Trojan Huddle Recap

In a game that was at times sloppy, the Trojans put on a good show and found out some things about its team. In my last two posts, previewing the offense and defense, I highlighted a player from each unit that I feel needs to step up this spring. Most of the players who were expected to step up, did, including a few surprises, namely Hershel Dennis, who is awaiting a decision by the NCAA to grant him a sixth year of eligibility. The new crop of WR's looked great, including sophomore Travon Patterson, who was featured on Sunday's edition of the LA Times. Senior LB Thomas Williams also was impressive as he filled in for the injured Brian Cushing. The following is my review from yesterday's scrimmage.



OFFENSE

The running game, with the four freshman running backs out nursing injuries, was led by the three seniors: Dennis (pictured above), last year's leading rusher Chauncey Washington, and Desmond Reed, who appears to be back to form, prior to the devastating knee injury he suffered in the tall grass of Notre Dame Stadium in October of 2005. Dennis looked simply amazing and reminded me why he started over Trojan greats Reggie Bush and LenDale in 2003. He showed the explosiveness we all remember on his first carry, making a defender miss in the backfield and taking it 22 yards to set up a first and goal situation for the offense. Dennis later capped off the drive with a powerful inside run from two yards out for the touchdown. On a later play, Hersh caught a middle screen from QB Mark Sanchez and raced around the left side of the defense and turned up the jets as he hit the sideline, outrunning Rey Maualuga and others for a crowd pleasing 43 yard TD catch. Desmond Reed showed quickness and a burst out of his cuts that we have not seen from him since that gruesome knee injury. However, he looked somewhat hesitant and tentative when the hole wasn't there. Reed displayed good hands and ran great routes out of the backfield and should be a good third down back for the Trojans this fall. Reed also may have staked his claim to assume punt returner duties after taking back a punt 74 yards for a TD. Though he didn't produce a big play like Dennis or Reed, Chauncey Washington was the best runner of the day. He broke into the secondary on several of his runs, showing toughness and aggressiveness on all his carries.


The passing game looked shaky at times, with the QB's throwing a combined 5 INTs, but they got some encouraging results from the young WR's. Booty looked sharp for the most part. He was intercepted by Keith Rivers on his first drive, but then reeled of 14 consecutive completions to finish 15 for 17 with 2 TDs and 2 INTs. The other INT came on a broken play where Booty's attempted screen pass was tipped by a defensive lineman to another defensive lineman for the pick. Sanchez, who finshed 11 for 23, had an inconsistent day, throwing 2 beautiful touchdown passes, but he also threw 2 INTs, and had several poorly thrown passes and a fumbled snap. The WR's shined, making big plays, albeit, against a short-handed secondary. Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazleton ran with the first team offense, and each recorded a touchdown.

Hazleton, high-stepped his way into the endzone on his TD catch, prompting Coach Carroll to tell the officials to flag him for unsportsmanlike conduct. Carroll was visibly perturbed by Hazleton's celebration, as USC was forced to kick the extra point 15 yards further than normal. David Ausberry seemed to struggle a bit versus bump and run coverage, but made several impressive grabs. He seems fit to play the Mike Williams/Dwayne Jarrett role in our offense and I'm pleased with his development.

As I mentioned above, Patterson seemed to have the best day, getting behind the defense twice on scoring passes from Sanchez and Michael McDonald, and returning a punt for a TD. But TE Fred Davis and FB Stanley Havili also had nice showings. Havili proved why the coaching staff values the fullback position so much. He was moved around alot too, motioning up to the line of scrimmage as a wing, and even being split out wide in an empty backfield set. He showed excellent hands, and ran well after the catch.

The offensive line played well too. The defense wasn't allowed to sack or even hit the QB, but rarely did the guys under center face pressure in the pocket. The line has to be credited too for the impressive showing from our running backs. The only injury scare from the scrimmage was Matt Spanos, who started the game at center. Scott Wolf reports that Spanos suffered a high ankle sprain and could be out for quite some time. The starting offensive line featured LT Sam Baker, LG Jeff Byers, Spanos, RG Chilo Rachal, and RT Drew Radovich. Jeff Byers moved over to center when Spanos went down and Tiny Malu came in at LG, so it'll be interesting to see how the line looks in the last week of spring practices as the team heads into the fall.

DEFENSE

There wasn't much to critique about the defense. They played well when you consider the injuries. The offense only produced one big play and two semi-big plays on the day, the big one was that fantastic catch and run by Dennis off the screen pass. The two not-so-big plays were Travon Patterson's 33 yard TD catch where he just ran past a helpless backup defender, and Vidal Hazleton's 34 yard TD reception following a missed tackle by FS Taylor Mays.

