USC spring football game: New-look defense starts slowly but picks up speed
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — After a spring meant to ensure progress, the new pieces on USC’s revamped defense took their places, ready to start anew.
Anthony Lucas, the Trojans’ new five-star lineman who transferred from Texas A&M, towered over the line of scrimmage, as intimidating as promised. Mason Cobb, who was an All-Big 12 Conference linebacker at Oklahoma State, crouched in the middle, running to every hole with reckless abandon. In front of him was Kyon Barrs, who was an All-Pac-12 Conference defensive tackle at Arizona, holding down the interior with the sort of size USC sorely lacked.
So much of the Trojans’ defense looked different from the group that unraveled at the end of last season, and for the last four weeks ahead of the spring game, optimism had been the overriding narrative. But as quarterback Caleb Williams (who received his copy of the 2022 Heisman at halftime) dropped back on the opening snap Saturday, lacing a 45-yard pass confidently across the field, it was fair to wonder how much a few players plucked from the transfer portal could be expected to turn around a defense on their own.
That question couldn’t be solved with one spring game. But the opening drive didn’t offer much solace. It took just three plays for Williams to lead the Trojans down the field and find wide receiver Mario Williams in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown, punctuating an early gut punch for USC’s defense.
“We knew what we had to fix,” safety Calen Bullock said. “We got to the sideline and was like, ‘Let’s calm down and just play football.’ ”
Austin Jones (6) celebrates with WR Mario Williams after Williams caught a first-quarter TD. (Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
USC’s defense did indeed calm down. It got after the quarterback at times. It clamped down somewhat in the secondary. It even came away with a spring victory over the Trojans’ offense, 42-34, for what that’s worth.
But it never faced Williams again after that first drive, as the reigning Heisman Trophy winner sat after those initial three plays. Three of the defense’s four forced turnovers came against freshman quarterback Malachi Nelson, who struggled to find his footing in his Coliseum debut. Not to mention the defense still had issues against the run, as several running backs, including a pair of impressive freshmen, blew through the Trojans’ front.
Still, afterward, USC coach Lincoln Riley remained sunny about the outlook of his defense. He pointed to a bulkier front seven, especially as evidence.
“We all knew deep down that we had some holes there last year,” Riley said. “I mean, it is what it is right? You knew. And even when we’re winning games and playing, playing well defensively, like, you know, at some point this has got to be addressed. It was going to be a focal point no matter if we won five games last year, we won 11, or we won 15 games last year. Like, it was going to happen. And so I’m excited about what that it looks like.”
Some changes certainly had been made since last season. That much was clear Saturday. But whether they’re enough, that won’t be known for a while.
Miller Moss set to be No. 2 QB
Caleb Williams talks with fellow QB Miller Moss during USC’s spring game. (Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
What is known definitively after the spring is that USC has a clear No. 2 quarterback behind Williams.
The difference between established backup Miller Moss and Nelson, a true freshman five-star player, was more pronounced than expected Saturday, as Nelson often looked erratic at the helm of the Trojans’ third-team offense.
Nelson wasn’t entirely healthy for the spring after he underwent shoulder surgery before enrolling, but he played most of the spring. He threw two interceptions, albeit one on a desperation heave at the end of the game, and had a lost fumble. Moss, meanwhile, was much more polished.
“I think he’s taken another great jump,” offensive tackle Jonah Monheim said of Moss. “You can feel it when he’s on the field. You can feel his confidence.”
Quinten Joyner making his mark
No newcomer made a better impression in the spring game than Quinten Joyner, the Trojans’ four-star freshman running back. Joyner had multiple big runs, including a 26-yard touchdown.
“You saw it today. The dude just naturally makes explosive plays,” running back Austin Jones said. “He gets out of trouble all the time.”
Fellow freshman A’Marion Peterson added a late rushing touchdown as USC’s pair of new young backs finished an already impressive spring on a strong note.
Where they will fit in USC’s running back rotation remains unclear — MarShawn Lloyd, another newcomer, also looked strong Saturday — but they are forcing their way into the conversation.
