USC’s veteran linemen see big things in Mason Murphy’s future
Murphy got the start on Saturday and delivered a solid performance against Stanford
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — When USC began its summer weightlifting program, guard Justin Dedich asked to change groups for the offseason, so that he was paired with redshirt freshman Mason Murphy.
Dedich, and the rest of the veteran offensive linemen at USC, had identified something in Murphy. They all wanted to help guide him to become the player they believed he was capable of being. So Dedich wanted to be in Murphy’s ear and set an example during the summer workouts.
On Saturday, Murphy got his first chance to showcase to the public what has made his teammates so confident in him. The 6-foot-6 lineman got his first career start at right tackle and allowed just three pressures in 50 pass-blocking snaps.
“Mason Murphy’s a talented kid. Probably the most talented in our room,” Dedich said after the 45-38 win over Arizona. “We all had confidence that he was going to do the job and he did.”
Murphy was a three-star prospect when he arrived at USC last season out of JSerra. As a true freshman, he did not see the field before foot surgery eliminated any chance of him getting some playing time.
But the many veterans in USC’s offensive line room and the new coaching staff saw something in Murphy. Talent, absolutely, though they needed to help him mature to be ready for a moment.
“I give Mason credit, he’s followed. We’ve been hard on him,” head coach Lincoln Riley said. “He’s got some real talent, he’s really got a chance to be a good player, but he’s needed to grow up and mature and really kind of press forward.”
Added starting tackle Jonah Monheim, “We were all trying to get on him every day to get him to do the right things, to take every day each day at a time and prove every day. Because he’s a super-talented guy. If he does the right thing day in and day out, the sky’s the limit for him.”
Murphy was thrown into the fire in Week 3 against Fresno State. An injury to left tackle Bobby Haskins forced him into action, and Murphy was immediately beaten off the line.
But when an injury to Andrew Vorhees caused some shuffling to the line ahead of the Arizona game, it was Murphy who was pegged to start at right tackle.
“Just let it fly,” was the advice Murphy received from Monheim, who started seven games as a redshirt freshman. “We knew he was ready. Obviously Coach (Josh) Henson believed in him to make the start and everything. Just go out there and don’t hesitate. You’re good enough, all of that, you prepared well enough. Just let it fly, let it rip.”
The USC offensive line is going to undergo a major transition after this season. Vorhees, Haskins and center Brett Neilon all will graduate. Dedich will have a decision to make about his future. So that’s at least three, potentially four, open starting jobs.
But Murphy has proven that he should be ready for the limelight when his name is called.
“Mason’s willingness to kind of push through and get better was great, and then Mason’s a competitive guy,” Riley said. “Some guys kind of rise up on game day, some guys kind of cower down a little bit. The moment certainly wasn’t too big. He was ready to go in and compete.”
Injury Update
Riley said that all players held out against Arizona due to injury – WR Jordan Addison (leg), RUSH Korey Foreman (undisclosed), LB Eric Gentry (ankle), LB Ralen Goforth (hand), LG Andrew Vorhees (undisclosed) and WR Mario Williams (undisclosed) – participated in some form at practice Tuesday and have a chance to play Saturday against Cal.
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Caleb Williams is among 5 Pac-12ers named a semifinalist for Maxwell Award
Oct 8, 2022; Los Angeles; Pressure from WSU Cougars LB Daiyan Henley forces an incomplete pass by USC’s Caleb Williams in the second half at the LA Memorial Coliseum. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
I have no inside scoop, but Duce Robinson seems like a Trojan for sure by all accounts for a long time now. If USC doesn’t sign Duce, that will be a huge recruiting disappointment.
ORE, OHIO ST and USC have all received OVs from Matayo Uiagalelei. If anyone has any predictions or more info on Matayo, please let us know.
