USC defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast wasn't too interested in revealing just how he and his staff were planning for the likelihood of facing Stanford backup quarterback Davis Mills this week.
"We had a lot of time this week so we spent a lot of time watching film," Pendergast said.
Just the limited film from Mills' relief appearance last week in place of injured starter K.J. Costello? Or older film from his days as a 5-star prospect ranked the No. 1 pro-style QB in the Class of 2017?
"Well, it's been a long week -- let's just leave it at that," Pendergast said, giving a slight smile to acknowledge the persistence of the questions.
That was on Wednesday after practice, when it was widely expected that Mills would make his first college start in place of Costello, who took a forearm to the chin after giving himself up on a slide late in the first half against Northwestern last weekend. On Thursday, Stanford coach David Shaw confirmed it.
Of course, USC is in the same boat but with a less experienced quarterback as true freshman Kedon Slovis takes over for JT Daniels after his season-ending knee injury.
Pendergast's intent in declining to indulge the Mills questions was clear -- he doesn't want his Trojans defense thinking anything has changed for this matchup. Head coach Clay Helton reiterated that in a broader sense Thursday after practice.
"It's really about us. That's the message -- it's about our standard of play and how we execute. No matter who the quarterback is for the other team, no matter who the quarterback is for us, it's about executing," Helton said.
Meanwhile, defensive backs coach Greg Burns was just as emphatic on that point in regard to his young secondary..
"Not necessarily worrying about the quarterback. Stanford's Stanford. It's a system. Obviously they may do things different, but we're going to study what we see on film and what they like to do and try to defend it," he said. "You've got a guy who we probably eye-balled for all of last year and a quarter and then [to] try to make an adjustment on a guy from a half, that's going to be a little unrealistic. So the biggest thing we're going to focus on is just in general, what is the makeup of Stanford, what do they do and then what we do, so it really comes back to us. …
"It's about us executing on defense. How well do we execute our run fits, our technique on this particular coverage? So it's not about them, it's about us."
Stanford will also be without its top offensive lineman, left tackle Walker Little, who will miss at least half the season with a knee injury.
But the storyline is the quarterbacks -- two guys from different recruiting backgrounds now in a similar situation preparing for their first collegiate starts. Mills was the 5-star, top of his class recruit who sat behind Costello the last two seasons. Slovis was an under-the-radar 3-star who quickly rose up the depth chart to secure the backup job and is now thrust into the starting role in just his second collegiate game.
Mills was 7-of-14 passing for 81 yards while protecting a lead in an eventual 17-7 win over Northwestern. Slovis was 6 of 8 for 57 yards and an interception in protecting a lead in an eventual 31-23 win over Fresno State.
The difference, of course, is that Slovis is ideally at the helm for the remainder of the season (barring injury or poor play), while Mills is filling in. But as it relates to this Saturday in the Coliseum, the situations mirror each other almost identically.
USC's offensive coaches have said the gameplan won't change for Slovis, and Shaw said the same thing about Mills.
“Whoever starts at quarterback, it’s not going to change our philosophy, it’s not going to change our scheme,” Shaw said earlier this week, according to the San Jose Mercury News. “All of our quarterbacks know our offense and now it’s just about getting ready to play.”
Said Burns: "They're going to throw the ball -- that's just what they do. They trust their receivers on 50-50 balls and we have to defend it."
Grading the young secondary
To Burns and Pendergast's point, every test this fall is indeed a big one for the USC secondary -- even if it's a backup making his first career start.
The Trojans weren't exceptionally challenged last weekend by Fresno State. Bulldogs QB Jorge Reyna had some receivers open for potential big plays downfield, but he was a bit off the mark on those shots.
That said, there were still bad beats for the Trojans' young DBs. Reyna had a 34-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter as Derrion Grim split quarters coverage down the left seam to confuse freshman cornerback Chris Steele and late-reacting redshirt freshman safety Chase Williams (who had rotated in for Isaiah Pola-Mao). Burns mentioned twice that he thought Williams should have had an interception on the play -- and he certainly could have if he had noticed quicker that he was left to pick up that receiver from Steele.
Grim later burned Steele for a 52-yard completion on the final play of the third quarter. When the Trojans returned to the field, redshirt freshman Isaac Taylor-Stuart -- who played most of the snaps at that corner spot opposite sophomore Olaijah Griffin -- had subbed back in for Steele.
