Michigan DL Mason Graham (55) moves past the USC offensive line and closes in on Trojans QB Miller Moss last Saturday in Ann Arbor. Lincoln Riley says he is confident the Trojans’ line will improve. (Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — The left tackle was cramping. The right guard was benched. The new right tackle was playing his first meaningful snaps, while the new right guard had played only a handful. All the while, 110,000 hostile fans roared with every missed block or botched assignment against the nation’s most fearsome defensive front featuring two top-15 NFL draft prospects on the interior.
“That’s as tough as it gets,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said Tuesday.
It was truly a nightmare scenario for USC’s offensive line, which came completely unraveled during a 27-24 loss to Michigan, raising serious questions about the depth and development of a group Riley and his staff assured would be fine without offseason additions from the transfer portal.
Some of that responsibility in getting there, Riley did acknowledge, does fall on him and his staff. The coach admitted he could have done a better job preparing the offense for Michigan’s defensive front.
“We all gotta take steps — the coaching, the players around them — to get it going, to play at the level we want to,” Riley said. “And frankly, within the first couple of games this year, there’s been a ton of positive signs. We’ve got to get back on track that way, and I’m confident we will.”
Michigan’s Josaiah Stewart knocks down USC QB Miller Moss during the Trojans’ loss at Michigan Stadium Saturday. (Ric Tapia/Getty Images)
The more pressing concern is whether the confidence of the linemen remains intact after such a demoralizing performance. That’s an especially pertinent question for left tackle Elijah Paige, who looked totally overwhelmed over one half of football last Saturday. Riley said that cramps made Paige unavailable for the second half, though Paige appeared twice on special teams plays after getting replaced on the line by right tackle Mason Murphy.
Last season, coaches sent Paige down to the scout team after his progress stagnated and it sparked improvement. But with little depth behind him at left tackle, it’s unclear where USC would turn if Paige was pulled from the lineup.
“It’s tough to be a young offensive lineman in that situation,” said center Jonah Monheim, the only offensive lineman USC made available for media interviews this week. “You know you have something that doesn’t go your way against a good group of players, it’s a tough thing. But it’s something you have to learn from. It’s something you have to go through, and you come out the other side as a better player and person because of it.”
Reserve tackle Tobias Raymond, who played 45 snaps in the second half, joined the offensive line when Paige was sidelined against Michigan. And while Raymond struggled, he earned respect from teammates for taking over Murphy’s spot when Murphy moved to left tackle in place of Paige.
“That’s a hell of a position to be thrown into,” Moss said. “I texted him the night after the game that I was proud of him and the way he stepped up for the team. I think it was really selfless.”
Riley didn’t say whether he intended to trot out the same starting five against Wisconsin on Saturday, while The Times’ request to speak with USC offensive line coach Josh Henson was denied.
Many questions remain about where the Trojans will turn next on the offensive line. While Paige is likely to stay at left tackle, the right guard spot could be up for grabs after Alani Noa was replaced in the second quarter by fellow redshirt freshman Amos Talalele.
“A lot of it is just kind of mental,” Monheim said. “‘What story are you telling yourself? How are you handling things, how you practice, how you lift, how prepared are you, how confident are you in yourself?’ All things like that. Not necessarily being defined by, ‘Oh, I’m rotating,’ or ‘Oh, I’m this or I’m that.’ [Noa has] got so much talent, and it’s our job to just get that out of him in every way that we can.”
Riley is sure that’s possible. But confidence isn’t going to return overnight, Monheim said.
“Confidence really comes from habits, built over and over and over,” Monheim said. “It’s hard to get yourself out of a rut with just one play. It really usually doesn’t work like that.”
USC TE Lake McRee may return to the Trojans’ lineup this season (possibly sometime after two weeks per some reports) despite suffering an injury against Michigan. (Robert Gauthier/LAT)
When Lake McRee was leveled at the knees by a Michigan defender just two months after he’d returned from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, it appeared he suffered another serious injury. The image of him in tears on the sideline didn’t help ease that dread, either.
But while Riley didn’t share the nature of McRee’s injury on Tuesday, he did say that the tight end “got good news” and would be back at some point this season. He will be out “probably for the next couple of weeks,” the head coach said, but back before the end of the season.
Considering the hit, Riley admitted, “he’s incredibly lucky.” Though, Riley did concede that the hit was “legal right now.”
