USC vs. Stanford: Receiver Gary Bryant Jr. expected to boost Trojans’ offense
No. 14 USC is set to kick off Pac-12 play against Stanford on Saturday at the Coliseum, with the Trojans pushing to build on their late surge against San Jose State.
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — Just two USC receivers managed to catch passes in the Trojans’ season-opening win over San Jose State, but the return of another option should help shift that unexpected imbalance somewhat ahead of next Saturday.
Gary Bryant Jr. is expected to play against Stanford, after sitting out most of the preseason because of a hamstring injury. Shortly after his hamstring healed, Bryant was then forced into COVID-19 health and safety protocols, leaving him unable to play against San Jose State.
“I know he’s fired up to have a chance to play in this game, that’s his mindset,” USC coach Clay Helton said. “As long as we don’t have a setback, he’ll be ready. It’s just how we go through the week, to be honest with you. I hope that he’s completely healthy, which we’ll use him for a lot of reps. He’s a weapon, and he provides extra speed on the field.”
USC was expected to use a cadre of receivers in its offensive rotation Saturday, but only Drake London (66 snaps) and Tahj Washington (69) saw meaningful playing time. Freshman Joseph Manjack was named a starter earlier in the week, but received just 15 snaps Saturday, all in the first half. KD Nixon, the Colorado transfer, received eight snaps. Both saw only one target each.
WR Tahj Washington (16) celebrates with TE Erik Krommenhoek (84) after catching a pass in the end zone for a TD against SJS on Saturday at the Coliseum. (Ashley Landis / AP)
Instead of spreading out its receivers, USC spent much of the afternoon in a two-tight-end look, with Erik Krommenhoek (48), Jude Wolfe (50) and Malcolm Epps (17) playing larger than expected roles.
“If we’re in a game where we’re playing with that much 12 [personnel, using two tight ends and one running back], obviously it takes some receivers off the field,” USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said.
That meant a long afternoon on the sideline for the rest of USC’s receivers. Kyle Ford, Michael Jackson III, John Jackson III and Kyron Ware-Hudson did not earn an offensive snap.
Bryant is likely to surpass all of them in his return; though, after an unexpectedly shallow rotation, it’s unclear how much the speedy outside receiver might play after such a prolonged absence.
Kedon Slovis (9) hands off the ball to receiver Gary Bryant Jr. (1). “He’s another weapon,” said Harrell. “That’s always important. Adds another element to it. He’s got a special skill set. He’s really quick. He can run. He has an explosive skill set. We’ve got a lot of guys who can be pretty good with the football in their hands, and he’s one of them. Just getting another weapon will be good for us as a unit.”
latimes.com
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One thing I haven’t heard is the Bru ha ha over McCoy. He would be a valuable asset if he were available. I hope for his sake the school doesn’t drag things out.
I also hope the line gets practice with live people this week. Several times the linemen looked as if they were taught to get into a position and stay there. I saw the right tackle chasing his missed block toward Slovis several times and wondered where he was taught to do that.
It has to get better because it can’t get much worse
Really, if the LA District Attorney can figure out there is no case already then what is SC admin doing? Trying to gather every bit of rumor, gossip, He said-She said, that they can? You would have thought they learned something from Boormeester.
I don’t believe the USC Title IX offices focus on “beyond a reasonable doubt” as a standard of proof to reach, like criminal prosecutors do. Just a wild guess here, but it’s getting harder and harder to understand USC these days for me.
USC OL trying to catch up with SJS: Ryan Young (TrojanSports.com) — New USC offensive line coach Clay McGuire is fairly candid, and so in evaluating the Trojans’ season opener Saturday he had no hesitation sharing one aspect in which he really thought his unit was lackluster. “The disappointing thing is if we do get the little things here and there in about four or five plays I do think we go over 200 yards [rushing],” he said Tuesday after practice. “The one thing I’ll say that was disappointing in the run game, I thought we came off the ball… Read more »
This is where I question the strength and conditioning aspect. I would like to hear his thoughts on why this was happening.
Clay McGuire — “I honestly have high expectations. I want them to be perfect out there. I thought we could do better, but I think that’s a very good football team we played.”
Really coach McGuire? SJS was just that good, huh?
I’m hoping he can coach them up. But we haven’t seen it with his predecessors and his bosses.
Perspective
During the first 15 games of the OHIO ST/MICH rivalry, MICH won every game. In 1902, MICH beat OHIO ST 86-0, and the game was called 1/2 way through the 2nd half.
In 1919, the Buckeyes finally beat the Wolverines, and in 1922, “The Shoe” was constructed.
I’ve been to The Shoe before. USC beat OHIO ST that day when John Cooper was their coach and the game was called because of lightning. I remember the Buckeye campus as being simply huge. And Columbus was very flat.
