Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — When doling out opportunities during his first season as USC‘s running backs coach, Mike Jinks usually didn’t have many options. Injuries tended to make the hard choices for him.
Vavae Malepeai, the Trojans’ leading rusher, missed five games with a knee injury in the middle of the season. Markese Stepp, their most efficient back, missed six games at the end after ankle surgery. Kenan Christon, their freshman speedster, didn’t receive a carry until the seventh week. And Stephen Carr, their healthiest back, still missed three games with a hamstring injury.
Almost a year later, USC’s backfield still doesn’t have an entirely clean bill of health. Malepeai is shaking off his own hamstring injury and Stepp still is slowly working back his way back into form.
All four backs are expected to be ready for the start of this shortened season on Nov. 7, and Jinks assured that each will have a role.
But after a near-even split a season ago, all four have been challenged during USC’s training camp to “step up and be that alpha,” Jinks said Tuesday.
Carr seems to have taken that edict seriously. Coach Clay Helton said Monday that Carr has had “his best camp to date,” while Jinks was similarly effusive in his praise of the senior all-purpose back.
“He looks as good as he’s ever been since I’ve been here,” Jinks said.
Over the previous two seasons, Carr never quite matched the standard he set in the first four games of his freshman year, when he averaged 107 total yards per game and scored three times. He’s equaled that yardage just three times and added eight touchdowns in the 25 games since.
But as practices turned to full pads last week, coaches say they’ve seen a different version of Carr, one that dances less at the line of scrimmage and welcomes more contact in between the tackles. Both Jinks and Helton said Carr “set the tone” with his physicality during the first full-contact practice.
“I just want to be more physical this year,” Carr said. “That’s really the only thing on my mind. The college world has seen a lot of what I can do when it comes to catching the ball out of the backfield, making people miss.”
That burst isn’t the only mark of his improvement. Carr said he spent the offseason studying tape of Ronald Jones II, the former Trojans back starting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and still watches clips of him before some practices.
Mentally, Carr said, he’s never felt more prepared.
The obstacles standing in the way of USC’s other running backs this offseason were primarily physical ones. Christon added 10 pounds over quarantine, in order to help shore up his pass protection. Stepp, who was listed last season at 235 pounds, was challenged to cut 10 pounds and has since looked more explosive and confident, Jinks said.
Stepp was routinely the most effective of USC’s running backs when given the chance during his redshirt freshman season. Among Pac-12 backs, his 6.4 yards per carry trailed only Washington State’s Max Borghi.
But with his trajectory slowed by an injury, every Trojans back is expected to have an equal opportunity. Carr has made the most of those chances so far. But how it shakes out in USC’s backfield is still anyone’s guess.
“They’ve shown that they can all be an every-down back, so it’s kind of not one of those situations where I want to just roll one in on third downs, this, that, or the other,” Jinks said. We’re going to continue to compete and the hot one or the hot two or three will be the guys out there playing.”
Etc.
USC’s Friday night home game against Washington State on Dec. 4 will begin at 6:30 or 7:30 and be televised by FS1.
I hope Carr and all of the Running Backs stay healthy this year. Carr has just had a lot of tough luck in his USC career and I’d like to see him have a breakout season.
Former Falcon’s WR Roddy White has some advice for Trevor Lawrence:
“If I were Trevor Lawrence and the Jets finished with no wins, I would just go back to Clemson. I don’t want any part of that organization.
“It would just be awful for you to get drafted by the Jets. They do not know how to put anything together over there as far as quarterbacking, weapons around the quarterback, or as far as anything to do with offensive talent. That team is just bad at picking players.”
I wonder if Darnold knew what he was facing with the Jets organization going in the draft early? Or did he just want to escape what was happening with the USC program thinking if I am going to get beat up I might as well get paid for it?
I had no idea the Jets were as bad as they are. I never followed them until Darnold became their #3. I can understand now how any super draft pick would simply refuse to play there and force a trade if possible. It’s just an NFL graveyard, plain and simple. I don’t see how any potential #1-3 draft pick could stay in school, personally. There’s just too much cash there to turn down. Sam’s only hope now is to get traded. It may not ever work out for him, but he had little choice. Now Trevor Lawrence may be the… Read more »
Or Lawrence could pull an Eli Manning and say “I don’t want to play there”, like Manning did to the Chargers. The Jets would be better served by drafting Offensive Linemen and Defensive players to build the team.
SI.com (Ross Dellenger & Pat Forde) — LSU Football Self-Imposes Penalties, Bans Odell Beckham Jr. from Facilities for Two Years LSU is self-imposing penalties for rules violations and hoping the NCAA doesn’t levy more. The school is also docking itself eight football scholarships over a two-year period and reducing recruiting visits, evaluations and communication after a nearly two-year investigation uncovered booster payments to the father of a football player, sources tell Sports Illustrated. • The father of former offensive lineman Vadal Alexander received $180,000 in stolen money from LSU booster John Paul Funes, who admitted in 2019 that he embezzled more than… Read more »
Should we more surprised it happened or they got caught? And still amazed Alabama has stayed clean under Saban. Just trying to imagine the scene, Odell running around the field after the game stuffing C Notes in players uni’s like he’s at a strip club!