I know I am a little off-topic, but it is hard for me to believe that Texas A&M isn’t playing a little “outside the box” in the recruiting world, and by that, I mean by some rules that no one else is operating under. Despite a 4-loss season last year, they finished first in the country according to Rivals last year, for reasons no man can explain. They had no less than a nation-leading SIX five-star recruits! This season, they are 3-5, having failed to beat anyone with a pulse, and yet they have three more five-star recruits in tow… Read more »
Nothing is really off-topic here Rock, because it always somehow affects USC football, right? Your comment is right on the money. Lots of teams with attractive NIL set-ups will still have to answer to their vastly disappointed fans on game day. It takes a lot to put together a great, culturally strong, top-level program, and the NIL game will prove to be a mixed bag for programs with coaches and players who can’t measure up. There will always be many of those, and the yearly huge turnover of coaches to prove it. In fact, underperforming teams have literally always been… Read more »
From what I have heard of TAM it sounds like they have a bunch of millionaire freshmen who maybe now think they are all that. Jimbo is having discipline issues with them. There may be a bunch of older guys with as much or more talent and have been putting in the work and are not millionaires. Maybe Jimbo will get them in line maybe not. As has been written here before, there may be some talent on the TAM roster that will be looking for a better culture where you earn your NIL on the field.
Rock, The story is simple. A&M was the first to go into the pay for play NIL. It has been reported that they paid $35 million for this class. Have no idea if it is true. Or what the terms were. My guess is there are a lot of very wealthy true frosh on the A&M roster. I thought it was a really stupid approach giving unproven 18 year olds that kind of money. Well, I think that has been proven with the team performance. As I have no idea the terms of the NIL, I do not if A&M… Read more »
How is #9 USC looking for the CFB Playoff? J. Brady McCollough (LAT) — “USC and UCLA need to root against Clemson and TCU the rest of the way. The Tigers and Horned Frogs are unlikely to stay ahead of a one-loss Pac-12 champion that has built a ton of momentum late. “The Trojans and Bruins — and this might be hard to stomach — should also root for Oregon to win out until the Pac-12 title game. The more impressive the Ducks look going in, the more USC or UCLA would benefit from knocking them off in Vegas. “The… Read more »
2023 NFL Draft midseason rankings (The Athletic): The top 50 prospects in college football (only four Pac-12 players; 19 are from the SEC) 13. Christian Gonzalez, CB, ORE 18. Jordan Addison, WR, USC A twitchy athlete, Jordan Addison plays with outstanding body quickness, both as a route runner and after the catch. He is undersized, and his play strength is a concern, but he has done a nice job cutting down on his drops while thriving in the Trojans’ offense. Addison has some routes on tape where you’d swear Stefon Diggs suited up in a USC jersey for the afternoon. 32. Clark Phillips III, CB, UTAH 44.… Read more »
This year’s so-called Big Game in northern California figures to be another classic contest between two currently helpless programs. 3-5 STAN is coming off a 38-13 drubbing from UCLA. 3-5 CAL took it on the chin from ORE in Berkeley 42-24. They meet on Nov. 19 in Berkeley, the same day USC will try to wreck UCLA in the Rose Bowl. No times yet for either game, but the clueless Pac-12 and lame George Kliavkoff are probably doing their best to start the games at the same time. I wonder if, for the UCLA game, USC will be assigned the… Read more »
I see a few undisclosed injuries and wonder what kind of coach speak that is. Other than the Foreman injury I described below, I wonder if it’s not injuries, but illness. Another possibly is doghouse duty. Riley could be sending a message. Just having those players back could help the Trojans beat the three touchdown spread, but I still ain’t betting on it.
Bill Walton on UCLA to Big Ten: ‘I Hope It Does Not Happen’ Daniel Chavkin – Yesterday 1:42 PM Walton said UCLA’s decision to join the Big Ten is centered around football and money, without taking into account “the other 24 sports and 600+student-athletes at UCLA, who are responsible for 99+% of UCLA’s National Championships.” Walton claims nobody thinks this move is a good idea, and he has let the UC Board of Regents know his feelings. “My hope and dream is that this proposed move by UCLA, my alma mater, will be rescinded,” he closed in his plea. Well… Read more »
Well, maybe Bill can write UCLA a $40-$50 million a year check. If UCLA wants to stay in the Pac, I am certain that UW or Oregon will be honored to take their place.