“I don’t fault the kid from Michigan,” Riley said, “but a hit like that does not need to be legal. You think about all the things in college football, football in general that we’ve cleaned up. It is very simple to clean up a defenseless player that can’t see you going low on him. That makes the game no better, and that’s something that just should not happen in my opinion.”
Injury update
Receiver Makai Lemon is “doing very well” after his helmet hit the ground hard against Michigan. Lemon was taken to the hospital for observation, but he was able to fly back to L.A. with the team.
“He’s rebounded back well,” Riley said on the Trojans Live radio show, “as good as you could possibly hope for with that scary of a situation.”
Safety Akili Arnold was also not available at practice after suffering an injury in the second half against Michigan. Riley said Arnold is “improving quickly, and the coach is “hopeful” that Arnold could play Saturday.
latimes.com
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ATLDDS, I don’t know exactly where you live in the ATL. I hope you and your family are safe.
Thank you for your concern! Fortunately we are all fine. Huge amounts of rain and we had an 80’ oak tree blow down, but well away from the house. ATL metro area was saved from worse damage by the storm bearing slightly east shortly before coming into Atlanta. Lots of power outages. At least we know when the hurricane is coming in contrast to the quakes I experienced growing up in Southern California. I am still fighting on!
With everything that has happened, I think the best case scenario is for Bear to told he is no longer a part of the team. He is a knucklehead, and is getting terrible advise from his ” handler”.
And he could be a cancer in the locker room. USC is building a great culture, and he could undermine those efforts. Hope we have seen the last of him.
He’s gone. Riley confirmed this morning.
Grinch knows LR’s offense well. Maybe that is why they hired him. Just for that one game. I was always surprised that he got a job so fast after his 2 terrible seasons at SC.
Would you trust Hrinch to try to stop an offense even if he knew all about it?
All of his players will have wrist bands on. The will spend most of their time looking at them and at each other when the ball is snapped. What a defense!!
Luke Fickell said one of the reasons he hired Grinch was because of all the crap he had to go through at USC and how he handled it publicly. Go figure.
Sure glad USC never hired Fickell, that’s for sure.
USC should and will hammer the Badgers I think.
I would take LR over Luke Fickell 6 days a week and twice on Sunday.
Let’s hope … I had LR over that guy last week too
Get ahead of these Big 10 teams or repeat of last week
You’ve got to hand it to Lanning. He just flipped Douglas Utu from Bishop Gorman. He was committed to Tenn.
Its weird….Rivals is almost always the conservative site but in this case they have him a 5 star interior linemen while 3 has him a 4.
Either way everybody that is anybody offered him.
Just jealous on my part…..we used to clean out B Gorman.
If he transfers to Willamette High you’ll know Phil Knight bought him and his family a house in Eugene.
Yep your right on with that idea!
A house…..lol…..this 30 room mansion goes with the Royce in the circular drive.
Money talks….everything else walks
What Now? Luca Evans (OC Register) — “From a strictly on-field perspective, it (Bear’s redshirt declaration) leaves USC in a tricky position. “The most proven interior defensive lineman on the roster, behind Gavin Meyer and Nate Clifton, is senior Kobe Pepe, who has played 124 snaps across his career. There’s Elijah Hughes, a sophomore who showed a couple of flashes during his freshman year. There is proven 6-foot-5, 290-pound true freshman Jide Abasiri. “Clifton and Meyer’s consistency, though, was what had given D’Anton Lynn confidence in starting them on the interior in the fall, he professed. And beyond them, Lynn,… Read more »
When Bear negotiates his next NIL deal we’ll all see what a WAC team is willing to pay for a bag of fertilizer and its guardian spreader.
What top 25 program would want a player that quit on his team after just 3-games?
