Tag: usc spring game

Trojans Wire looks at 2024 USC football spring game on YouTube show

We previewed the USC spring game at The Voice of College Football.

The 2024 USC football spring game is this Saturday, April 20, at noon local time in Los Angeles. Everyone will be eager to see how defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has reshaped the defensive side of the ball for the Trojans, who were an embarrassment on defense for most of the past two seasons under Alex Grinch. Lynn, joined by assistant coaches Eric Henderson, Matt Entz, and Doug Belk, faces a tall task in trying to transform the USC defense, but he showed at UCLA in 2023 that he can produce quick turnarounds.

Miller Moss and Jayden Maiava, the top two quarterbacks for USC, will also attract plenty of attention and careful evaluation. Lincoln Riley has talked about the value of having an open competition between the two, though Moss is very likely to be the starter for the first game of the 2024 regular season against LSU.

On our YouTube show with Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football, we previewed the spring football game and discussed plenty of other topics as well. Subscribe to, like, and share the USC channel at The Voice of College Football:

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

USC pass rush created one positive storyline at Trojans’ spring game

The #USC D-line has to get production from lots of different sources. We saw that at the spring game.

The USC football spring game began with Trojan fans — and coaches — needing to see considerable improvement along the defensive line. Within that larger focus on the defensive line was the specific need for the pass rush to get better.

We wrote about this before the spring game:

“The 2023 USC defensive line does need to replace Tuipulotu’s production, but it’s more than that: This year’s D-line has to have three or four guys who regularly make plays. It can’t be a one-man show. Anthony Lucas is the player who is most likely to replace Tuipulotu directly as a producer and playmaker, but the bigger story (and need) is for the Trojans to have a full line stuffed with high-impact performers. That’s the real key, and that’s what we need to see on Saturday in the Coliseum.”

Guess what? We saw multiple playmakers involved in the pass rush. Sam Greene and Jamil Muhammad got sacks along with Anthony Lucas. This was indeed a D-line in which several players made plays. It was a good step forward for the most important unit on the 2023 USC football roster.

[mm-video type=video id=01gy84b3wc1jtc8k6n3y playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gy84b3wc1jtc8k6n3y/01gy84b3wc1jtc8k6n3y-6974ab707922c1518df85f24c3025cfc.jpg]

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696090524]

USC had busted coverage on first drive of spring game, then settled down

#USC DBs and safeties communicated well in the spring game after a blown coverage on the first drive.

The first drive of the 2023 USC football spring game lasted three plays. The Trojan offense scored and made the defense look really bad. Players acknowledged afterward that a blown coverage led to a long downfield pass which set up the touchdown. It was a very ugly start for a defense still smarting from the Cotton Bowl implosion against Tulane. The rest of the day could have been one continuous and unending disaster, but the defense was able to turn the tide.

What happened? Better communication, as safety Calen Bullock said to 247Sports:

“Christian Pierce’s pick,” Bullock said. “There was a lot of communication going on in that play … The group had that play understood. They knew what the check was, just out there communicating. ‘If he motions, we’re going into this or that.’ That’s major.”

The growth in understanding and awareness is undeniably positive. We will see if this truly translates into improved instincts and better habits when the season begins on August 26 versus San Jose State.

[mm-video type=video id=01gy7wbek35s4v9ptqsg playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gy7wbek35s4v9ptqsg/01gy7wbek35s4v9ptqsg-369fa72aeec3e52b8eaee75de025fe81.jpg]

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696090524]

The spring game wasn’t a perfect, smooth ride — and that’s actually good

If everything went right at the spring game, players might think they have it all figured out. Now, there’s urgency entering summer

The 2023 USC football spring game had its impressive moments. Caleb Williams looked great. The running backs displayed their potential. Defensive backs made some leaping interceptions of passes thrown into traffic. Pass rushers were able to get to the quarterback. There were plenty of highlights to note.

Yet, this was also a very ragged game. Receivers dropped passes. Quarterbacks fumbled. One particular play was an NFL “Football Follies” style fire drill in which the ball was bobbled multiple times before finally being recovered. Bad passes were thrown. The defense missed a number of tackles early in the game before settling down later on. This was not smooth precision football.

Cause for concern? To a degree … but remember: This is what spring games are for. It’s not supposed to be clean and neat. Players are supposed to make mistakes now so that they go into August camp knowing how much work they have to do in order to improve. Better to make mistakes now than in the Pac-12 opener against Stanford.

Lincoln Riley made this basic point in talking to 247Sports:

“I told the team after that was a very fitting end to our spring,” Riley said. “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 position group on either side of the ball didn’t show up, the other group was going to make them pay. And it just created this great competitiveness back and forth.”

Translation: Mistakes were made, but the other side of the ball pounced and made plays when a mistake was made. Better to see mistakes get punished than not. That’s part of how players learn, and learning how to get better is definitely something a coaching staff wants to see in a spring game.