Lincoln Riley speaks with the team after the spring game at the Coliseum.
(Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
Zach Branch earning praise
Zach Branch started his spring debut with a drop. But the electrifying freshman wide receiver would have plenty of opportunities to make up for it after that.
Arguably no newcomer has had more praise heaped upon him this spring than Branch, who was the highest-rated prospect to sign with USC in its 2023 class. The Trojans fed him accordingly Saturday.
Branch finished with eight catches, flashing his shifty speed and his surprising strength. At one point, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound receiver threw linebacker Shane Lee over his shoulder as he was being tackled.
Branch was more prevalent in USC’s spring game than Raleek Brown, a similarly electric five-star prospect who moved this spring from running back to slot receiver. Brown had four catches for 69 yards playing strictly as a slot receiver and never took a handoff, either from the backfield or on jet sweeps.
(Allen J. Schaben / LAT)
Of all the position battles to monitor in the fall, there might be no more fierce competition than at cornerback, where several defensive backs were jockeying for time this spring. Sophomore Domani Jackson and redshirt sophomore Ceyair Wright got the starts Saturday, but Jacobe Covington made the biggest splash.
Covington (14) tore away a potential touchdown catch from new wide receiver Dorian Singer and came away with a red zone interception. Then, with the final seconds ticking away, he made another interception, this one against Nelson to decide the game.
All three of those cornerbacks, as well as Arizona transfer Christian Roland-Wallace, will have a chance to lay their claim to two open spots in the fall. It’s impossible to tell at this point who the favorites are for either spot.
Defensive line newcomers stand out
Lucas came to USC with the most impressive pedigree among the Trojans’ new pass rushers. But in his Coliseum debut, he was often outplayed by his fellow sack artists upfront.
Jamil Muhammad opened Saturday as USC’s starting edge rusher and, after starting slowly, forced a strip sack of Nelson at a critical juncture. He started alongside Lucas, Barrs and Jack Sullivan on the defensive line, all four of them newcomers. Solomon Tuliaupupu was the only returner along the Trojans’ line.
The most surprising standout performance up front came from true freshman Sam Greene, who notched a sack and added several more pressures after converting to edge rusher ahead of the spring. So far, that transition seems to be going seamlessly for him. Don’t be surprised to see him play a role in the fall.
latimes.com
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I really like Sam Greene. He has a chip on his shoulder all the time and plays so hard. I think he is going to be really good for us right away. Bold prediction but I believe he will be our best recruit on D in this years cycle.
Ya, Greene’s gonna be a player by all accounts based on how he has shown up so far.
I’m no longer worried about the upcoming USC defense. I know most everyone else is, but I don’t see why the 2022 D has to dictate what 2023 will look like, especially with so much focus on rectifying it Though it was the worst I ever saw in 2022, the new crop of LBs and DBs are much improved, more athletic, and faster IMO. I think the DL is better too talent-wise, and figures to improve, possibly added to. Alex Grinch wasn’t good last season, but honestly, he didn’t have much to work with, and once Gentry went down, so… Read more »
Allen I agree with you the 2023 D looks to be better than 2022. Amazingly, the O also looks to be improved. The trouble is the schedule in 2023 looks tougher than 2022. 5 of the last 6 are all tough teams. So we shall see how far they go. My expectations are to see The Trojans in the conference championship game and the playoffs.
I know the 2nd half of the schedule is pretty daunting, but the 1st half should be an easy setup. STAN is now worthless. And the big games against UTAH, UW and UCLA are in the Coliseum. I predict ORE will backslide.
It’ll be very intriguing to see what USC does during the portal period which just started Saturday.
I think LR is not done with the D talent upgrade. I expect we are going to see more upgrades coming in. We will find out what type of D we have probably in Week 8 or so. After Gentry went down against Utah, the 2022 SC D went down with him. Prior to the Utah game, the SC D was decent (not great but decent and opportunistic). After Utah, they stunk; they were just awful. So, what happened? First, they lost Gentry for the year (while he came back, he was far from healthy and played hurt). Second, based… Read more »
I don’t see USC’s defense getting “destroyed” at all in 2023.