Nickel Greg Johnson also had an uneven game. Not knowing the full responsibilties of the play call it's impossible to assign blame with certainty, but Fresno State's last two series were not his best.
On a pivotal third-and-10 on the Bulldogs' penultimate drive, Johnson released on wide receiver Chris Coleman while opting to stay close to the line based on whatever he read. But Coleman ended up springing wide open in a gap in the defense for a 27-yard completion into the red zone. Later on that drive, between Johnson and linebacker John Houston the Trojans got mixed up on Reyna's 8-yard touchdown pass to Coleman to make it a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter.
And on fourth-and-10 on Fresno State's final series, Johnson got beat on a 50-50 ball as Coleman outpositioned him and went up to secure a 36-yard completion down to the Trojans' 15-yard line that truly put the game in jeopardy before Pola-Mao's win-sealing interception in the end zone.
On a positive note, Johnson had a couple nice pressures on blitzes.
"It was the first game. It's going to be good and bad, get the jitters out. From a standpoint of giving up big plays and stuff like that, we're going to continue to work on that, but overall they did pretty decent. I gave them a C+," Burns said of the DBs.
He noted that he actually thought Johnson did a "solid job" and would give him a B-. He attributed the fourth-and-10 completion to a good play by the receiver against good coverage. Burns added that he would like to see Williams, who rotated in at safety some, to get some looks at nickel. He played just 11 snaps overall Saturday, according to Pro Football Focus. But, Burns added, "It kind of depends on the flow of the game."
As for Steele, he 5-star true freshman, Burns said he will remain a part of the three-man cornerback rotation with Griffin and Taylor-Stuart moving forward.
"He had a couple of situations that we're going to clean up, but we still feel confident about what he's capable of and still plan on working the three-man rotation with the corners and go from there," Burns said.
"There was a couple of big plays that happened -- not necessarily all his fault. There was a safety situation where the safety should have been there -- should have made the interception really -- so no … I've got a whole lot of confidence in him. He's still in the game plan, I still plan on rotating them and I expect him to play just like the other [two], at least 2/3s of the game."
It wasn't much of a balanced rotation against Fresno State, playing out more as one would have expected after watching the preseason. Griffin played all 80 defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, while Taylor-Stuart played 66 on the other side with Steele getting the other 14.
"We had a lot of time this week so we spent a lot of time watching film," Pendergast said.
Just the limited film from Mills' relief appearance last week in place of injured starter K.J. Costello? Or older film from his days as a 5-star prospect ranked the No. 1 pro-style QB in the Class of 2017?
"Well, it's been a long week -- let's just leave it at that," Pendergast said, giving a slight smile to acknowledge the persistence of the questions.
That was on Wednesday after practice, when it was widely expected that Mills would make his first college start in place of Costello, who took a forearm to the chin after giving himself up on a slide late in the first half against Northwestern last weekend. On Thursday, Stanford coach David Shaw confirmed it.
Of course, USC is in the same boat but with a less experienced quarterback as true freshman Kedon Slovis takes over for JT Daniels after his season-ending knee injury.
Pendergast's intent in declining to indulge the Mills questions was clear -- he doesn't want his Trojans defense thinking anything has changed for this matchup. Head coach Clay Helton reiterated that in a broader sense Thursday after practice.
"It's really about us. That's the message -- it's about our standard of play and how we execute. No matter who the quarterback is for the other team, no matter who the quarterback is for us, it's about executing," Helton said.
Meanwhile, defensive backs coach Greg Burns was just as emphatic on that point in regard to his young secondary..
"Not necessarily worrying about the quarterback. Stanford's Stanford. It's a system. Obviously they may do things different, but we're going to study what we see on film and what they like to do and try to defend it," he said. "You've got a guy who we probably eye-balled for all of last year and a quarter and then [to] try to make an adjustment on a guy from a half, that's going to be a little unrealistic. So the biggest thing we're going to focus on is just in general, what is the makeup of Stanford, what do they do and then what we do, so it really comes back to us. …
"It's about us executing on defense. How well do we execute our run fits, our technique on this particular coverage? So it's not about them, it's about us."
Stanford will also be without its top offensive lineman, left tackle Walker Little, who will miss at least half the season with a knee injury.
But the storyline is the quarterbacks -- two guys from different recruiting backgrounds now in a similar situation preparing for their first collegiate starts. Mills was the 5-star, top of his class recruit who sat behind Costello the last two seasons. Slovis was an under-the-radar 3-star who quickly rose up the depth chart to secure the backup job and is now thrust into the starting role in just his second collegiate game.
