USC’s Anthony Lucas out for season, leaving defensive line thin
The junior, USC’s most important defensive line piece off the edge, underwent a procedure for a lower-leg injury, Lincoln Riley said
USC DE Anthony Lucas speaks to reporters during the Trojans’ preseason media day earlier this summer at Heritage Hall. (Photo by David Crane, LADN/SCNG)
Luca Evans (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — A year ago, Anthony Lucas was better in practice than he was in actual football games.
A year later, during USC’s fall camp, a confidence steadily built that these Trojans wouldn’t only see the best version of him on Howard Jones Field.
“It feels a bit different,” head coach Lincoln Riley said a month ago, of Lucas. “More mature. More steady.”
Through six games in 2024, USC has gotten the version of Lucas the coaches first envisioned when they plucked a 6-foot-5, 295-pound former five-star recruit out of the transfer portal from Texas A&M in 2023. Beefed back up to 275 pounds after slimming as a sophomore, Lucas quickly established himself as USC’s most important defensive line piece, racking up a team-high 12 pressures and proving stout against the run off the edge.
But they only had that different version, it turns out, for six games, as Riley told reporters on Tuesday that Lucas would be out for the rest of the season after undergoing a procedure on his leg.
Lucas had limped off with an injury and was taken to the medical tent late in USC’s Week 5 loss to Minnesota, still managing to play 38 snaps and record six tackles against Penn State last weekend, according to Pro Football Focus. He wasn’t seen working with USC’s defensive line group during the early period of USC’s practice on Tuesday, however, and Riley clarified that Lucas had an injury to a “lower extremity.”
“Hate it for Anthony, because he’s really improved,” Riley said. “He had a really strong impact on our defense.”
“He’s in a good frame of mind,” Riley continued. “We’ll be excited to get him back next year and get him rolling and build on all the progress he made. And in the meantime, it’s going to create an opportunity for some more guys to step up.”
The question is who, exactly, as USC’s defensive line room is already dangerously thin – and its front was further weakened Tuesday by the announced medical redshirt of senior linebacker Eric Gentry. Lucas was praised throughout the fall for his versatility in rotating at interior and edge spots, and both groups will feel his loss, a junior who has played more snaps than anyone else on the Trojans’ defensive line in 2024. Starting defensive tackle Gavin Meyer is banged up, carted off midway through last the loss to Penn State. Former difference-maker Bear Alexander is out of sight and out of mind, not seen at a USC practice since settling on a redshirt three weeks ago.
“You rely on the development that’s been going on (behind) the scenes, and the guys that you’ve recruited,” Riley said, when asked the plan for USC’s defensive line with Lucas’ absence. “And maybe there’s some guys that you thought, ‘Well, maybe their role won’t be quite as much this year, maybe they redshirt’ – that, now all of a sudden, they’re going to have that opportunity.”
The most obvious name in that group is true freshmanKameryn Fountain, the most highly prized recruit to come out of USC’s 2024 recruiting cycle and a true eye-popping standout at 6-6 and 265 pounds. He flashed college-ready burst during a handful of snaps against Utah State in Week 2, recording a few tackles and a quarterback pressure, and stands to inherit a few looks during the second half of USC’s season.
“From spring to now,” defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn said of Fountain in early September, “he’s like a different player.”
USC, too, will desperately need established names in its edge group to step up in Lucas’ absence, as the roster has continued to rank dead-last in the Big Ten in quarterback pressures for much of this season. Sophomore Braylan Shelby has been stout against the run, but after putting on 20 pounds during the offseason, he has recorded just one sack and five quarterback hurries through six games.
“Probably higher than anybody on the team,” defensive ends coach Shaun Nua said during fall camp, when asked the standard for Shelby in 2024.
“Just as high,” he continued, “same as Anthony Lucas, and any guy that has the ability to do big things.”
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Again, I’m beating the dead donkey, but I am sure glad that LR put such a strong emphasis on recruiting and developing OL and DL players over the last 3 seasons. Now we have the needed depth for when key players like Anthony Lucas and Eric Gentry go down with season ending injuries. Yeah, right…🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬.
