
"I want to be JuJu."
--He’s not discouraged with having just four receptions in the opener.
"I could have had more than that. That’s on me. But at the end of the day, it’s about winning. I’ve still got one more year left. We’ve got older guys who could possibly leave early, so I’m not worried about my stats right now. I’m worried about the team and how we can win every game. ...
"There were some plays I messed up. I could have had over 100 yards if I would have ran the right route or blocked the right dude. At the moment it was a mental mistake. I figured it out now and I got over it."
--He said the concentration level is where it needs to be this week.
"We’re not worried about Stanford. Stanford is next week. We’re worried about Idaho and how we could prepare to beat them. We’re just getting ready."
--He sensed a big play was coming just prior to his touchdown.
"Before I scored, I came out and (said), the corner is playing press-hop. When Coach called us in, I was like, I think this is my time to shine. So I got the ball and did what I had to do."
--Not being selected a team captain hasn’t deterred him from being a leader.
"You don’t need a ‘C’ on your chest to be a captain. You don’t need to be a senior to be a captain. Some guys are vocal. Some guys show it by how they play and their performance."
--He knows his Star Wars. When asked if he tries to lead in both fashions he indirectly quoted Yoda.
"I don’t try. I just do."
(Note: Whitney along with several other newcmers still have not been made available to the media during the week.)
Porter Gustin
--He was pleased but not satisfied with his debut.
“It was good to get out in the Coliseum, get my first game done with. I didn’t do as well as I like to but hopefully we’ll see improvement on Saturday. I was just thinking too much, I wasn’t playing physical enough. I’ll work on that and it’ll be changed by Saturday. I was trying to make sure I didn’t mess up on my assignment but I still have to play physical and play the game.”
--He sees his role as an edge-setter and run-stopper. He also wants to be able to play the pass well, too.
--He models his game after a couple of former Trojans.
“I like Clay Matthews, he plays sort of the same position. I loved Brian Cushing when he played here even though it was a different position.”
--It’s been a goal of his to carve out a role for himself immediately.
"Just to be able to get the experience when I’m younger and in camp. I just wanted to come out here and prove I can play even at so young. I’ve worked in the weight room enough, I think I’m able to hang with them physically, I just have to show it in the games."
--He weighs 254 pounds. He believes this where he’ll stay at.
“Depends on where coach wants me at, see if I’m fast enough or be able to bend enough.”
Peter Sirmon
--The plan moving forward is to continue rotating a lot of players in games and integrating the freshmen.
“I think as we continue to build with talent in our recruiting classes, I think on defense we should really have the idea of young guys come in and play. I think they’re capable of playing, they’re capable of helping us. Last year, we played Arizona and Hayes Pullard, I think played, if I remember, 115 snaps and Anthony Sarao played upwards of 121 (including his snaps) on special teams. Which is just ridiculous. So as long as the opponents keep feeding us 87, 95 snaps a game, I think we’re going to play, at linebacker, 10 to 12 guys a game, and I’ll be happy with it.”
--The freshmen linebackers have shown a “great desire to improve” after being thrown into the fire at during camp.
"You see some flashes early on and then you usually see a little bit of them getting worn down. And now I think you’re starting to see their legs getting back, we’ve starting to pare down with some of the defensive calls so it’s a little bit easier to compartmentalize what we’re actually going to do instead of having access to the full playbook. So I think that helps them improve and then, just, they’re very talented, they’re very talented players. As they get comfortable, you’ll see those instincts and just the God-given talents show out.”
--He has his own method for nurturing young players with high ceilings.
“What I love as a coach is I’m in charge of the culture and the direction of the linebacker room. When you get young guys, you have one way and one chance to do it right. So it’s very important in development. I was very fortunate when I was at Tennessee I had two extremely talented freshmen (Curt Maggit and A.J. Johnson). We started two true freshmen that year when I was there coaching linebackers. Shaq Thompson, when he was a true freshman, coached him. I think there’s a style to coaching guys with talent and it’s different. I think it really is. As you develop them, you don’t over-coach them. You get them to where they need to be aligned. I’m over the top with technique and effort. We talk about eye control, toughness and all those intangibles, and then you start to see their abilities and why we recruited them shine through.”