Great post Jam
Women of Troy picked to win Big Ten in preseason poll; JuJu Watkins named preseason Player of Year Big things are expected from the Women of Troy in their first Big Ten season. Ahmad Akkaoui (USCFootball.com) — JuJu Watkins led USC to a 29-6 overall record, highlighted by a Pac-12 Tournament championship title over Stanford as well as a trip to the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight in Portland where it fell to Connecticut. The Women of Troy will begin their campaign in Paris Nov. 4 where they will face Ole Miss. After a slate of non-conference games, they will open conference play in Eugene, Ore.… Read more »
This Bear thing is really blowing up the SCNG. This morning’s paper (in most versions) had a story about the lack of playing time for Bear Alexander, which didn’t include anything about redshirting. Last night Trojan Facebook pages carried a story about Alexander redshirting and the response was vitriolic. (Including mine; “Redshirting used to be to save eligibility after injury, I guess his ego was bruised.) Anyway the online version of the newspaper always has a late edition sports page. Today the San Bernardino Sun’s late edition sports page had no page one and I found the second half of… Read more »
See my earlier post. Boy’s brains in a big man’s body. I still think there will be guys now that will cash in enough on NIL and feel the NFL is too much effort and sacrifice. They will take their NIL money and move on. I have no idea what’s in BA’s head. Maybe he will find a home and flourish. Or be off to another school next year. Redoing his NIL this spring looks like a waist of time and money. Hope the collective gets some of it back.
Per Bear Alexander’s guardian, Tony Jones, Alexander is redshirting this season due to a lack of playing time, to preserve eligibility.
Jones characterized the relationship with USC as “severed.”
too bad, like someone said yesterday, “million dollar body, 10 cent head.”
We have to remember these are 18-22 y.o. boys in men’s bodies. It can be a long road to maturity for some. Hope he finds his way. He may be one of those that cashes in on enough NIL that he decides the NFL is not worth the effort.
That is if he can even make it to the nfl. Perhaps another school will show him his way. It worked for Corey Foreman going to Fresno, he is playing pretty good football for them.
Some humble pie can be the best diet.
Who made the decision to cut Bear’s play-time? Only the most successful NFL D-line coach in the business and a star on the rise DC that the NFL knows very well of. If Bear wants to quit on this coaching, he is adding red flags in his draft resume. Now we have a clear picture why the Georgia coaching staff shedded no tears when Bear went Portal. Doesn’t he and his advisors understand he alone is underachieving and causing his setbacks?
Maybe Bear Alexander’s had a slow motor all his life. I don’t know. It’s not worth investigating anymore to me. I (like many others I’m sure) also think his impressive 6-3, 315 frame has always been more promising than his actual talent level and spotty performance on the field. He’s been a disappointment, to at least some degree, ever since he got here. Would anyone in the NFL even consider drafting this low-effort big body who uses social media and his guardian to complain and whine about his bench-ridden life at USC, a sudden contender? Yes, it’ll happen obviously. Despite… Read more »
Like I said before……you don’t win NC’s with people who transfer 7 times in 7 years. You need time with a player to develope him. Hasta la vista baby….It’s time for you to move on to your next destination
2x
Looks like Bear is going into hibernation. Not surprised missing so much spring work and limited playing time.
BREAKING: USC DL Bear Alexander is redshirting
Connor Morrissette (WeAreSC) — USC defensive lineman Bear Alexander is planning to redshirt, according to his guardian Tony Jones.
“He’s taking the shirt,” Jones said in a text.
247sports.com
Bear Alexander is over-rated. I’ve got to believe that they would be playing him more if he was that good. College football is a business. If you don’t put your best people in, you won’t win and if you don’t win you’ll lose your job. You can’t hold grudges against a player or favor a player. You have to put your best people in. If they weren’t playing him, I can’t help thinking that he is over-rated.
Who thinks Bear’s already played his last game for USC?
I do! The only way he stays is if other schools look at his history and are not willing to ‘pay’ him what he wants for how uneven his play has been.
Here is my question: would USC take him back?
I think he was told to redshirt. The social media stuff was most likely last straw, after the portal threats this spring. CLR, like every other coach, will take high road. He will fill sound bite with platitudes. But no doubt he was told that he can transfer. The tell tale sign will be if he stays on team or if he just leaves all together. We shall see
I think so also.
I think ( not 100% but 90% ) he moved around to 4 different high schools and now 2 colleges. I think the pattern is clear: He’s gone.
After watching him get blasted off the ball … then not attempt to tackle the Mich back on final long run. He may had been asked to leave.
Crazy. Just a month ago it seemed like if USC lost Bear Alexander for any reason, it would massively hurt the defense. He seemed indispensable.
Now, after only three games, Bear’s exit doesn’t even seem like a big deal to me anymore. His stock has been declining in my eyes since the season began.
I wish him the best. Facing his current no-further-game-progress situation must be really hard for him at this stage. I wonder how much LR and staff care?