We all feared what injuries would handicap this team depth wise. The Bear’s redshirting adding onto Lucas & Gentry injuries just magnifies the loss here. If Meyer’s injury keeps him off the field then we are in serious condition. For players yet to rotate onto the field of play it gives them a chance to show what they can do but for the fanbase to hold its breath more losses don’t come player and record wise, we don’t know what to expect. For USC football rest of this season, it’s about survival.
In today’s late edition of the Register is an article about Lucas’s replacement. Maybe Riley does recruit because he went up to Stockton ( nobody goes to Stockton CA) to recruit a basketball playing kid who had only started playing football in his senior year of high school. Devon Tompkins will start on the line Saturday. The article calls him a “stud.”
Unfortunately most studs I know of are race horses put out to pasture, prize bulls or covered by drywall so they’re not seen. Hopefully he’s the best one out of the three.
and how … let’s go dumb ass old school and bench him vs Minny after tough luck fumble, his 1st all season I believe, when he has 45 yds on 4 carries. Maybe have a fresh Joyner in the 4th quarter wouldn’t had to throw that stupid pick 3rd and 4 while in FG range. LR is a true enigma.
Imagine how ‘Nole fans feel about Mike Norvell, who has basically collapsed.
He’s been completely worthless since GA beat FSU in the 2023 Capital One Orange Bowl, 63-3. SMU even beat Norvell in Dallas 42-16 a few weeks ago.
Norvell was only making $5.5 mil per year until last February when he brokered his 13-1 2023 season up to over $10 mil yearly for eight years after showing interest in the post-Saban ‘Bama job.
We definitely have a few coaches on that list who have really good agents and gullible employers–starting right here in University Park in Los Angeles.
😪😥
Suck be should paying Texas … and Ole Piss is wasting a lot of money they probably don’t have
That fat agent of SucKiffer is something, no doubt doing the kick back deal.
Those rankings were done by SEC Honk Ryan McGee. Maybe someone should remind that fool what happened the last time the Trojans played an Elite team from that conference.
SC has had some struggles, but putting them in the bottom 10 is just plain stupid, which is something you can’t fix.
ESPN’s College football Bottom 10 after Week 7: USC left longing for Pac-12 Here are the post-Week 7 Bottom 10 rankings.
5. Trojan Man! (3-3)
“Note to USC and heck, UCLA, too: If you’re going to turn college football on its ear and inside out because you spent 2021 frustrated with the state of Pac-12 football, then the least you could do in return is, oh, I dunno, stop playing 2021 Pac-12 football.”
Actually, this list doesn’t bother me. I’ve read that column for years and always found it amusing. Sometimes you have to lighten up and laugh because that’s all you can do.
Absolutely, vT. This is all about CFB entertainment.
While the ranking may be BS, it is funny, as well as a way to see how outsiders view USC football — and I agree with McGee’s commentary that USC needs to stop playing “Pac-12 ball.” Sounds good to me.
It is a funny article every week, but it isn’t as good as the guy who did it for years in the Times (was his name Steve?). I am glad he threw the bruins under the bus also!
There used to be another funny one, something like the Fan Misery Index, which took a shot at matching fan expectations with actual team results. I haven’t seen that one for a while though.
Another tough loss with Lincoln Riley has USC leading college football’s Week 7 Misery Index Dan Wolken (USA TODAY) “Circumstantial evidence says Lincoln Riley is miscast as the face of a USC program that isn’t recruiting like a blueblood, isn’t playing like a Big Ten contender and isn’t offering the public relations pop that you need in the nation’s second-biggest market. “Right now, 33 games into his tenure, it just looks like an awkward fit. Instead of adapting to the laid-back LA lifestyle and making it work to his advantage, Riley looks tense and immature. He lashes out at… Read more »
It’s taken joining the Big Ten for the West Flagship program to be called “gutty”. I blame the LA region press for continuing asking easy nice questions when LR showed he wasn’t that knowledgable making the right moves to correctly turn a football program around in a standard 3-year period and having a 11 & 10 record the last 21-games. Just remember this, LR could have started building depth and his reputation among the California HS’s from the moment he signed his HC contract and not enamored himself with one-year wonders from the Portal. Maybe his confidence in himself was… Read more »
I’m right with you VT. OK we all know Helton was as smart as a 2 slice toaster but was a nice man who never should have been given the job. Its been 3 years since he left. In those 3 years we have seen LR prove that he can outsmart himself on any given day multiple times and never admit it. He might be a 4 slice toaster compared to Helton but he’s not a nice man. Just ask any reporter who dares to ask a responsible question.
