Wide receiver Dorian Singer ready to step in at USC
The pandemic cost Singer opportunities to showcase his talent coming out of high school, but after two seasons at Arizona, he has joined Lincoln Riley’s Trojans offense
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — Dorian Singer doesn’t need to look far to remember his roots. A quick glance down at his thigh pad and he can see the outline of his home state of Minnesota.
Growing up there, he received 14 offers from FCS-level programs. But he thought he deserved a shot at Division-I college football. So he moved to Arizona, a decision that saw him lose his previous opportunities. As the pandemic hit and took away opportunities to showcase his talent, he found himself a high school graduate with no college team to join.
Two months before the preseason, the University of Arizona offered him a preferred walk-on spot. Singer took that chance and by the time his sophomore season was over, he was the Pac-12’s leading receiver with 66 catches for 1,105 yards and six touchdowns.
“This whole process for me has been different than for everybody else,” Singer said. “If you believe, then things just happen.”
Singer’s journey has now brought him to Los Angeles. He entered the transfer portal after the 2022 season and committed to USC in December.
Even as a sophomore at Arizona, Singer monitored the Trojans in their first year under Lincoln Riley. With the Wildcats relegated to so many night games, he watched USC as he waited for kickoff. He liked the deep shots the offense took, the trust Riley put in his receivers and quarterback to make those plays.
When he got to see the Trojans up close, Singer stole the show for long portions of the game, catching seven passes for 141 yards and three scores, each more logic-defying than the last.
“I remember my family came,” Singer said. “I remember I think it was my second touchdown, I pointed at my family.”
When he entered the transfer portal in December, he was looking for a new opportunity in a winning culture. The day the portal opened, he received a call from USC receivers coaches Dennis Simmons and Luke Huard.
He wasn’t the only Wildcat to get that call. Defensive lineman Kyon Barrs posted his offer on Twitter, and Singer reached out to see what he was thinking. Soon after, Arizona corner Christian Roland-Wallace got in the mix, too.
“We all three came in together. We had a good bond at Arizona,” Singer said.
Singer is working at the X and Z receiver spots for USC this spring. He’s finding that because Riley’s Air Raid is so conceptually focused that if he knows what he’s doing on a play, he also understands what his teammates are doing.
He’s a long way from where he started three years ago, with no offers and nowhere to go. But he doesn’t need to look far for a reminder.
“Hard work goes a long way,” Singer said. “I just believed in myself and the results showed.”
ocregister.com
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Former Mater Dei football coach Bruce Rollinson honored in Congress
Steve Fryer (OC Register) — Former Mater Dei football coach Bruce Rollinson was honored in Congress on Friday by a number of representatives including Orange County congressman Lou Correa and Mater Dei alum Mike Gallager who is a congressman in Wisconsin.
Rollinson was recognized for his leadership and achievements that included winning CIF Southern Section and state championships, four national championships and coaching two QBs who won the Heisman Trophy, Matt Leinart and Bryce Young.
Rollinson, who coached Mater Dei for 34 seasons, retired after the 2022 season.
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/03/24/former-mater-dei-football-coach-bruce-rollinson-honored-in-congress/
USC Hall of Famer Steve Bisheff was a good guy and writer, and he covered it all in the sports scene during his noteworthy 42-year career. He wrote many books, and his 2006 publication Fight On!, co-written with Loel Schrader with a nice Foreward by Ronnie Lott, is one of the better Trojan books out there on my shelf, an extensive and enjoyable read. Steve Fryer (OC Register) — In his farewell 2006 OC Register column, Bisheff looked back at the many moments he witnessed and chronicled in person … “I was there for all of it. I covered Wooden… Read more »
There is probably nobody on the blog that hasn’t read Steve Bishef’s sports reporting. RIP and thanks for a job well done.
I personally knew Steve Bisheff and his family. We lived in the same neighborhood, our kids went to the same schools, and his second son swam and played water polo with mine. We attended neighborhood parties together. I moved out of the neighborhood when my kids started SC (about 30 years ago) but we would run into one another occasionally. The last time I saw Steve was about 8 years ago when my wife and I ran into Steve and his wife Marsha in the Sharkey’s Mexican Grill in Laguna Niguel. Sad to here of his passing. We would always… Read more »
Lincoln Riley — “We’re adapting, especially defensively; there are a lot of different faces out there. We’ve got our returners. We’ve got a lot of new players that are exciting, and we feel like they are going to make a really strong impact. There are more good players up front. There’s a lot more competition. There’s a lot more talent. This group has shown it is more difficult for an offense to block than our group last year. The pieces are in place.”