After watching him get shoved back and then dog it on that final long run … my guess is not much
I think he is done. If he can’t play every down…..time to explore other careers. Unfortunately…..a position that was considered thin is now thinner.
Yes … who is going to take Bear’s 20 snaps?
So he’s transferring….Surprise Surprise!!! If he does transfer, that will be the 7th time in the last 7 years. You can’t build a dynasty with players like that. Hasta la Vista Teddy Bear.
Me. Kid doesn’t have it. He’ll be a bust from here on out. I sense he’s getting lousy advice from this guardian guy. Always been chasing coin, always been disgruntled, neve been told to shut up, suck it up, put your head down and grind. Sounds like an entitled prima donna who thinks he’s entitled to playing time and money.
See ya, Bear, we need men who fight on, not whine on.
Gimme more kids from Wyoming.
Is “Tony Jones” Anthony Jones, Olympic Agency Sports in Houston
Carson Palmer on Caleb Williams Palmer — “To be a good quarterback, you really need to go through some adversity. You need to come in and have struggles to really appreciate the peaks the peaks that you get to get to, and you’ve gotta understand those valleys, and those lows, and they’ll make him a better quarterback. “He just needs to play. It’ll make him work harder. It’ll make him want it more. A lot of time you’ll see young guys come into the league and have a lot of success, but they have fizzled out in the past. “I… Read more »
Jim Harbaugh’s posted comments about Michigan’s defeat of USC contained the phrase, “The football gods came together to help Michigan win ,” to which I responded with, “If by football gods you mean referees, then I agree.” After reading this story I might want to look into these “gods” and find a way to appease them. The cramping of our ineffective linemen was truly a Devine intervention ( or face saving excuse) However more rational blog readers are probably thinking about strength and conditioning (or lack of adequate physical endurance) I don’t know if Hansen is the new Grinch or… Read more »
LR’s statements about the Oline sound hauntingly familiar. There were essentially the same he used to support the Defense over the past three years. No concrete actions, just words. Why isn’t the Oline capable of protecting the QB or enabling an effective running game? It took years and a lot of pressure to get LR to finally get rid of Grinch, will it take that long to develop a OL? LR is paid some $10 million and year and all we get are nine losses in two seasons and the beginning of a third? At SC we expect tangible results,… Read more »
I said basically the same thing in Allen’s last post “terrorized” whereas will we be looking at another “friendship/ allegiance” stubbornness that compromised the program’s reputation, recruiting, and fan support with Grinch? What I’m afraid happens is we will skate through some average teams, score points, defend admirably, then we face a DLine like from Penn St ( some argue better then Michigans DLs) and get overwhelmed again. Post game presser has LR defending again. Rinse, repeat. Henson has a good rep, and should be given some time to recruit better, develop better, etc, but damn, this type of situation… Read more »
I’m personally skeptical of Riley’s misplaced loyalty to the group of Big 12 coaches he brought with him which has led to tarnishing USC’ Brand. Perhaps Jen Cohen should explain where loyalty lay, especially $10 Million dollars worth !
CBS Sports Network’s Inside College Football picks re WIS at USC. 8th meeting all-time. USC leads the series 6-1.
Randy Cross — USC
Brian Jones — USC
Aaron Taylor — USC
Rick Neuheisel — USC
Although I was only 8 years old at the time, one of the most exciting Rose Bowls ever was USC vs WIS in 1963. USC was ranked #1 and undefeated. WIS was ranked #2. USC had a great team led by a tandem of Quarterbacks, Pete Bethard and Bill Nelsen. WIS has led by All-American Ron Vander Kelen. As I remember, USC got out to a big lead and WIS came on at the end of the game and nearly pulled it out. SC won something like 42-37. My dad and grandfathers went nuts when the game was over.
The latest on Bear Alexander… Connor Morrissette (USCFootball.com) — Bear Alexander hasn’t started any of USC’s three games, and he’s made five tackles while averaging only 23 snaps per game. Last season, Alexander averaged 50 snaps per contest. Lincoln Riley continued to defend Alexander’s lesser usage this season on Tuesday,.explaining how he’s been happy with the defensive lineman’s production, and that it’s taken time for Alexander to adjust to D’Anton Lynn’s new scheme. “He played over a third of the [Michigan] game,” Riley said. “People want to act like he’s not playing snaps. He’s doing a good job for us out there. There’s no story there. I know you guys are… Read more »