Mays was a non-factor on defense, missing more tackles than he should, including the one that led to the TD, but he did have the hit of the day. Early in the game, Booty rolled to his right and dumped it to FB Stanley Havili, who was then trucked by Mays for a 3 yard loss. CB's Cary Harris and Shareece right started the game and showed some decent coverage skills. They also were more than willing to come up to support the run, notching several open field tackles of Chauncey, Hersh, and Reed.

The linebackers played well, showing off their power and speed, but the standout was Thomas Williams. He proved to be more than capable of playing the strong side (SAM) linebacker position currently held by the injured Brian Cushing. If Cushing is slow to recover from his hamstring injury, or is unable to adapt to his new role after playing close to the line of scrimmage last season, Thomas should fill in nicely. Rivers and Maualuga played well against the run and the pass, and backup LB Kaluka Maiava had an interception.



The defensive line was solid. USC knows what it is getting out of Lawrence Jackson and Sedrick Ellis, but others made some nice plays as well. Alex Parson intercepted Booty's attempted screen pass, and Kyle Moore showed outstanding athletic ability by intercepting a Mark Sanchez pass intended for one of the backs on a wheel route. Moore displayed quickness and hustle and may have gone a long way to securing the starting DE position opposite of Lawrence Jackson.

All in all, it was a productive scrimmage, as both offenses moved the ball well under Booty and Sanchez. There was only one reported injury (M. Spanos), which is always important, and the players went out and competed. I can't wait when the team is full squad in the full with the arrival of the 2007 recruiting class, and the rehab of our injured player. Stay tuned for more news throughout the off-season.

Fight On!

Trojan Huddle Preview: Defense

Tomorrow's scrimmage should provide a good basis of evaluation for the offensive players, but it will be difficult to analyze the defense with the numerous injuries on that side of the ball. Defensive players that were hurt before or during spring practices include 6 defensive backs, a linebacker, and a D Lineman. They include but are not limited to: CB Kevin Thomas, CB Terrell Thomas, CB Cary Harris, S Josh Pinkard, S Will Harris, S Kevin Ellison, LB Brian Cushing, DT Chris Barrett, and many others


That's quite a number of injuries, especially in the secondary, so the defense will be shorthanded. The following preview of the defensive units will be what I'm expecting to see in the scrimmage and how the positions project into the start of fall camp.

Defensive Line

After a year running a 3-4 defensive front, with Brian Cushing playing the extra linebacker at the "elephant" position, the Trojans are switching back to the more conventional 4-3 front. The lack of a pass rush last year may have been attributed to having Lawrence Jackson as our only pass rush specialist on the field. The sub-par numbers from Jackson didn't mean that he was playing terribly, he had a pretty solid season, but it did influence his decision to come back for his senior season. Junior Kyle Moore is expected to start at end opposite Jackson in the fall, but he needs to show the coaches that he can be a terror in the backfield. Not only does he need to gain confidence and become one of the leaders, he also must get a head start on highly touted fresman Everson Griffen, who will be staking his claim to the starting job in the fall. Junior Gerald Washington, a converted tight end, and senior Alex Morrow will provide depth.


The Trojans are strong at defensive tackle as they welcome back one of the nation's premier players, nose tackle Sedrick Ellis. It's not by mistake that the Trojan defense struggled a bit last year in the few games that Ellis missed due to injury. He will anchor the line along with junior Fili Moala, who should start next to Ellis. Senior Chris Barret, sophomore Alex Parsons, and freshman Derek Simmons will work to back up Fili, while sophomore Averell Spicer and junior Lawrence Miles will spot Ellis at NT. I'm looking for Fili Moala to emerge out of the group as someone who can exploit the constant double teams that Ellis and Jackson will be receiving this season.


Linebackers

The biggest change that was brought by switching back to the 4-3 front will be that of Brian Cushing, as he will now move off the line of scrimmage to the strong side linebacker position (SAM). He will now have more room to roam and make plays instead of battling offensive linemen down in the trenches like he did last season. It will be an adjustment for Cushing, but hasn't been able to practice since injuring his hamstring early in the spring. Senior Keith Rivers enters his 3rd year starting on the weak side, and the hard-hitting junior Rey Maualuga takes over full-time in the middle after sharing time with senior captain Oscar Lua last year. Rey now becomes the unquestioned leader in the defensive huddle, and all players will respect him. Coaches everywhere are aware that they must know where #58 is at all times, including USC LB's Coach Ken Norton, Jr. Senior Thomas Williams, an electrifying hitter, is the top backup. He is smart and versatile, and can play all 3 LB positions equally well. Junior Kaluka Maiava and sophomore Luthur Brown will backup Rivers and Maualuga, respectively. This is one of the deepest and most talented LB corps in the country and should serve as the backbone of this defense. The only question mark will be how quickly Cushing adapts to his new role, because we know Rey and Keith just flat out make plays.