Saban is such an intense micromanager that watches over his program like no other with a huge staff.
On the other hand—is what Beckham did really that big of a deal?
I sure hope this is true. I am pulling for Carr to do well in his senior season. In the past, he always bounced to the outside and tried to outrun defenders which usually ended up in losing yards.
I sure like the idea of Carr running north/south more and I really like what I read here. He frustratingly “danced” his way to mediocrity lately. His running style just wasn’t developing him into the runner he wanted himself to become. I don’t see any reason not to believe a local reporter who flat out writes that Carr has decided to dance less and Carr himself is quoted as saying he wants to be more physical (like Ronald Jones was and Markese Stepp is). Jinks and Helton both made note on an improved Carr. Carr’s a SR now. He knows… Read more »
I would really like to believe this, but I have seen this type of claim made year after year under Helton and turn out to be pure propaganda. I wish Carr all the success.The article does not mention his broken back, which seems to have finally healed. I certainly hope what we are being told is true. The success of Ronald Jones at the pro level (and Jones is a physical runner) AND the success of AL under Sark using a physical power run game (Harris is as physical a back as I have seen) combined with a pass attack… Read more »
@TrojanRJJ I have no idea why you keep talking about Mike Leach, the funny, always intriguing weirdo who constantly finds himself stuck at lowly programs that have little to no chance of winning big consistently. I get it. You have no faith in the Air Raid, or confidence in GH to handle the USC O without our advice. I prefer to let GH do what he is supremely well-paid for — take completely over, produce results and create the best offense which is suitable for the talent he has. USC plays in the Pac-12. We need to worry right now… Read more »
Funny, I was actually agreeing with you. I think GH will be a better coach this year than last and his O will be much improved (assuming Kedon stays healthy). I used Leach as an example of WHY I think GH is going to be better. Leach and Kingbury are the two best known air raid coaches in the nation. I use Leach as a cautionary tale. I think GH will watch and learn (he sure as heck is not going to learn a thing from Clay). Leach and GH have similar QBs in mobility (I think Kedon is far… Read more »
Look at the stats of run/pass at North Texas while GH was the OC there. I do believe if our O line can open a hole for a change, GH will run the ball as much as pass. Of course the run opens the passing game and vice versa. All depends on how the O line operates this season.
The fact is, when Leach can’t effectively throw the ball, he has no 2nd option like a balanced offense. Look at how much rushing MSU has gained so far. While he may have had some success rushing while he coached at TT & Wash St, we all know their conferences played little defense. But in the SEC, it is different. In my opinion, the jury is still out whether GH is on the same level as Leach.
Leach just isn’t that good of a head coach. Not really. Super entertaining, but basically mediocre with minimal talent. He was exactly 36-36 at WSU in the woeful Pac-12, and actually had losing records four times.
Hopefully, Harrell will someday actually be a better head coach than Leach. I think that’s his goal.
When a Air Raid offense can run the ball effectively, it is when the defense least expects it, like a draw, swing or screen.
To some extent it is fair to compare GH to Mike Leach because GH was trained by Leach as a player and also as an emerging coach and GH also espouses the core principles of Leach, which are 1) train for nearly perfect execution 2) pass heavy attack and 3) defense doesnt matter, or in other words, you dont spend your time trying to create a huge book of plays for every defensive possibility 4) run to grass instead of running the route, so players have ability to modify routes based on defense, in real time and QB’s understand to… Read more »
@gametv I’ve been trained and mentored by more than a few people I’ve greatly respected in my life. In the end (and certainly along the way too) I developed my very own “core principles”, which aren’t necessarily what was passed on to me. In fact, some are quite different as I like to live in the present, I like to adapt and grow if at all possible. That’s only one reason why I don’t buy weirdo Leach comparisons to a totally-different-generation Harrell who happens to be coaching at one of the truly elite football programs. I’m not here to advise… Read more »
I guess I have misunderstood why we are here. Doesn’t GH read our comments?✌😅😅
LOL. If GH reads mine, he should be happy I have always defended him at every turn. And I wouldn’t change a thing about that.
I totally agree Allen — but at the risk of sounding redundant, will the holes be there? If they are, Carr could end up having an awesome season. He certainly has the potential. JMHO 👌
@Terrific Tommy I don’t know if the holes will be there. But just the knowledge that our RBs have been told to step it up, become the alpha, become “the man”, makes me more confident. I don’t know what took USC so long to get to this point, but I’m glad this stance is getting some real pub. USC has been a “by committee” running attack it seems to me for a long time. Maybe most programs trend like that because it’s just harder to find one guy who beats out the rest and takes over. But I’ve often felt… Read more »
It was interesting to see the players admit that practices were soft last year.
Amen brother, Helton didn’t think so but the players did.
That and the fact he went down on first contact from a defender. Stepps success was that he usually didn’t go down as easily.
That sounds great (like everyone hears at every fall camp), But are we actually going to have any sustained run effort? I know we are an air raid offense and I am here for it, but when teams drop 7 and 8 in coverage, let’s hope we run it down their throat.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Chris, I do remember the stats of when Harrell was at North Texas St and they ran the ball a lot, in fact over 50% of the time. You have to have holes to run through, and I agree with you, I will believe it when I see it. If the line performs we could expect a running game for a change of pace.