SC will need a great effort by Bryant and Washington since all Stanfurd eyes will be on London Saturday. I like SC to run it up on the Tree as long as Helton will allow.
Also, with all those 2 tight end formations why not more throws to TEs? If you only run it with 2 TEs doesn’t that get predictable?
When Nixon was at Colorado I thought he looked to small and at least one throw was too high for him. Better to leave him on punt/kick returns I think.
Now is the time for Helton to keep the heat off his back because as you say, the 2nd half of the season will be A LOT more challenging.
Lucky for Helton, STAN is bad. David Shaw has always had Helton’s back through The Cat’s tough times at USC.
Now both coaches are viewed as less-than-average. Strange bedfellows.
Allen, strange bedfellows indeed. I’ve always respected David Shaw as a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is type of guy. He doesn’t sugar coat bad performances and will get into a player’s grill if he needs to as opposed to hugging him like Clay. Everyone on the blog might think I’m nuts, but I’d like to see USC consider David Shaw once Helton’s current contract expires.
Lifetime Job Security
Stewart Mandel Mailbag answer: If Stanford continues to play like they did vs Kansas State do you see David Shaw out at Stanford?
Mandel — “Nope. David Shaw is the rare coach who enjoys virtually lifetime job security.
Which may be the problem. His program has regressed considerably, but to this point, he’s refused to make any staff changes. Which he can do because he’s under no pressure to do so…”
Stewart Mandel (The Athletic) — “I feel pretty confident in saying UCLA is good; it’s just a matter of how good. But what we saw Saturday night was exactly the team Chip Kelly has spent four years trying to build: A physical, run-it-down-your-throat offense with Zach Charbonnet and Brittain Brown. The defense, so horrendous his first two seasons, quietly improved last season and looked even better against LSU. “I’ve been very critical of Kelly’s recruiting, given the unusually low rankings, but give him credit for mining the transfer portal to bring in high-impact guys like Charbonnet (Michigan), Brown (Duke), safety Qwuantrezz Knight (Kent State), linebacker Ale… Read more »
And don’t forget Jay Toia!
Ya, USC’s coaches truly loved Jay. He just didn’t love them back.
Maybe it’s a little easier to understand why he bolted from USC to UCLA as soon as he could now.
That hurts.
CFB Analyst Joel Klatt — “The three best teams in the Pac-12 are going to be ORE, UCLA and UTAH, this year. “I said last week that the best team at the end of the year in L.A. was going to be UCLA. Those three teams are actual teams at the line of scrimmage, on both sides, offensively and defensively. I spoke with Chip Kelly this morning. They played games in his first year with 57 scholarship players. They are finally back to a full complement of scholarship players. Now they are practicing with 116 guys out there. Now, they… Read more »
Thanks for the post. I completely agree with Klatt. If this is correct, the SC Administration is going to have to make a decision at season’s end (if not before then), whether or not this is the sunset of SC Football. I did not think it would come so soon, but it is here right now. With the NIL, immediate transfer, and now UCLA having a dominant winning program (and it will not go away so long as Chip is there), the window just closed on the decision. If Clay stays, SC is going to be a 2nd rate mid-major,… Read more »
I hate to say it, but it’s totally amazing to me how quickly UCLA replaced USC as the perceived top program in L.A. It didn’t even take two weeks. It’s all UCLA, UCLA, UCLA now. Most of the time, I’m only the messenger. It’ll be very interesting to see how USC fans react to this over the next month. We haven’t had to deal with a Bruin team that really concerned me in a long time. This is new territory after many years of mostly Bruin ineptitude. Remember when USC beat UCLA 50-0 in 2011 with Kiffin as coach? USC’s… Read more »
I’ve been saying 5-0 for SC to start, then the hammer drops, 2-5 the rest of the way at best. Loses to Utah, ND, ASU, UCLA and BYU. The locker room will be lost after a beat down by UCLA and Helton will be gone soon after if not before the BYU game.
If Helton were actually gone before the BYU game, that would prove to me that God is Finally a Trojan, Again.
If it goes like I think it might with the Ruins the team will be spent and the only chance against BYU will be to fire Helton, otherwise they will mail a turkey hangover loss to end the season.
I also agree with Klatt that only two other teams on the West Coast are capable of playing with UCLA – Utah and Oregon. ASU might make the grade, but given the internal problems, Klatt’s call is well founded. No other Pac 12 team has the talent, except SC, and SC simply has been a grease fire for the past four years.
We have not commented much about the two tight end set, which it appears has helped the run game for the two very talented running backs. I’m still waiting to see Christon get the ball with a hole to run through and watch him take off like a rocket. With two tight ends it seems the seam routes up the middle will get exploited a little more. One thing I have noticed is USC hasn’t used much in the way of the deep crossing routes. With Bryant’s speed we may see that vs Stanford. Hope so, the deep post is… Read more »