247sports.com
Poor UCLA. My heart goes out to the BruHorns. Gonzaga owns them.
Mick Cronin blamed the refs and poor shooting.
The Ruins seemed to run out of gas at the end. They couldn’t make shots they were making earlier and let Gonzaga get back in the game. Still anybodies game at the end. Zags made the shot. Have to admit I was rooting for Bulldogs.
GT, I thought the difference between the halves was Gonzaga stopped making turnovers and UCLA went ice cold when they had to run their O without the fast break points. It reminded of the SC/UCLA game, where UCLA had a huge lead against the Trojans at the half and then went ice cold.
It was definitely one of the worst Bruin losses I have ever seen. Period. Full stop. No questions asked. Since they couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn in the second half, nor could they rebound worth a crap, them’s the breaks.
Gonzaga’s last-second deep laser shot sure had twenty-twenty vision for that hoop.
Just a fantastic game, as so many of these March Madness thrillers are. What a tournament so far!
This is how good the jinx is. I gave Mrs. Rialto the money to bet on Ucla for me. She got waylaid by a quarter machine and spent it. So during the game she was rooting for Ucla and when we left casino when Ucla had a 10 point lead. So by the time we crossed the bridge back to our lodging Ucla had gone cold. She’s still rooting for Ucla but changing the station. I finally explained that the last minute could last 10 minutes. Ucla finally gets a lead and I tell her I am rooting for Gonzaga… Read more »
What has kept Miller Moss with the USC football program?
Antonio Morales (The Athletic) — LOS ANGELES — Not that it’s unusual, but there’s a lot of talk about the quarterback position at USC these days.
The Trojans have Caleb Williams — the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, the best returning player in college football, and potentially the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Five-star freshman Malachi Nelson enrolled in January with plenty of hype. USC also seems to be trending well with 2024 five-star quarterback and the nation’s No. 1 overall player Dylan Raiola, giving some fans visions of a monumental battle between Nelson and Raiola for the starting job next year once Williams heads to the NFL.
The talk surrounding those three quarterbacks has made Miller Moss, who was the Trojans’ backup quarterback last season, something of a forgotten man among the QBs. Former blue-chip QB prospects transfer at a high rate these days. Most quarterbacks in Moss’ situation — firmly behind the Heisman Trophy winner while having to fend off an incoming five-star — probably would’ve transferred already.
What, exactly, has led him to stay at USC?
“Shoot, well, if I’m going to sit behind anyone it might as well be the Heisman Trophy winner,” Moss joked Tuesday evening. “I think I have a ton of belief in myself as a player. I have a ton of confidence I could go to a bunch of different places and be the guy, but I also know that I have a certain passion for this place and what playing quarterback here means, and I’m willing to see that through. I have a ton of belief in myself that I’ll be able to do that.”
Moss said he spoke with Riley after the season, and the coach told Moss that he needs to be able to play his game, but if he could add some of the mobility or escapability, it would make him a much better player. That has been at the core of Moss’ focus from a developmental standpoint.
“It’s definitely been a whirlwind of a time at USC,” Moss said with a laugh on Tuesday. “I think when I committed, I said, ‘You’re either going to compete now or compete later, going in the draft or whatever it is. You can’t hide from that at some level.’ Caleb is competing with guys around the country to be the No. 1 pick next year. You can’t hide from competition at any level in this game, and I try to embrace it as much as I can.”
theathletic.com
Moss has the right attitude and he can look at Matt Cassel and hope his career takes a similar path. Matt played behind Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, two Heisman winners. Cassel got a big break in his NFL career when he filled in for an injured Tom Brady one season and did very well for the Patriots. It landed him a starting job in Kansas City that didn’t pan out too well and he ended his career as a backup for a couple of teams.
If Miller Moss ever has thoughts of becoming a head coach he is in a great spot to learn from the best. Lots of head coaches were back up QBs on college.
My guess is he stays this year and then transfers. He has a chance to play this year if Caleb goes down. LR is also the best QB coach in the nation and he gets to learn from one of the best ever – a rare opportunity. If he gets the chance to play and shines, his value increases for NIL. Smart kid. It is the right move. If he does not get to play and he gets beat out by Lemon, then he should leave. Right now is not the time.