Defensive Backs

To say that the defensive backs have been banged up this spring would be an understatement. Projected starters at CB Terrell Thomas and Cary Harris, as well as one of their top backups Kevin Thomas have been out. Safeties Kevin Ellison and Josh Pinkard have also missed all of them spring as they rehab and get ready for the upcoming season. The only healthy starter in the secondary this spring has been FS Taylor Mays, who took over for Pinkard last season when he injured his knee in the opener at Arkansas. The one positive thing is that the guys like CB Shareece Wright, who are further down on the depth chart, have gotten quality reps, which has bolstered the overall talent and depth in the secondary. Mozique McCurtis is another tough and savvy player, much like LB Thomas Williams, who is versatile and can play many roles in the secondary. The biggest myth will be the availability of Josh Pinkard. Carroll often referred to him as the best and most valuable player on defense going into last season. Pinkard, who was inserted at CB when the defense was struggling in 2005, and played really well, is probably the smartest and most instinctive player on the team. But with the emergence of Mays at FS, and the improved play at CB, where will he fit in this season. Of course he must first get healthy.


Hope you liked the offensive and defensive preview of Saturday's spring game. I'll provide a complete post game wrap up on Sunday with my thoughts, as well as a few quotes and reactions from players and coaches.

Fight On!

Trojan Huddle Preview: Offense

The Coliseum will host the Trojan Huddle tomorrow, Saturday, April 7th. This is USC's annual spring football scrimmage game, and it will help the coaching staff evaluate several players battling for several key position spots, though several players are injured and may not play. Here is breakdown of each offensive unit and what I'll looking for tomorrow. I'll post the defensive preview a little bit later on today.

The Running Game

The offense needs a running back that will separate himself from the rest of the pack. With C.J. Gable, Allen Bradford, Emmanuel Moody, and Stafon Johnson banged up, it looks like Chauncey Washington has the inside track at cracking the top of the depth chart heading into fall camp. Don't forget about Hershel Dennis, who is waiting on the NCAA to grant him a 6th year of eligibility. Dennis is confident that he will gain a 6th year, so long as he graduates this May and completes his degree in sociology. We seem to be set at FB with Stanley Havili, who's looked great all spring, but he is also battling the injury bug so we'll see if he's able to go tomorrow. Michael Coleman is likely to move to fullback, increasing the depth behind Havili. The running backs need a big day because they know that 3 talented freshmen will be arriving in the fall.


The Passing Game

John David Booty needs to find a rhythm with his new WR's as they continue to break in to the demands of Division I football. Only Fred Davis and Patrick Turner have any real game experience catching balls from Booty, and they are certain to be his go to guys this season. The coaching staff needs someone to step up and take the #2 and #3 WR spots. Vidal Hazleton, David Ausberry (pictured below), Travon Patterson, and Jamere Holland have all been battling it out this spring as Turner's complimentary WR. Carroll has already pulled Hazleton aside to offer him a little pep talk urging him to make the most of his opportunity. I'm looking forward to a big day from this guy though...


Quarterback

Booty is back at QB, as he'll be leading the offense with a year of playing experience now under his belt. He will be entering his 5th season at 'SC and should know the playbook inside and out, so I'm not worried about him at all. However, this will be a big day for back up QB Mark Sanchez. Scott Wolf reported that Mitch Mustain will be attending tomorrow's scrimmage, so it'll be a big opportunity to showcase his skill and supplant himself as the heir apparent to Booty.

Offensive Line

The O-Line's biggest challenge heading into next season will be to find a center to replace last year's unquestioned team leader, Ryan Kalil. This spring the reps at center have been taken by the likes of Nick Howell, Matt Spanos, and even Jeff Byers (an all-american at Center in high school). The staff is trying to find a cohesive group and have not ruled out more changes. Last year's starting guard, Drew Radovich is now taking snaps at Right Tackle, with Byers filling in at Drew's Left Guard spot. Don't forget highly touted incoming freshman lineman Kristofer O'Dowd will join the squad this fall. He is versatile enough to play either center or guard. One thing that is certain is that LT Sam Baker will anchor the line and protect Booty's blind side. He is without a doubt the best linemen on the team and one of the best in the nation. Chilo Rachal is the returning starter at RG, and appears to have firm hold on that spot, and Radovich is currently the leader at RT, but may also stay at his old LG position. If Byers returns to his old form he will start at either LG or C, leaving Spanos, Howell, and O'Dowd competing for the final spot...


Should be an interesting game, hopefully our guys will showcase their skills and battle for those open spots. The preview of the defense will be up shortly.

Fight On!