News from USC's closed practice Thursday:
C Toa Lobendahn (pec), RT Chuma Edoga (hip) and LT Austin Jackson (ankle) were limited today. Clay Helton said it was done as a precaution to get them healthier for Saturday.
Jackson has been dealing with tendinitis in his knee; Helton said his ankle is doing better and he expects him to play vs. Stanford. Helton later said a decision would be made Friday on who would actually start. I'm guessing Edoga and Lobendahn are in. There's a chance Clayton Bradley will start in place of Jackson at left tackle, though I wouldn’t expect it.
LB Juliano Falaniko has an AC sprain in his shoulder and is doubtful.
Helton said USC spent extra attention today defending jump balls and fades. He says it's an area both Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello and his throwing targets excel in.
"I think they do such a great job of throwing the ball based of leverage and how you're playing them," Helton said. "The other thing with K.J., his No. 1 thing that I think he does a phenomenal job with is, whether it's the deep ball or the red zone fade, he leaves the ball in bounds, he lets his guys make plays. You don't see overthrows, you don't see missed chances. ... We've got to make sure that we're not handsy and that we see the ball and play the ball. We're hooked to the man but we got to see the ball and play it at its highest point. Because if you don't, they're taller than you.”
Helton confirmed Tee Martin is calling all the plays on offense.
Two areas Helton said USC must be better versus Stanford than it was versus UNLV: limiting explosive plays and finishing offensive drives.
Another point of emphasis for him is the QB getting the ball out quick because of what he believes is a strong Stanford pass rush.
With that said, Helton said he has considerably more confidence in the offensive line depth than he did last year. (Granted, he said at the beginning of last year the O-line was two deep at every spot.) But we did see a bit of rotating with the starters at multiple spots vs. UNLV. The Trojans might very well be deeper on the O-line. I believe that to be true. But the jury is still out on how good it is.
C Toa Lobendahn (pec), RT Chuma Edoga (hip) and LT Austin Jackson (ankle) were limited today. Clay Helton said it was done as a precaution to get them healthier for Saturday.
Jackson has been dealing with tendinitis in his knee; Helton said his ankle is doing better and he expects him to play vs. Stanford. Helton later said a decision would be made Friday on who would actually start. I'm guessing Edoga and Lobendahn are in. There's a chance Clayton Bradley will start in place of Jackson at left tackle, though I wouldn’t expect it.
LB Juliano Falaniko has an AC sprain in his shoulder and is doubtful.
Helton said USC spent extra attention today defending jump balls and fades. He says it's an area both Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello and his throwing targets excel in.
"I think they do such a great job of throwing the ball based of leverage and how you're playing them," Helton said. "The other thing with K.J., his No. 1 thing that I think he does a phenomenal job with is, whether it's the deep ball or the red zone fade, he leaves the ball in bounds, he lets his guys make plays. You don't see overthrows, you don't see missed chances. ... We've got to make sure that we're not handsy and that we see the ball and play the ball. We're hooked to the man but we got to see the ball and play it at its highest point. Because if you don't, they're taller than you.”
Helton confirmed Tee Martin is calling all the plays on offense.
Two areas Helton said USC must be better versus Stanford than it was versus UNLV: limiting explosive plays and finishing offensive drives.
Another point of emphasis for him is the QB getting the ball out quick because of what he believes is a strong Stanford pass rush.
With that said, Helton said he has considerably more confidence in the offensive line depth than he did last year. (Granted, he said at the beginning of last year the O-line was two deep at every spot.) But we did see a bit of rotating with the starters at multiple spots vs. UNLV. The Trojans might very well be deeper on the O-line. I believe that to be true. But the jury is still out on how good it is.
