Isaiah Pola-Mao turns a temporary corner to help USC’s defense deal with Talanoa Hufanga’s departure to the NFL
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — Their leader at safety left for the NFL. A starting cornerback followed. Their usual nickel corner was out for spring. The replacement tore a knee ligament last Tuesday. So as USC began scrimmaging on Saturday afternoon, with its secondary in somewhat rough shape, Isaiah Pola-Mao walked up from his usual perch at safety to line up in the slot, settling into his new, albeit temporary place at nickel.
There aren’t many other options at cornerback. Not after USC lost Max Williams for the year to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. Greg Johnson, who opened last season as the starting nickel, isn’t expected to return from his own knee injury until fall either. Until Saturday, USC didn’t even have its top corner, Chris Steele, due to health and safety protocols.
Last year, Williams played in all six games, making three starts as he recorded 22 tackles and 2.5 for loss. “I’ve always been a fighter no matter what has happened,” tweeted Williams, who suffered the same injury in the opening game of his senior season at Serra High. “I’ve overcome it once and I’ll do it again.”
But the Trojans still have Pola-Mao, who was already the linchpin of the secondary even before injuries swept through the depth chart. Now, he’ll be needed at another position.
“Isaiah’s been in the system,” USC coach Clay Helton said. “He understands it, and it just helps him grow also and puts some tools in his toolbox by being so versatile.”
Pola-Mao will likely revert to safety when Johnson returns in the fall. But for now, his move to nickel will open up plenty of chances for the four safeties who signed on early to fight for playing time.
Redshirt freshman Xavion Alford, who transferred from Texas this spring, was the main beneficiary of Pola-Mao’s move on Saturday, as he slid in next to junior Chase Williams (20 games of experience) on the first-team defense. His experience, Helton said, was the main reason for his early opportunity.
“We’re so inexperienced, you can’t put a value on that,” Helton said. “And so to have a year under your belt as a college football player, you can see that shine through.”
“He’s acting like a veteran, a multi-year kid,” Helton said Williams. “He made a very veteran play in the run game on Thursday that really stood out to me and looked as fast and confident as I’ve seen him since he’s been here.”
The other three safeties vying for time are all early-enrolling freshmen, eager to make an impression. On Thursday, Calen Bullock did just that, intercepting two passes.
Helton described Bullock as “extremely rangy.” He characterized fellow freshman Anthony Beavers as someone with “safety athleticism but plays the game physically like a linebacker.” And he noted that Xamarion Gordon “picked up the playbook probably faster than any of the young guys.”
Alford has the clearest path to playing time of the four. But with Williams standing out, he may have to hope for Pola-Mao’s move to nickel to stay permanent, if he hopes to snag a starting job.
Pili leaves practice
Among those vying for a place in the middle of USC’s defensive line, no one had a better opportunity than Brandon Pili, whose experience as a redshirt senior made him an obvious candidate to replace Marlon Tuipulotu.
But an injury held Pili out the first week of camp. Then, on Saturday, just two practices after returning, Pili suffered what appeared to be a left ankle or knee injury. He had to be helped off the practice field, unable to put any weight on the leg.
The severity of his injury was unclear. But if Pili is forced to miss the rest of spring — or longer — it could open the door for two of the Trojans’ young tackles to secure their spot on the line.
Redshirt freshman Jamar Sekona and early enrollee Jay Toia have impressed through two weeks of spring practice. Sekona stepped in on the first-team defense when Pili went down, while Toia also saw plenty of repetitions at the position.
For Toia, it’s the first reps he’s received in nine months following the canceled California high school season. But to the pleasant surprise of USC’s coaching staff, that long layoff hasn’t affected his conditioning.
His size, meanwhile, hasn’t surprised anyone. Helton called him “a mountain of a man” with the “head of an elephant.”
“Now, he’s a guy that we were hoping could possibly contribute next year because of his physical, mental maturity,” Helton said. “You’re talking about a 300-pound man that just, you have to double-team him. If you single him, it’s a hard day. We’re very fortunate to have Jay here. It was a great competitive battle in recruiting to get him here. He has a very bright future at USC.”
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Chance of Winning Pac-12 Football Title in 2021 per @ESPN
FPI
46.2%—Oregon
26.9%—USC
14.9%—ASU
4.3%—Washington
3.0%—Stanford
2.8%—Utah
1.1%—UCLA
0.4%—Cal
0.3%—Colorado
0.1%—OSU
0.1%—WSU
0.0%—Arizona
This is fun. I will use their number but I would put ASU in USC’s spot (26.9%),put UCLA in ASU’s spot (14.9%), USC in Utah’s (2.8%) and Utah in UCLA’s (1.1%).