You could see this coming from a mile away, especially as Bill views himself as the unofficial ambassador of the so-called Conference of Champions (in Olympic sports).
I haven’t heard a thing lately about the Regents and UCLA on the Big Ten move, though I thought there was supposed to be some big official powwow about it near the end of Oct.
Allen, I think you got it. Walton clearly identifies with the Pac and is one of the select few who loves the Conference of Champions approach. His vision of sports is very much on a par with the Stanford administration’s view. I really think that UCLA has no choice in the matter. And, I have always viewed Newsome as simply trying to skim off some of the financial benefit for Cal, which is in horrific financial shape. He also gets to score political points with his Bay Area political base.
What Walton and the other naysayers of the move don’t get, how do you pay for all the other college sports? If want those sports to grow it will take a lot of money. Something the Pac12 is less and less able to provide. As far as the travel, lectures can be viewed on line, Q/A with instructors can be done with Zoom, same goes for tutors. Does the concept “Work From Home” resonate?
The term student-athlete is much more like athlete-student as far as football goes now. It’ll be interesting to see how CFB players are viewed in five years from now.
There are nearly 13,000 D1 college football players. I have read that as low as 1.6%(any professional sport of all college athletes) to 20% of football players will get into the NFL. The other 80% will be looking to graduate and go to work like the rest of us.
Walton doesn’t care about football, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, like most others from that school. And figures this will keep the football program down and maintain UCLA a “basketball school” and financially broke all the time. Pure socialist attitude that school nurtures.
Foreman won’t be any loss (except as a practice body), but I hope he is allowed to stay at USC if that’s his pref and he commits to always giving his best effort. He’s a local guy and has had to deal with his over-publicized and misguided #1 recruit label. I don’t see a “fresh start” as being that helpful to him, unless he just doesn’t like being at USC.
Allen, On that point we agree. Foreman needs to realize that he is not that talented. If he cannot start on this team, he is not going to start at any quality program. He can start at a MW or lower school. So, does he want to start for a second tier program or play for the Trojans.
I have heard (or just made up whichever is more plausible) Korey tripped over his high school press clippings and banged his head against his lofty expectations. He’s changing his major to narcissistic studies next semester.
The recruiting services responsible for this blatant rankings misevaluation error are to blame.
Strangely, Foreman turned out to be a “victim” in a way. So far, he’s been a well-guarded mystery at USC, in part because there’s been so much pressure on him to live up to his bogus #1 ranking.
Mason, Quinones, Ford, Monheim, and Dedich would be our starters next year if we had to choose today. I’ll bet Riley brings in some plug and play starters from the portal. Same goes for D Line. There will be impact guys who now know USC is a great place to land, compete at national level, a d be developed.
“Mason Murphy’s a talented kid. Probably the most talented in our room,” Dedich said after the 45-38 win over Arizona. “We all had confidence that he was going to do the job and he did.”
“Mason’s willingness to kind of push through and get better was great, and then Mason’s a competitive guy,” Riley said. “Some guys kind of rise up on game day, some guys kind of cower down a little bit. The moment certainly wasn’t too big. He was ready to go in and compete.”
Caleb Williams is among 5 Pac-12ers named a semifinalist for Maxwell Award
Oct 8, 2022; Los Angeles; Pressure from WSU Cougars LB Daiyan Henley forces an incomplete pass by USC’s Caleb Williams in the second half at the LA Memorial Coliseum. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Yahoo Sports
Allen, what are the chances LR signs 5-star players Tight End Duce Robinson and Edge Matayo Uiagalelei?
I have no inside scoop, but Duce Robinson seems like a Trojan for sure by all accounts for a long time now. If USC doesn’t sign Duce, that will be a huge recruiting disappointment.
