USC is officially past the halfway point of spring practice and its patchwork secondary is thinner than ever.
Safety Talanoa Hufanga last week joined C.J. Pollard and cornerbacks Olaijah Griffin and Max Williams on the injured list, while CBs Greg Johnson, Isaac Taylor Stuart and Dominic Davis have all been limited this week. If you're wondering who is practicing in 11-on-11 periods, I'm still trying to learn all the names of the walk-ons myself.
I found it interesting Thursday to see Pola-Mao, who was relegated to the sidelines for a good chunk of the day because the Trojans were in full pads, pulling a teammate aside to explain what he should have seen. IPM told me afterward one of his priorities this spring has been to help those getting the reps he and Hufanga can't.
Pola-Mao has only played in two games in his USC career yet only C.J. Pollard has more tenure in USC's entire defensive backfield. It's not something IPM pointed out to me, but I'm sure he's generally aware of the fact since he's already shown he understands its implications.
"If somebody messes up in the secondary, I put that on me because as a safety you have to be able to communicate," he said. "You have to make sure everybody's on the same page and knows what they're doing."
Pola-Mao said he's also taking time outside of practice to break down film with Hufanga, talking through different schemes and scenarios. Ideally, they want to be able to disguise their respective positions (IPM is at strong and Hufanga is at free) to throw off opposing offenses. But it takes a lot of reps to build that familiarity, and the limited ones they were getting this spring are no more.
"Just playing comfortable, playing faster," is how Pola-Mao summed up their two weeks together on the field. "Just knowing our assignments helps us play so much faster."
Freshman defensive back Briton Allen has spent the entire spring at cornerback and that is where he'll likely line up for these final two weeks. The plan is for him to then move to safety, which is what USC recruited him to play and believes he'll be best at. While the team is presently low on numbers at both cornerback and safety, new DBs coach Greg Burns liked Allen's athleticism and the decision was made to have him spend these weeks learning outside corner in preparation for a possible emergency role there in the future.
"It's easier (than having a corner learn safety) because it's less thinking and now you're just locked in on your side of the field," Burns said. "You're not the guy initially making the calls, because the safeties are the quarterbacks. You're more of the echo communication guy and then basically focusing more on technique than overall scheme. ...
"We still feel that he's a safety but at the same time we know he has that athletic ability, if we need him there to be able to play that position also. It's learning football. Even though he's learning it at a different position, he's still learning coverage concepts as well as offensive concepts."
Spring has also been a crash course for Raymond Scott. He spent his first season at inside linebacker, where Clancy Pendergast touted his ability to create negative plays dating to back to training camp. So why is he at safety and sometimes nickel right now?
"I watched him work there late in the year as a defensive back when we were practicing and saw his movements were adequate enough to do things we like to do with the nickel back," Pendergast said. "I really felt like he could make the transition then. ... So it's just our opportunity to try and get the best guys out there."
That last point is key. Pendergast feels he has enough depth at inside linebacker and there's almost none at nickel and safety. He intimated today that Allen would likely be the only defensive player to move from where he's current at after spring.
Pendergast also mentioned he prefers to feature a player who can also play safety at nickel, which is why Chase Williams and Scott are claiming all the reps there.
***
11-on-11 highlights:
The USC offense rebounded after probably its worst showing of spring on Tuesday. With the team in full pads, we saw a bit more from the run game. Vavae Malepeai broke off a long run, Markese Stepp had a 10-yard TD run up the middle and powered his way to another one from the 3, and Stephen Carr increased his workload. He still looks very smooth running the ball but the explosion isn't quite there yet.
Freshman QB Kedon Slovis is impressive in how he slings the ball. I've mentioned before he might throw better intermediate passes than all but JT Daniels. He connected on a pair of deep balls to Tyler Vaughns, though one was underthrown, and made a strong throw outside to Devon Williams that required a fair amount of zip to prevent the DB from reaching out and knocking it down.
Matt Fink hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for a long TD over the head of C. Williams. The two were matched up again shortly after and Williams did an excellent job of running ASB outside when Slovis' pass was directed inside.
Jack Sears managed to draw the defense offside and then hit D. Williams downfield on the free play. Just a smart play all around.
Drake Jackson and John Houston both recorded tackles for loss.
Notes:
D-linemen Brandon Pili and Jacob Lichtenstein returned.
TE Jude Wolfe, OT Clayton Bradley, DL Caleb Tremblay and LB Solomon Tuliaupupu remained out. As I reported here, Solo is likely out for spring because of discomfort in his foot.
WR John Jackson III did not practice.
USC practices again Saturday and 10 a.m., and it will involve scrimmaging.
We have video interviews with Pendergast, Burns, Pola-Mao, Chase Williams, DT Marlon Tuipulotu and special teams coordinator John Baxter. I'll have 1-on-1s between the OL and DL later.
