USC’s defensive front passes first test, coaches say
DL coach Shaun Nua singles out likely contributors for the Trojans’ unit, which fared well in their first scrimmage
Luca Evans (OC Register) — His name was inexplicably scrawled in the dirt, his fingerprints everywhere inside this tiny bubble of preseason camp, the rest of the world waiting outside for the calendar to reach late August and see what magic Caleb Williams could brew in a follow-up to a Heisman Trophy-winning season.
And so there was his first name, plain as day, off to the side of USC’s practice field Tuesday morning on Dedeaux Field:
CALEB
The world revolves around him here, Williams’ triumphant voice piercing through media availability from Coach Lincoln Riley and defensive lineman Jack Sullivan, echoing across the field behind them as he appeared to emerge victorious in a friendly post-practice punting competition:
“Get me my money!” he yelled, as Riley spoke. “Run me my money!” he screamed, again, as Sullivan talked.
So the world revolves around Caleb, yes, and his spirals and stiff-arms will again draw a legion of eyes to Troy in 2023. But USC’s season, just as importantly, hinges on the front that has to swim and fight to get to him in practice – defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and assistant coach Shaun Nua’s defensive line unit, stuffed full of promise and veterans angling for snaps.
“I think overall, just as a D-line, I think we just really brought the juice,” said the mustachioed Sullivan, who repeated the phrase not a few seconds later.
Juice (noun): in this weekend scrimmage’s case, most likely referring to the defensive line’s ability to create pressure on Williams, according to Nua.
“That’s the best coverage we have is to apply pressure, especially when you have someone like 13 (Williams) back there,” the defensive line coach said. “So we’ve really challenged them that they’ve gotta show up in the passing game.”
It’s a major area of need to take USC to the next step, as the bitter taste still lingers of Utah quarterback Cameron Rising dicing up the Trojans’ defense in two of USC’s three losses last season. And, like so many of the Trojans’ positional depth charts, it is a deep and competitive group.
A breakdown of some of the key faces on the Trojans’ defensive line:
Korey Foreman: A versatile, explosive former top-ranked recruit who has yet to deliver through two inconsistent seasons on his high school promise but has turned heads in camp.
Anthony Lucas: A hulking 265-pound dynamo, Lucas comes as a sophomore transfer from Texas A&M with promise but also question marks. He played in only six games last year after he was one of four Aggies suspended following a postgame locker-room incident.
Kyon Barrs: A familiar Pac-12 face from Arizona, Barrs comes to USC as a redshirt senior from Arizona with likely the most successful collegiate career of any of the defensive line transfers, racking up 102 tackles across four seasons. Riley said Friday that Barrs had stepped up his level of play in recent days, and Sullivan said Nua challenged Barrs in USC’s first scrimmage to tackle a variety of positions on the Trojans’ defensive front.
“He’ll give us a very great chance to be elite,” Nua said.
Braylan Shelby: A 6-foot-5, 245-pound freshman rush end from Friendswood, Texas, who’s made such a mark in camp with his speed that Nua said Tuesday he had a chance to factor into the line mix.
Elijah Hughes: A 270-pound freshman lineman from Virginia whom Nua pointed to as a standout newcomer in the unit from camp.
Solomon Byrd: A redshirt senior who carved out a role on USC’s defensive line last season after transferring from Wyoming and who’s “starting to separate himself” amid a group of veteran returners, Nua said.
Bear Alexander: A beaming 300-pound sophomore transfer from two-time defending national champion Georgia who’s perhaps the biggest X-factor in a crowded line group.
“You feel like he could really develop into something,” Riley said Tuesday.
ocregister.com
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Lincoln and staff keep everything close to their vests so we don’t know a ton about fall camp, but it sure sounds like Tackett Curtis is going to be a starter or play a huge roll. Is he taking snaps from gentry?
It’s great to see USC returning to the days of competition for playing time again.
Captain America, that is he new nickname. Unstoppable.