ORE, OHIO ST and USC have all received OVs from Matayo Uiagalelei. If anyone has any predictions or more info on Matayo, please let us know.
All the info I have read or heard is Matayo really is passionate about his music career. If that is a priority, we have a huge advantage. I hope so.
I know I am a little off-topic, but it is hard for me to believe that Texas A&M isn’t playing a little “outside the box” in the recruiting world, and by that, I mean by some rules that no one else is operating under. Despite a 4-loss season last year, they finished first in the country according to Rivals last year, for reasons no man can explain. They had no less than a nation-leading SIX five-star recruits! This season, they are 3-5, having failed to beat anyone with a pulse, and yet they have three more five-star recruits in tow… Read more »
Nothing is really off-topic here Rock, because it always somehow affects USC football, right? Your comment is right on the money. Lots of teams with attractive NIL set-ups will still have to answer to their vastly disappointed fans on game day. It takes a lot to put together a great, culturally strong, top-level program, and the NIL game will prove to be a mixed bag for programs with coaches and players who can’t measure up. There will always be many of those, and the yearly huge turnover of coaches to prove it. In fact, underperforming teams have literally always been… Read more »
From what I have heard of TAM it sounds like they have a bunch of millionaire freshmen who maybe now think they are all that. Jimbo is having discipline issues with them. There may be a bunch of older guys with as much or more talent and have been putting in the work and are not millionaires. Maybe Jimbo will get them in line maybe not. As has been written here before, there may be some talent on the TAM roster that will be looking for a better culture where you earn your NIL on the field.
Rock, The story is simple. A&M was the first to go into the pay for play NIL. It has been reported that they paid $35 million for this class. Have no idea if it is true. Or what the terms were. My guess is there are a lot of very wealthy true frosh on the A&M roster. I thought it was a really stupid approach giving unproven 18 year olds that kind of money. Well, I think that has been proven with the team performance. As I have no idea the terms of the NIL, I do not if A&M… Read more »
How is #9 USC looking for the CFB Playoff? J. Brady McCollough (LAT) — “USC and UCLA need to root against Clemson and TCU the rest of the way. The Tigers and Horned Frogs are unlikely to stay ahead of a one-loss Pac-12 champion that has built a ton of momentum late. “The Trojans and Bruins — and this might be hard to stomach — should also root for Oregon to win out until the Pac-12 title game. The more impressive the Ducks look going in, the more USC or UCLA would benefit from knocking them off in Vegas. “The… Read more »
2023 NFL Draft midseason rankings (The Athletic): The top 50 prospects in college football (only four Pac-12 players; 19 are from the SEC) 13. Christian Gonzalez, CB, ORE 18. Jordan Addison, WR, USC A twitchy athlete, Jordan Addison plays with outstanding body quickness, both as a route runner and after the catch. He is undersized, and his play strength is a concern, but he has done a nice job cutting down on his drops while thriving in the Trojans’ offense. Addison has some routes on tape where you’d swear Stefon Diggs suited up in a USC jersey for the afternoon. 32. Clark Phillips III, CB, UTAH 44.… Read more »
This year’s so-called Big Game in northern California figures to be another classic contest between two currently helpless programs. 3-5 STAN is coming off a 38-13 drubbing from UCLA. 3-5 CAL took it on the chin from ORE in Berkeley 42-24. They meet on Nov. 19 in Berkeley, the same day USC will try to wreck UCLA in the Rose Bowl. No times yet for either game, but the clueless Pac-12 and lame George Kliavkoff are probably doing their best to start the games at the same time. I wonder if, for the UCLA game, USC will be assigned the… Read more »
I am hoping that the USC/ucla game is on ABC like it used to be. They would be smart to put the Stan/Berk game on at 8:30 on the pac network.
I see a few undisclosed injuries and wonder what kind of coach speak that is. Other than the Foreman injury I described below, I wonder if it’s not injuries, but illness. Another possibly is doghouse duty. Riley could be sending a message. Just having those players back could help the Trojans beat the three touchdown spread, but I still ain’t betting on it.