Mills was 7-of-14 passing for 81 yards while protecting a lead in an eventual 17-7 win over Northwestern. Slovis was 6 of 8 for 57 yards and an interception in protecting a lead in an eventual 31-23 win over Fresno State.
The difference, of course, is that Slovis is ideally at the helm for the remainder of the season (barring injury or poor play), while Mills is filling in. But as it relates to this Saturday in the Coliseum, the situations mirror each other almost identically.
USC's offensive coaches have said the gameplan won't change for Slovis, and Shaw said the same thing about Mills.
“Whoever starts at quarterback, it’s not going to change our philosophy, it’s not going to change our scheme,” Shaw said earlier this week, according to the San Jose Mercury News. “All of our quarterbacks know our offense and now it’s just about getting ready to play.”
Said Burns: "They're going to throw the ball -- that's just what they do. They trust their receivers on 50-50 balls and we have to defend it."
Grading the young secondary
To Burns and Pendergast's point, every test this fall is indeed a big one for the USC secondary -- even if it's a backup making his first career start.
The Trojans weren't exceptionally challenged last weekend by Fresno State. Bulldogs QB Jorge Reyna had some receivers open for potential big plays downfield, but he was a bit off the mark on those shots.
That said, there were still bad beats for the Trojans' young DBs. Reyna had a 34-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter as Derrion Grim split quarters coverage down the left seam to confuse freshman cornerback Chris Steele and late-reacting redshirt freshman safety Chase Williams (who had rotated in for Isaiah Pola-Mao). Burns mentioned twice that he thought Williams should have had an interception on the play -- and he certainly could have if he had noticed quicker that he was left to pick up that receiver from Steele.
Grim later burned Steele for a 52-yard completion on the final play of the third quarter. When the Trojans returned to the field, redshirt freshman Isaac Taylor-Stuart -- who played most of the snaps at that corner spot opposite sophomore Olaijah Griffin -- had subbed back in for Steele.
Nickel Greg Johnson also had an uneven game. Not knowing the full responsibilties of the play call it's impossible to assign blame with certainty, but Fresno State's last two series were not his best.
On a pivotal third-and-10 on the Bulldogs' penultimate drive, Johnson released on wide receiver Chris Coleman while opting to stay close to the line based on whatever he read. But Coleman ended up springing wide open in a gap in the defense for a 27-yard completion into the red zone. Later on that drive, between Johnson and linebacker John Houston the Trojans got mixed up on Reyna's 8-yard touchdown pass to Coleman to make it a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter.
And on fourth-and-10 on Fresno State's final series, Johnson got beat on a 50-50 ball as Coleman outpositioned him and went up to secure a 36-yard completion down to the Trojans' 15-yard line that truly put the game in jeopardy before Pola-Mao's win-sealing interception in the end zone.
On a positive note, Johnson had a couple nice pressures on blitzes.
"It was the first game. It's going to be good and bad, get the jitters out. From a standpoint of giving up big plays and stuff like that, we're going to continue to work on that, but overall they did pretty decent. I gave them a C+," Burns said of the DBs.
He noted that he actually thought Johnson did a "solid job" and would give him a B-. He attributed the fourth-and-10 completion to a good play by the receiver against good coverage. Burns added that he would like to see Williams, who rotated in at safety some, to get some looks at nickel. He played just 11 snaps overall Saturday, according to Pro Football Focus. But, Burns added, "It kind of depends on the flow of the game."
As for Steele, he 5-star true freshman, Burns said he will remain a part of the three-man cornerback rotation with Griffin and Taylor-Stuart moving forward.
"He had a couple of situations that we're going to clean up, but we still feel confident about what he's capable of and still plan on working the three-man rotation with the corners and go from there," Burns said.
"There was a couple of big plays that happened -- not necessarily all his fault. There was a safety situation where the safety should have been there -- should have made the interception really -- so no … I've got a whole lot of confidence in him. He's still in the game plan, I still plan on rotating them and I expect him to play just like the other [two], at least 2/3s of the game."
It wasn't much of a balanced rotation against Fresno State, playing out more as one would have expected after watching the preseason. Griffin played all 80 defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, while Taylor-Stuart played 66 on the other side with Steele getting the other 14.
