Story on the WRs as Jordan Addison is said to be nearing 100 percent this week and Mario Williams is ... at least "available."
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Lincoln Riley gave a brief and vague update on wide receiver Mario Williams and linebacker Eric Gentry on Thursday, after each has missed the last three games.
"They’ve progressed. I expect them to be available on Saturday," Riley said.
Now, what available means is anyone's guess.
Wide receiver Jordan Addison was available last week in his return from injury and logged just 30 snaps, making 1 catch for 2 yards while resting the second half.
That was by design in his first game back from the lower leg injury sustained last month at Utah -- and it was also against a one-win Colorado team.
"We knew we were going to keep him in the 20-play range and let him get out there and move around. We didn't want to overdo anything, " Riley said earlier this week. "... It was good for him to just get out there and get some confidence back in moving around. I mean, he's doing nothing but progressed. He certainly wasn't 100 percent the other night, but we expect he will be this week."
Whether he is or not, Addison said that's how he'll feel come kickoff Saturday afternoon when No. 7 USC (9-1, 7-1 Pac-12) visits No. 16 UCLA (8-2, 5-2) in the Rose Bowl.
"[When] game time come around, I always feel 100," Addison said.
Utah was the last opponent with a winning record that USC faced, and losing Addison and Gentry during that game most definitely took a toll on the way to a stinging 43-42 loss for the team's lone blemish of the season.
"The hardest part for me was just not being able to finish that game for my team," Addison said, speaking to reporters earlier this week for the first time since the injury. "I feel like I let them down a little bit, just not being able to finish it through. I feel like if I was playing I could have contributed and made a difference."
He acknowledged he shared the same concern many Trojans fans did when he took that awkward hit along the sideline at Utah and limped to the locker room.
"At first I thought it was going to be longer than what it was, just how it looked and how it felt coming down on the sideline, but we've got great trainers and they helped me get back out here as fast as I could," Addison said.
Even with missing 2.5 games and then playing a limited role last week, Addison still leads the Trojans with 40 catches for 587 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Williams, meanwhile, is third on the team with 26 catches for 493 yards and 4 touchdowns despite missing three full games. His extended absence has been more of a surprise as he was a late scratch going into the game against Arizona three weeks ago as Riley said the staff had thought he was going to play up until then. He also ran around freely in pregame warmups last week before again being relegated to the sideline. The nature of his injury has not been specified.
Equally unclear is what happens to the wide receiver rotation overall when Addison and Williams are both at full strength.
In their stead over those last three games, Tahj Washington (16 catches for 296 yards and 4 TDs), Kyle Ford (10-203-1) and Michael Jackson III (8-134-2 with 72 rushing yards, all coming in two games) have stepped up into larger roles.
Riley was asked Thursday morning if those receivers -- along with Brenden Rice, who has gotten steady playing time all year but put up his best numbers the last three games (10-149-2) -- will continue to stay involved in the game plan or if the rotation reverts back to where it was early in the season.
"There's no reset. I think each week [is] kind of its own animal. So we'll evaluate how guys are performing in practice, we'll evaluate how guys have played recently and then make the best of decisions that we can. This is not a deal where somebody comes back, kind of like Jordan last week, this is not a deal where somebody comes back and all of a sudden they're back taking every single rep, especially when some of these other guys have really produced," Riley said. "These things evolve, things aren't what they were a month ago and a lot's changed. A lot of great sports stories and history, you look at Wally Pipp on, there's a million of those.
"Obviously, Mario and Jordan are very good players and I think they'll certainly factor in for us, but as the last several weeks have shown we've got other really good players that are going to have an opportunity to make plays in this game and the rest of them that we have as well."
Ford, the resilient redshirt junior and former top-100 national prospect, has been perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the extra playing time. He hadn't logged more than 18 offensive snaps in a game all season before stacking up 31, 38 and 45 the last three weeks.
He put up a career-high 114 receiving yards vs. Arizona and last week delivered some of the most important play to spark USC's struggling offensive in the second quarter. It started with a 24-yard gain on third-and-19, as he adjusted his route into scramble drill mode and got open for QB Caleb Williams in space for the long catch and run. Three plays later on third-and-23, after a botched snap exchange, Williams again hit Ford over the middle for a long catch-and-run for 42 yards, extending what was ultimately USC's much-needed first touchdown drive against Colorado.