I’ve never heard of men being reduced to two or four-slice “toasters” before. Very creative and humorous.
I think we all originally thought of LR as the complete “toaster oven.” I know I did.
Remember those heady days back in late 2021 when LR flew the safe confines of the uber-solid OU coop for USC? I wonder how “2-Slicer” feels about that move now?
Lucas had limped off with an injury and was taken to the medical tent late in USC’s Week 5 loss to Minnesota, still managing to play 38 snaps and record six tackles against Penn State last weekend, according to Pro Football Focus. He wasn’t seen working with USC’s defensive line group during the early period of USC’s practice on Tuesday, however, and Riley clarified that Lucas had an injury to a “lower extremity.”
The most obvious name in that group is true freshman Kameryn Fountain, the most highly prized recruit to come out of USC’s 2024 recruiting cycle and a true eye-popping standout at 6-6 and 265 pounds. He flashed college-ready burst during a handful of snaps against Utah State in Week 2, recording a few tackles and a quarterback pressure, and stands to inherit a few looks during the second half of USC’s season.
Again, I’m beating the dead donkey, but I am sure glad that LR put such a strong emphasis on recruiting and developing OL and DL players over the last 3 seasons. Now we have the needed depth for when key players like Anthony Lucas and Eric Gentry go down with season ending injuries. Yeah, right…🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬.
We all feared what injuries would handicap this team depth wise. The Bear’s redshirting adding onto Lucas & Gentry injuries just magnifies the loss here. If Meyer’s injury keeps him off the field then we are in serious condition. For players yet to rotate onto the field of play it gives them a chance to show what they can do but for the fanbase to hold its breath more losses don’t come player and record wise, we don’t know what to expect. For USC football rest of this season, it’s about survival.
In today’s late edition of the Register is an article about Lucas’s replacement. Maybe Riley does recruit because he went up to Stockton ( nobody goes to Stockton CA) to recruit a basketball playing kid who had only started playing football in his senior year of high school. Devon Tompkins will start on the line Saturday. The article calls him a “stud.”
Unfortunately most studs I know of are race horses put out to pasture, prize bulls or covered by drywall so they’re not seen. Hopefully he’s the best one out of the three.
There must be a coach on staff that can help Lincoln Riley with his cuckoo clock management?
Also somebody who will give the rock more to Quinton Joyner. You want a first down, give it to Joyner. He gets 10 yards a carry.
and how … let’s go dumb ass old school and bench him vs Minny after tough luck fumble, his 1st all season I believe, when he has 45 yds on 4 carries. Maybe have a fresh Joyner in the 4th quarter wouldn’t had to throw that stupid pick 3rd and 4 while in FG range. LR is a true enigma.
1 Kirby Smart (5-1)
2 Dabo Swinney (5-1)
3 Steve Sarkisian (6-0)
4 Lincoln Riley (3-3)
5 Ryan Day (5-1)
6 Mike Norvell (1-5)
7 Kalen DeBoer (5-1)
8 Brian Kelly (5-1)
9 Mark Stoops (3-3)
10 Lane Kiffin (5-2)
11 Eliah Drinkwitz (5-1)
12 Josh Heupel (5-1)
Clemson and USC not getting their money’s worth right now.
Imagine how ‘Nole fans feel about Mike Norvell, who has basically collapsed.
He’s been completely worthless since GA beat FSU in the 2023 Capital One Orange Bowl, 63-3. SMU even beat Norvell in Dallas 42-16 a few weeks ago.