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HOF coach Dennis Erickson blames presidents’ greed for Pac-12’s downfall Dennis Erickson spent 15 years coaching in the Pac-12, 11 of those as a HC. Tom D’Angelo (Palm Beach Post) — “It’s really, really sad to see,” said Erickson from his home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. “The thing that upsets me the most, besides the conference falling apart, the reasons for it. You got all these presidents that talk about academics and talk about loyalty and the bottom line is they move because of one thing … money. “It had nothing to do with education. It had nothing to do with… Read more »
Interesting watching kids out of high school develop: some were outstanding in high school and never develop beyond high school (Whitney Lewis, for example and perhaps Corey Foreman), some were outstanding in high school and continue to develop and became outstanding in college (Reggie Bush, for example), some were not great in high school but developed into outstanding in college (Clay Matthews, for example), some were outstanding in high school, developed in college but fail to develop to outstanding (Imam “Biggie” Marshall, for example.) It is interesting to watch the kids on this team. Unlike SC teams of the last… Read more »
Famous Last Words “I will tell you what we’ve seen is the longer we wait for the media deal, the better our options get,” George Kliavkoff said on July 21 at the Pac-12 media day in Las Vegas. “It’s not a concern,” GK said of other conferences poaching Pac-12 schools. “Our schools are committed to each other and to the Pac-12. We’ll get our media rights deal done. We’ll announce the deal. I think the realignment that’s going on in college athletics will come to an end for this cycle and then the truth is we’ve got bigger fish to… Read more »
What a whiff! He missed on all accounts. Not sure the 4 remaining schools want Georgie doing anything for them any longer.
True. You’ve got to wonder how much weight GK’s work carries with any of the remaining Pac schools, all of whom have GK to thank in some part for their desperado situations.
But the Pac presidents have always been asleep at the wheel themselves. They face major pushback against blaming anyone else now that the Pac is on its deathbed.
Yesterday Washington State AD Pat Chun said on the John Canzano show: “This league (the PAC) has been grossly mismanaged for over a decade.” Did he just figure this out? And why did not Washington State attempt to fix it? Chun can now talk publicly because the presidents of the universities that caused the problem (as I understand it, led by the ASU president Crow) are all leaving the conference. Oregon State and Washington State should have been working overtime to get rid of Scott. They were the ones with the most to lose. It is interesting that at the… Read more »
Pat Forde @ByPatForde
Update: Multiple sources say there is “momentum toward” adding Cal and Stanford but it’s unclear as of now whether the 75 percent vote threshold (12/15) can be reached. If presidents don’t think they have the numbers, they likely won’t take a formal vote. Ongoing saga.
I doubt the ACC votes them in. They are only competitive with the bottom half of the conference anyway and no big TV boost either. I am sure it is about being affiliated with someone makes life easier as far as scheduling. Their elitist attitude will prevent them from going to a lesser conference. Cal is just following along like ucla did.
Steveg, Never underestimate the egos of academics. Stanford and Cal have huge academic reputations. And the ACC can say that is is now a bicoastal conference with road games to the Bay area. It makes zero logistical or common sense, but then academics have never been famous for being the most practical folks in the world, nor having much common sense. I would not be surprised by if it works. All it proves is Cal and Stanford simply cannot drop men’s football.
The ACC for Cal and Stanford makes no sense. They should go to the Mountain West with Oregon State and Washington State.
Stanford has a huge and successful athletic dept and an endowment that is gigantic. They do not need to be affiliated with a conference in football, but I do think they will want that in all other sports.
More and more info is leaking out about left-behind STAN being unwilling to give up its Power 5 status if at all possible.
Without the ACC (which seems impossible, no?), Pac, Big 12, SEC, and B1G, not sure how the Cardinal plans to work this out.
Headline-making STAN, usually intentionally under the radar in football, seems to have the biggest brand name with no place to go right now.
The 2 things I love about college football over the NFL, it’s my alma mater forever and the campus is not going to pack up and move. Too bad for Stanford they can’t pack up and move to the Northeast, that’s where they would need to be to stay Power 5.
STAN’s in one of the all-time athletic dept fixes as I see their spot. But maybe I’m just overreacting.
This is just a terrific topic in my mind.
I’d sure like to hear from others with any thoughts about STAN, their position, or how they will end up.
I think Stanford has to seriously look at going independent and doing their best. They can’t get a ND thing going, but they can probably keep a BYU type of thing going. Joining the ACC is stupid and nobody else wants them because it is obvious they have given up on being competitive for a while.
I have made it clear that I do not like Stanford, but they have earned this disrespect. They kicked USC out of the league in 1924. They changed their mascot after the band had bought new uniforms. I just don’t like them.
My take on the situation is the four remaining conferences in the power five should draw straws, short straw gets Stanford. The league with the long straw gets first pick of the rest.