"The more opportunities I have is the more opportunities to help my team, and I've taken advantage of it. So that's what I'm just going to keep trying to do," Ford said.
The talent has always been there for Ford, but for too often so have injuries, including the two ACL tears that have changed the course of his college football career. He noticeably slimmed down heading into this season and noted how the change has impacted his speed on plays like those he made Saturday that were as much about what he did after the catch as his reliable hands.
"I feel like I'm floating out there, honestly. I feel like I'm running the best I have. I feel like I'm able to be fast and still be physical, with losing the weight," he said.
Addison, meanwhile, says he has not been surprised to see the Trojans' wide receiver depth emerge with he and Mario Williams sidelined.
"Me personally, I knew they were going to go out there and do their thing, just seeing how they work in practice," he said. "I told y'all, we got a deep receiving room. Whoever up is going to make a play. They just put it on display what they do every day."
But seeing it in a game and seeing it on the practice field are two very different things, and now Riley and the coaching staff have seen it games.
Washington had already seemingly earned his touches before this recent stretch, having played at least 39 offensive snaps in every game since Week 4. Jackson, meanwhile, had played only 5 offensive snaps all season before logging 46, 44 and 36 the last three games, even if he wasn't targeted last week. (He did handle all four punt returns vs. Colorado).
Washington, Ford, Rice and Jackson have all earned praise from Riley for the roles they've played over these last few wins -- the coach now has to decide how to manage and maximize his deepest position group as it gets closer to full strength again.
"We needed them to step up -- those were important games, important stretch without some of our guys there. I think offenses are always more dangerous when the ball's flowing to a lot of different people, and a lot of different people are making plays. Then I think at times, you put a defense in a position where it's like, what do you stop? Where is it going? I think it makes you more unpredictable," Riley said.
"And I think it's given Caleb the confidence to be able to spread the ball around and not [lock] in on this guy or that guy and just go where the read determines, which is typically the best way to play this position in my opinion."
TrojanSports - What becomes of USC's emerging WR depth with return of top targets?
USC has a wealth of talent at WR, and as the unit gets fully healthy Lincoln Riley has some tough decisions to make.
USC.rivals.com
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Lincoln Riley gave a brief and vague update on wide receiver Mario Williams and linebacker Eric Gentry on Thursday, after each has missed the last three games.
"They’ve progressed. I expect them to be available on Saturday," Riley said.
Now, what available means is anyone's guess.
Wide receiver Jordan Addison was available last week in his return from injury and logged just 30 snaps, making 1 catch for 2 yards while resting the second half.
That was by design in his first game back from the lower leg injury sustained last month at Utah -- and it was also against a one-win Colorado team.
"We knew we were going to keep him in the 20-play range and let him get out there and move around. We didn't want to overdo anything, " Riley said earlier this week. "... It was good for him to just get out there and get some confidence back in moving around. I mean, he's doing nothing but progressed. He certainly wasn't 100 percent the other night, but we expect he will be this week."
Whether he is or not, Addison said that's how he'll feel come kickoff Saturday afternoon when No. 7 USC (9-1, 7-1 Pac-12) visits No. 16 UCLA (8-2, 5-2) in the Rose Bowl.
"[When] game time come around, I always feel 100," Addison said.
Utah was the last opponent with a winning record that USC faced, and losing Addison and Gentry during that game most definitely took a toll on the way to a stinging 43-42 loss for the team's lone blemish of the season.
"The hardest part for me was just not being able to finish that game for my team," Addison said, speaking to reporters earlier this week for the first time since the injury. "I feel like I let them down a little bit, just not being able to finish it through. I feel like if I was playing I could have contributed and made a difference."
He acknowledged he shared the same concern many Trojans fans did when he took that awkward hit along the sideline at Utah and limped to the locker room.
"At first I thought it was going to be longer than what it was, just how it looked and how it felt coming down on the sideline, but we've got great trainers and they helped me get back out here as fast as I could," Addison said.