Norvell was only making $5.5 mil per year until last February when he brokered his 13-1 2023 season up to over $10 mil yearly for eight years after showing interest in the post-Saban ‘Bama job.
We definitely have a few coaches on that list who have really good agents and gullible employers–starting right here in University Park in Los Angeles.
😪😥
Suck be should paying Texas … and Ole Piss is wasting a lot of money they probably don’t have
That fat agent of SucKiffer is something, no doubt doing the kick back deal.
Those rankings were done by SEC Honk Ryan McGee. Maybe someone should remind that fool what happened the last time the Trojans played an Elite team from that conference.
SC has had some struggles, but putting them in the bottom 10 is just plain stupid, which is something you can’t fix.
Just imagine what a B1G honk would have written! 😉
ESPN’s College football Bottom 10 after Week 7: USC left longing for Pac-12
Here are the post-Week 7 Bottom 10 rankings.
5. Trojan Man! (3-3)
“Note to USC and heck, UCLA, too: If you’re going to turn college football on its ear and inside out because you spent 2021 frustrated with the state of Pac-12 football, then the least you could do in return is, oh, I dunno, stop playing 2021 Pac-12 football.”
espn.com
Actually, this list doesn’t bother me. I’ve read that column for years and always found it amusing. Sometimes you have to lighten up and laugh because that’s all you can do.
Absolutely, vT. This is all about CFB entertainment.
While the ranking may be BS, it is funny, as well as a way to see how outsiders view USC football — and I agree with McGee’s commentary that USC needs to stop playing “Pac-12 ball.” Sounds good to me.
It is a funny article every week, but it isn’t as good as the guy who did it for years in the Times (was his name Steve?). I am glad he threw the bruins under the bus also!
There used to be another funny one, something like the Fan Misery Index, which took a shot at matching fan expectations with actual team results. I haven’t seen that one for a while though.
Another tough loss with Lincoln Riley has USC leading college football’s Week 7 Misery Index Dan Wolken (USA TODAY) “Circumstantial evidence says Lincoln Riley is miscast as the face of a USC program that isn’t recruiting like a blueblood, isn’t playing like a Big Ten contender and isn’t offering the public relations pop that you need in the nation’s second-biggest market. “Right now, 33 games into his tenure, it just looks like an awkward fit. Instead of adapting to the laid-back LA lifestyle and making it work to his advantage, Riley looks tense and immature. He lashes out at… Read more »
Ah yes, there it is. Thanks! I’d forgotten it was a USA Today thing.
Just published four days ago. Your timing is amazing. Thanks for the reminder.
It’s taken joining the Big Ten for the West Flagship program to be called “gutty”. I blame the LA region press for continuing asking easy nice questions when LR showed he wasn’t that knowledgable making the right moves to correctly turn a football program around in a standard 3-year period and having a 11 & 10 record the last 21-games. Just remember this, LR could have started building depth and his reputation among the California HS’s from the moment he signed his HC contract and not enamored himself with one-year wonders from the Portal. Maybe his confidence in himself was… Read more »
The “gutty” label was brutal. I always thought UCLA owned that territory since the Gary Beban and Terry Donahue days.
Hopefully, that will be the last reference to USC being gutty I ever see.
Without Caleb and those portal guys SC goes 6-18 or worse past 2 years. Gomer left this program a complete dump.
True, but the Gomer excuse is running out of runway quickly.
Last few final minute flops have been Gomeresque for sure … wow
You can say that again!
I’m right with you VT. OK we all know Helton was as smart as a 2 slice toaster but was a nice man who never should have been given the job. Its been 3 years since he left. In those 3 years we have seen LR prove that he can outsmart himself on any given day multiple times and never admit it. He might be a 4 slice toaster compared to Helton but he’s not a nice man. Just ask any reporter who dares to ask a responsible question.
I’ve never heard of men being reduced to two or four-slice “toasters” before. Very creative and humorous.
I think we all originally thought of LR as the complete “toaster oven.” I know I did.
Remember those heady days back in late 2021 when LR flew the safe confines of the uber-solid OU coop for USC? I wonder how “2-Slicer” feels about that move now?