It’s all about the USC football brand/tradition. It still holds a lot of weight, at least in the West. Just like the UCLA brand in basketball. UCLA finally makes the Final Four and you would have thought they’ve been a dominant program for 10 straight years, not one that lost four straight to football school USC. ASU has always been viewed an an underachiever — a sleeping giant that never woke up. Labels like that are very hard to ditch, regardless of the reputation of Herm Edwards. The USC games against ASU in Tempe and UCLA at the Coliseum should… Read more »
If Clancy were still here I’d agree. But our D will be the best in the conference. Plus UCLA is a joke program and ASU hasn’t done anything for real in a long time.
Chris, I hope you are correct, but I think ASU’s D will be better than ours. GH is a promising but still developing talent. I doubt SC will able to run the ball. And, I do not see our D improving as I see no one to replace Hufanga. Basically, I think SC is a 6-6 team next year: bad OL, mediocre RBs, simplistic O scheme, inability to run the ball, and a decent but not dominant D. UCLA was better on O last year than we were and returns virtually the entire O. Our D needed the heroics of… Read more »
@TrojanRJJ I’ve been thinking about the USC/UCLA football match-up a lot lately, and I’m no longer set on predicting a Bruin victory. Now, I see it as a toss-up. Why? Number one, it’s in the Coliseum. UCLA hasn’t won there since 2013, when Brett Hundley was their QB. DTR is no Hundley. Two — this UCLA team doesn’t know how to win. Five consecutive losing seasons. And teams lose good players every year. USC lost a great one in Hufanga. I’ve harped on that a lot. But UCLA loses a couple of very good players and probable mid-round picks in… Read more »
Every season USC loses a top player. Historically since college football began that has been the case. I am not at all worried about the loss of Hufanga, as history has shown, the next top player will step up, change the flavor of the defense, and they function in a different fashion. With PC as coach, it was a simple reload, the same with McKay. With CH, God only knows.
Seems also every season a freshman or freshmen start somewhere on the team as if few experienced players stick around for 3-4 years. I’m not talking about back ups, but starters.
@Steveg When Talanoa Hufanga stepped on campus in year one on the Trojan D as a frosh in 2018 and started five games before breaking his collarbone, he was immediately better than Marvell Tell, a fifth round pick by the Colts in 2019, who opted out of the 2020 NFL season due to Covid. I really don’t see USC producing another unanimous All-America safety who could also play a ferocious LB in 2021. Players don’t just show up like Hufanga, the co-2020 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year, along with projected #2 pick, BYU QB Zach Wilson, every year.… Read more »
We will know definitely know the week prior to the game, probably several weeks prior to then. But at this stage, all we can do is speculate. I doubt the D will be as good with Hufanga but I could be wrong. I doubt the OL will be better without Tucker but I could be wrong.
6-3 PG Boogie Ellis, originally from Mission Bay, CA, has announced his intention to transfer to USC from NIT winner MEM, where he played two years.
“Ellis (who also has a rep as an excellent defender) averaged 10.2 points last season while shooting 38.6 percent behind the arc. But he started only 15 times after 27 as a freshman and his minutes dropped from 24.5 to 23.4 per game, and being named American Athletic Conference sixth man of the year may have been little consolation.”
sandiegouniontribune.com
Forward Chevez Goodwin (6-9, 225, Columbia, SC) is coming back for his extra year of eligibility for 2021-22.
He averaged 14.9 minutes, 5.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
USC is allowing 5,000 fans at the Coliseum spring football game: Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — After more than a year of empty stadiums, USC will soon play football in front of fans. Spectators won’t be packing the 77,000-seat Coliseum just yet. But USC will open its spring showcase to about 5,000 fans Saturday after state and county health officials approved limited crowds for the university’s remaining home spring-sport events. Fans at the USC showcase will still be subject to the state’s updated public health protocols. All spectators must be California residents, and seating will be limited to six seats per viewing… Read more »
With PM going to cornor, I like the idea of the young guys getting reps and PM expanding his role. Now with Pili down, no matter what size head the guys have, we have a serious hole to fill. Nothing about linebackers or pass rushers. Anything new with those guys?
Do we have to be subject to Clay Helton’s quotes in these articles? Can’t we just refer to them as, “unnamed sources within the Trojan Football Program stated today…”?
I have to admit. Sometimes when reading a USC football article, I intentionally don’t dare to read Helton’s quotes. It’s just too laughable, in a sad sort of way, for me to see him come out with these worthless Heltonesque and overused bromides.
I do admit though, that Helton’s use of “head of an elephant” as a never before heard of non-Crimson Tide description for Jay Toia got me thinking of Africa immediately!