Even with missing 2.5 games and then playing a limited role last week, Addison still leads the Trojans with 40 catches for 587 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Williams, meanwhile, is third on the team with 26 catches for 493 yards and 4 touchdowns despite missing three full games. His extended absence has been more of a surprise as he was a late scratch going into the game against Arizona three weeks ago as Riley said the staff had thought he was going to play up until then. He also ran around freely in pregame warmups last week before again being relegated to the sideline. The nature of his injury has not been specified.
Equally unclear is what happens to the wide receiver rotation overall when Addison and Williams are both at full strength.
In their stead over those last three games, Tahj Washington (16 catches for 296 yards and 4 TDs), Kyle Ford (10-203-1) and Michael Jackson III (8-134-2 with 72 rushing yards, all coming in two games) have stepped up into larger roles.
Riley was asked Thursday morning if those receivers -- along with Brenden Rice, who has gotten steady playing time all year but put up his best numbers the last three games (10-149-2) -- will continue to stay involved in the game plan or if the rotation reverts back to where it was early in the season.
"There's no reset. I think each week [is] kind of its own animal. So we'll evaluate how guys are performing in practice, we'll evaluate how guys have played recently and then make the best of decisions that we can. This is not a deal where somebody comes back, kind of like Jordan last week, this is not a deal where somebody comes back and all of a sudden they're back taking every single rep, especially when some of these other guys have really produced," Riley said. "These things evolve, things aren't what they were a month ago and a lot's changed. A lot of great sports stories and history, you look at Wally Pipp on, there's a million of those.
"Obviously, Mario and Jordan are very good players and I think they'll certainly factor in for us, but as the last several weeks have shown we've got other really good players that are going to have an opportunity to make plays in this game and the rest of them that we have as well."
Ford, the resilient redshirt junior and former top-100 national prospect, has been perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the extra playing time. He hadn't logged more than 18 offensive snaps in a game all season before stacking up 31, 38 and 45 the last three weeks.
He put up a career-high 114 receiving yards vs. Arizona and last week delivered some of the most important play to spark USC's struggling offensive in the second quarter. It started with a 24-yard gain on third-and-19, as he adjusted his route into scramble drill mode and got open for QB Caleb Williams in space for the long catch and run. Three plays later on third-and-23, after a botched snap exchange, Williams again hit Ford over the middle for a long catch-and-run for 42 yards, extending what was ultimately USC's much-needed first touchdown drive against Colorado.
"The more opportunities I have is the more opportunities to help my team, and I've taken advantage of it. So that's what I'm just going to keep trying to do," Ford said.
The talent has always been there for Ford, but for too often so have injuries, including the two ACL tears that have changed the course of his college football career. He noticeably slimmed down heading into this season and noted how the change has impacted his speed on plays like those he made Saturday that were as much about what he did after the catch as his reliable hands.
"I feel like I'm floating out there, honestly. I feel like I'm running the best I have. I feel like I'm able to be fast and still be physical, with losing the weight," he said.
Addison, meanwhile, says he has not been surprised to see the Trojans' wide receiver depth emerge with he and Mario Williams sidelined.
"Me personally, I knew they were going to go out there and do their thing, just seeing how they work in practice," he said. "I told y'all, we got a deep receiving room. Whoever up is going to make a play. They just put it on display what they do every day."
But seeing it in a game and seeing it on the practice field are two very different things, and now Riley and the coaching staff have seen it games.
Washington had already seemingly earned his touches before this recent stretch, having played at least 39 offensive snaps in every game since Week 4. Jackson, meanwhile, had played only 5 offensive snaps all season before logging 46, 44 and 36 the last three games, even if he wasn't targeted last week. (He did handle all four punt returns vs. Colorado).
Washington, Ford, Rice and Jackson have all earned praise from Riley for the roles they've played over these last few wins -- the coach now has to decide how to manage and maximize his deepest position group as it gets closer to full strength again.
"We needed them to step up -- those were important games, important stretch without some of our guys there. I think offenses are always more dangerous when the ball's flowing to a lot of different people, and a lot of different people are making plays. Then I think at times, you put a defense in a position where it's like, what do you stop? Where is it going? I think it makes you more unpredictable," Riley said.
"And I think it's given Caleb the confidence to be able to spread the ball around and not [lock] in on this guy or that guy and just go where the read determines, which is typically the best way to play this position in my opinion."