Bill Walton on UCLA to Big Ten: ‘I Hope It Does Not Happen’ Daniel Chavkin – Yesterday 1:42 PM Walton said UCLA’s decision to join the Big Ten is centered around football and money, without taking into account “the other 24 sports and 600+student-athletes at UCLA, who are responsible for 99+% of UCLA’s National Championships.” Walton claims nobody thinks this move is a good idea, and he has let the UC Board of Regents know his feelings. “My hope and dream is that this proposed move by UCLA, my alma mater, will be rescinded,” he closed in his plea. Well… Read more »
Well, maybe Bill can write UCLA a $40-$50 million a year check. If UCLA wants to stay in the Pac, I am certain that UW or Oregon will be honored to take their place.
You could see this coming from a mile away, especially as Bill views himself as the unofficial ambassador of the so-called Conference of Champions (in Olympic sports).
I haven’t heard a thing lately about the Regents and UCLA on the Big Ten move, though I thought there was supposed to be some big official powwow about it near the end of Oct.
Allen, I think you got it. Walton clearly identifies with the Pac and is one of the select few who loves the Conference of Champions approach. His vision of sports is very much on a par with the Stanford administration’s view. I really think that UCLA has no choice in the matter. And, I have always viewed Newsome as simply trying to skim off some of the financial benefit for Cal, which is in horrific financial shape. He also gets to score political points with his Bay Area political base.
What Walton and the other naysayers of the move don’t get, how do you pay for all the other college sports? If want those sports to grow it will take a lot of money. Something the Pac12 is less and less able to provide. As far as the travel, lectures can be viewed on line, Q/A with instructors can be done with Zoom, same goes for tutors. Does the concept “Work From Home” resonate?
The term student-athlete is much more like athlete-student as far as football goes now. It’ll be interesting to see how CFB players are viewed in five years from now.
There are nearly 13,000 D1 college football players. I have read that as low as 1.6%(any professional sport of all college athletes) to 20% of football players will get into the NFL. The other 80% will be looking to graduate and go to work like the rest of us.
And guys like Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison are driving around $150,000 Mercedes Benzs as soon as they hit USC. Evolving times.
Walton doesn’t care about football, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, like most others from that school. And figures this will keep the football program down and maintain UCLA a “basketball school” and financially broke all the time. Pure socialist attitude that school nurtures.
Bill Walton smoked too much dope in college. And he really did. But he was always pretty stupid….
How the heck did Foreman get injured, he hasn’t done anything.
I would not be surprised if LR & Foreman have a meeting after the season agreeing he should go portal and get a fresh start somewhere else.
Foreman won’t be any loss (except as a practice body), but I hope he is allowed to stay at USC if that’s his pref and he commits to always giving his best effort. He’s a local guy and has had to deal with his over-publicized and misguided #1 recruit label. I don’t see a “fresh start” as being that helpful to him, unless he just doesn’t like being at USC.
Allen, On that point we agree. Foreman needs to realize that he is not that talented. If he cannot start on this team, he is not going to start at any quality program. He can start at a MW or lower school. So, does he want to start for a second tier program or play for the Trojans.
I have heard (or just made up whichever is more plausible) Korey tripped over his high school press clippings and banged his head against his lofty expectations. He’s changing his major to narcissistic studies next semester.
The recruiting services responsible for this blatant rankings misevaluation error are to blame.
Strangely, Foreman turned out to be a “victim” in a way. So far, he’s been a well-guarded mystery at USC, in part because there’s been so much pressure on him to live up to his bogus #1 ranking.
Mason, Quinones, Ford, Monheim, and Dedich would be our starters next year if we had to choose today. I’ll bet Riley brings in some plug and play starters from the portal. Same goes for D Line. There will be impact guys who now know USC is a great place to land, compete at national level, a d be developed.