Safety Talanoa Hufanga last week joined C.J. Pollard and cornerbacks Olaijah Griffin and Max Williams on the injured list, while CBs Greg Johnson, Isaac Taylor Stuart and Dominic Davis have all been limited this week. If you're wondering who is practicing in 11-on-11 periods, I'm still trying to learn all the names of the walk-ons myself.
I found it interesting Thursday to see Pola-Mao, who was relegated to the sidelines for a good chunk of the day because the Trojans were in full pads, pulling a teammate aside to explain what he should have seen. IPM told me afterward one of his priorities this spring has been to help those getting the reps he and Hufanga can't.
Pola-Mao has only played in two games in his USC career yet only C.J. Pollard has more tenure in USC's entire defensive backfield. It's not something IPM pointed out to me, but I'm sure he's generally aware of the fact since he's already shown he understands its implications.
"If somebody messes up in the secondary, I put that on me because as a safety you have to be able to communicate," he said. "You have to make sure everybody's on the same page and knows what they're doing."
Pola-Mao said he's also taking time outside of practice to break down film with Hufanga, talking through different schemes and scenarios. Ideally, they want to be able to disguise their respective positions (IPM is at strong and Hufanga is at free) to throw off opposing offenses. But it takes a lot of reps to build that familiarity, and the limited ones they were getting this spring are no more.
"Just playing comfortable, playing faster," is how Pola-Mao summed up their two weeks together on the field. "Just knowing our assignments helps us play so much faster."
Freshman defensive back Briton Allen has spent the entire spring at cornerback and that is where he'll likely line up for these final two weeks. The plan is for him to then move to safety, which is what USC recruited him to play and believes he'll be best at. While the team is presently low on numbers at both cornerback and safety, new DBs coach Greg Burns liked Allen's athleticism and the decision was made to have him spend these weeks learning outside corner in preparation for a possible emergency role there in the future.
"It's easier (than having a corner learn safety) because it's less thinking and now you're just locked in on your side of the field," Burns said. "You're not the guy initially making the calls, because the safeties are the quarterbacks. You're more of the echo communication guy and then basically focusing more on technique than overall scheme. ...
"We still feel that he's a safety but at the same time we know he has that athletic ability, if we need him there to be able to play that position also. It's learning football. Even though he's learning it at a different position, he's still learning coverage concepts as well as offensive concepts."
Spring has also been a crash course for Raymond Scott. He spent his first season at inside linebacker, where Clancy Pendergast touted his ability to create negative plays dating to back to training camp. So why is he at safety and sometimes nickel right now?
"I watched him work there late in the year as a defensive back when we were practicing and saw his movements were adequate enough to do things we like to do with the nickel back," Pendergast said. "I really felt like he could make the transition then. ... So it's just our opportunity to try and get the best guys out there."
That last point is key. Pendergast feels he has enough depth at inside linebacker and there's almost none at nickel and safety. He intimated today that Allen would likely be the only defensive player to move from where he's current at after spring.
Pendergast also mentioned he prefers to feature a player who can also play safety at nickel, which is why Chase Williams and Scott are claiming all the reps there.
***
11-on-11 highlights:
The USC offense rebounded after probably its worst showing of spring on Tuesday. With the team in full pads, we saw a bit more from the run game. Vavae Malepeai broke off a long run, Markese Stepp had a 10-yard TD run up the middle and powered his way to another one from the 3, and Stephen Carr increased his workload. He still looks very smooth running the ball but the explosion isn't quite there yet.
Freshman QB Kedon Slovis is impressive in how he slings the ball. I've mentioned before he might throw better intermediate passes than all but JT Daniels. He connected on a pair of deep balls to Tyler Vaughns, though one was underthrown, and made a strong throw outside to Devon Williams that required a fair amount of zip to prevent the DB from reaching out and knocking it down.
Matt Fink hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for a long TD over the head of C. Williams. The two were matched up again shortly after and Williams did an excellent job of running ASB outside when Slovis' pass was directed inside.
Jack Sears managed to draw the defense offside and then hit D. Williams downfield on the free play. Just a smart play all around.
Drake Jackson and John Houston both recorded tackles for loss.
Notes:
D-linemen Brandon Pili and Jacob Lichtenstein returned.
TE Jude Wolfe, OT Clayton Bradley, DL Caleb Tremblay and LB Solomon Tuliaupupu remained out. As I reported here, Solo is likely out for spring because of discomfort in his foot.
WR John Jackson III did not practice.
USC practices again Saturday and 10 a.m., and it will involve scrimmaging.
We have video interviews with Pendergast, Burns, Pola-Mao, Chase Williams, DT Marlon Tuipulotu and special teams coordinator John Baxter. I'll have 1-on-1s between the OL and DL later.