Frosh ILB Tackett Curtis’ is making waves Time and again, Tackett Curtis’ strides from spring ball to fall camp earned praise from veteran players Tuesday morning when asked about early fall-camp standouts. “I’ve got to say Curtis,” rush end Jamil Muhammad said. “The reason I say that is because I was just talking about him a few minutes ago about the scrimmage the other day. That’s why he’s the first to come to mind. A lot of guys, but he’s the first name to come to mind. “I’ve been around a lot of freshmen the past couple years, and they don’t come quite… Read more »
Allen, I watched Curtis’ high school film and it is one of the best I have seen – Derrick Henry’s was better. He stands the chance to be the best D recruit SC has brought in since Junior Seau or perhaps Chris Claibourne. I can see him starting over Gentry before the year is out. He is an amazing prospect. If you are running you team on “best player plays”, the only ILB who is even close in ability is Cobb and Cobb is probably the best ILB prospect at SC since Claibourne. Gentry is also a very talented prospect… Read more »
I had forgotten just how amazing (and crazy) Johnny Football was, starting with his redshirt frosh year at A&M in 2012 when he seemed to single-handedly beat ‘Bama in Tuscaloosa and quickly won the Heisman before beating OU 41-13 in the Cotton Bowl.
Marqise Lee finished 4th that year in the voting.
His laid-bare documentary Untold: Johnny Football is definitely worth a look on Netflix. Money, money, money!
You read what Wash St. President Schultz says about the end of the PAC 12 it all comes to light that a lot of us figured what was going on and we were right. That since 2016, the presidents were meeting only three times a year discussing the PAC 12 and were not engaged in what was happening nor what the future would be. That Kliavcoff was blind sighted by the LA schools leaving for the Big Ten then everyone started looking out for themselves and you couldn’t trust what the other schools were telling you. He didn’t mention Gene… Read more »
Trojans Battling for Position Spots in Week 3 Lincoln Riley — “This is a big week for our guys. A lot of the reps that you’re going to start putting into the different groups offensively, defensively and special teams are going to start to narrow here towards the end of this week. For guys that want to kind of stake their claim of why they should be on the field, this is go time. This is it. “The interesting thing is we certainly have — compared to 12 months back — there’s certainly more position battles right now. There are… Read more »
It’s always good when our OLine has arms larger than their heads. That guys is massive.
It should be understood that the top programs year in & year out playing for championships rotate players in throughout a whole game so by the 4th quarter the offense/defense is still playing hard & aggressive. If Riley understands this, he should be telling his troops there will be plenty of playing time on the field if you show us you will earn your way playing all out while out there. You will go in throughout the whole game!
It was pretty much a disaster watching USC trying to compete in the 4th Q last season with such a thin team, especially on D. Glad that’s over. And yes, I expect USC’s D will be massively improved (not just a little) over last year.
The haters seem to think Alex Grinch can’t even coach a talented group of players.
I believe Grinch’s rep will benefit greatly from what the hugely restocked and rehabbed USC D accomplishes this year.
Korey Foreman is due. Last season he pulled off a late game interception to seal a victory for USC, outside of that he’s been a bust. I don’t know if he was overhyped or under coached, but he came with expectations, which thus far have been unmet. Here is my unproven theory, which I produce often and annoyingly. Korey was held back by Todd Orlando in an effort to undermine the recruiting kudos of Donte Williams, while hoping he’d prove to be a better candidate for the head coach job. I know it sounds stupid, but I am talking about… Read more »
Just read on ESPN that the SEC Commissioner is greatly saddened by the demise of the PAC. He called the Stanford and I think Oregon State ADs with condolences. What a crock! The SEC picked off A&M, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and OU from I think first the Southwest Conference (destroying that conference) and then from the Big 12. The SEC started the process (and I am convinced (no proof at all) the SEC was behind SC getting taken down for conduct that was trifling compared to what the SEC was doing) which has resulted in consolidation into effectively two super… Read more »
I think one of the more interesting angles for this season will be watching how the poor self-destructed Pac performs overall this season. As you point out, there’s a lot of media smoke about the Pac being stronger this year than usual. Hmmm? I’ll believe it when I see it, especially since I suspect the brutal explosion of the conference will have a negative final-season on-the-field effect on at least some teams. The psychological ramifications of all this figure to complicate any predictions. I also expect UTAH to be down, probably because QB Cameron Rising’s health (torn ACL in Rose… Read more »
Yes, we definitely owe Mr.Rising a very special experience.
I love pre-season camp. Nothing but optimism abounds! (As long as Gomer is not your head coach.)
I have trouble finding any current info out there on The Cat at GA SO. He must be building a tremendous warrior culture in Statesboro between film study marathons. 😅
I will see what I can dig up in the next few days and report back to you.
Can’t wait. The last I heard, The Cat was expounding relentlessly on what he had learned from his pitiful time at USC — “Protect and promote your ‘culture’ at all costs”, or some such goop.
Exactly what the new football “culture” is at GA SO under CH remains unclear to me, though I suspect lots of picnics are involved. Does he still frequently refer to his Eagle players as “warriors”, especially after brutal defeats?
Or finding a new love of his life.