I think people are often neglecting what has already changed very significantly about the USC D. No way USC’s D will be nearly as weak as last season.
It’ll be interesting to see if I’m right or wrong here, because I’m sure many think I’ve just got a lot too much Trojan Kool-Aid in me. Could be. But I’m still betting USC’s D will be MUCH improved, even without further help from the Portal.
Allen, you are setting yourself up. This type of thinking is simply, IMO, naive.. AL gave up 51 points last season to TN; then remember what South Carolina did to TN. Look at the playoff games: in the semis, Ohio State put up 41 on GA (and should have put up 44); TCU put up 51 on Ohio State. It is in the nature of college football for a good to great D to get embarrassed/destroyed by at least one quality opponent a season. SC is playing 5 quality opponents this year, and has them all bunched in the last… Read more »
You said USC would get destroyed in a “couple” of games, not just one. Big diff there.
I also don’t think either UCLA or UW will beat USC in the Coliseum as I predicted earlier, so I don’t care how many points they score. USC will score more against both those teams.
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Also, I’m not nearly as anti-Grinch as you are, and I don’t think for a second that he’s gonna get the boot this year.
The nature of the Spring Game makes everything I saw that I liked, have something I saw that a I didn’t like. I liked the running back faking the defense out of their sports underwear, but then I didn’t like seeing the defense losing their jock on the field. I believe our backup quarterbacks are as good as good if not better than the rest of the league’s starters. I think the scrimmage was tilted towards the offense because two of the pass interference calls should have been against the offense. As I said previously I think we should be… Read more »
Lincoln Riley on Spring Ball LR — “I told the team after that was a very fitting end to our spring. Because I would say that’s in a lot of ways what our spring has looked like in terms of competitive, down to the wire. Most days have been like that and a lot of my excitement comes just from in the past, looking back at some of the better teams that I’ve had, the chance to be a part of that, that’s what it was. “The majority of time, every day was a battle. If any player or any… Read more »
I was out of town and didn’t get to see the Spring Game. I was checking out Lake Isabella, CA and may move there for the Summer to get out of the brutal heat here in Bullhead City, AZ. I like LR’s quote. So refreshing to hear as opposed to The Cat. I’m hoping Caleb Williams stays healthy this upcoming season. If he does, he has a legitimate shot of repeating as the Heisman winner. I’ll always have a bitter taste in my mouth the second time Archie Griffin was awarded the Heisman. I thought my classmate Ricky Bell deserved… Read more »
I loved the fact that the two freshman running backs refused to go down on first contact, unlike Jones. Lloyd should be the starting RB. Branch should be a starter.
Steve, The one solid takeaway from the game is Rayleek Brown is now playing slot and not RB. I like this move. I thought Brown was not strong enough for RB. He simply went down with the first hit. Both true frosh RBs are far stronger and can run through tackles.
If we get Cam’ron Johnson and Bear Alexander, look out! The big time transfers are now putting us at the top of their lists. Lincoln Riley!
Chris, I think LR will pull them in. They seem to want the same thing USC is offering, as shot at the NC.
Such a tease the spring game.(Pac 10 coverage sucked. by-by) We get glimpse of overall team, then we wait for months until season starts. The O easily could be best in country. The D has better pieces, but are their enough to be a playoff quality unit?…..Let the transfer window open!!
Does anyone know the attendance?
Anyone making any assumptions based on the spring game is crazy. We know this team will be good but we won’t know a thing until the real games start in the fall.
From what I saw there is just a blatant amount of amazing skill and athleticism on this team. Spring games are more than just a little silly to try to evaluate, but USC’s D will always be the big question for this team until they show they can stop anybody decent in 2023. I’m not worried. The pieces on D are coming together to be at least good enough to protect some leads better. That’s gonna happen. This USC team which won 11 games last season is clearly more sure of itself, together, and talented now IMO, and people like… Read more »