[mm-video type=video id=01gy7wbek35s4v9ptqsg playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gy7wbek35s4v9ptqsg/01gy7wbek35s4v9ptqsg-369fa72aeec3e52b8eaee75de025fe81.jpg]

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696091895]

Quinten Joyner and MarShawn Lloyd star for USC offense in spring game

The running backs were, according to most #USC analysts, the most impressive position group in the spring game.

The USC Trojans’ offense is loaded with talent. Arguably, the running back room could be one of the best in the entire country.

Quinten Joyner and MarShawn Lloyd both came to USC to join Austin Jones, and the spring game on Saturday was a prime example of how dangerous this group will be in 2023.

The receivers dropped some passes on the day, but the running backs stole the attention. Both Joyner and Lloyd flashed explosiveness and the ability to win 1-on-1 matchups. They and Jones might have opposing defensive coordinators pulling out their hair this fall.

Joyner ran in a touchdown on the afternoon.

On the flip side, MarShawn Lloyd made all sorts of highlights with an impressive run, dipping below and dodging defenders left and right.

Raleek Brown is also on the roster, but the Trojans reportedly plan to move him around a bit and use him in different formations, including the slot. Jones, Joyner, and Lloyd will be tough to stop. This group is one of the best in the country.

With Caleb Williams under center, these running backs doing work, and a talented wide receiver core blessed with speed, the Trojans’ offense is legitimately formidable.

[mm-video type=video id=01gxxq9kh37xst80pzvk playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gxxq9kh37xst80pzvk/01gxxq9kh37xst80pzvk-5fdb3138579964e93113a2382200cee8.jpg]

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696090378]

USC defense predictably shows weaknesses, but a case for optimism exists

No, the #USC D didn’t look great. Alex Grinch shouldn’t be happy. Also: No one should have expected an A+ spring game.

The 2023 USC football spring game was eagerly anticipated, given the rise of the program over the past 15 months under Lincoln Riley. USC is back to the place where it fundamentally belongs: entering a season with very high expectations and the potential to be great. Obviously, USC carried significant flaws heading into this spring game. Crucially, we never said or implied that the Trojans’ weaknesses would be fixed in short order.

This defense was always going to need time to come together and learn what it needs to learn. No one should have gone into this spring game thinking USC could quickly turn the corner. Accordingly, we shouldn’t overreact to anything which happened in this game, good or bad.

That said: USC’s defense certainly had a rough ride. It’s not that the offense was so good; it wasn’t. Yet, in a few crucial components of competition, we saw the same problems and the familiar deficits which emerged so brutally in the latter half of the 2022 season.

There were plenty of missed tackles in the open field. Yes, MarShawn Lloyd looks like the real deal, but while it’s great that Lloyd looked shifty and elusive, USC’s linebackers and secondary didn’t wrap up the way Alex Grinch would have hoped.

Ceyair Wright struggled in pass coverage. Keep in mind that Caleb Williams played three snaps on the first drive of the game and then sat out so that the other quarterbacks could all get meaningful reps.

To a certain extent, the defense got stops because of the offense’s sloppiness, not so much because the defense smothered the offense and forced mistakes. Many of the offense’s mistakes were self-created.

It’s true that Jacobe Covington and Christian Pierce made good plays on balls thrown into traffic, and that Sam Greene showed something on the pass rush along with Anthony Lucas and Jamil Muhammad. If there is something encouraging to take from the defense’s performance, it’s that a lot of different players made noteworthy plays. The collective performance was shaky, but again, that shouldn’t rate as a surprise.

Notably, though, Alex Grinch has a lot to work with on film. Spring games are supposed to elicit mistakes from less-than-fully-proven players so that they can be coached up in the summer.

Nevertheless: USC’s defense has a long way to go. This won’t be a quick fix. Saturday’s game affirmed that reality.

[mm-video type=video id=01g78dh07dja5zzk9kkf playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g78dh07dja5zzk9kkf/01g78dh07dja5zzk9kkf-30031902ec14c7e7d3f2a793715d37a0.jpg]

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696091895]

TV, streaming, and player notes for USC football spring game

Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s #USC spring football game.

The USC Trojans are about to take the field for the much-anticipated 2023 spring football game. USC doesn’t need to learn a whole lot about its offense. We know this side of the ball is going to roar as long as the principal players stay healthy. The Trojans have an abundance of riches throughout their offense, with depth in every group and considerable versatility.

Returning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams will have multiple running backs to give the ball to, multiple dynamic wide receivers to throw to, and a lot of strong offensive linemen to block for him and facilitate the offense. It will be very hard for opposing defensive coordinators to solve this offense in the 2023 season.

All eyes at this spring game will be focused on the defense and its ability to display real progress after an ugly implosion at the end of the 2022 season in the Cotton Bowl loss to Tulane.

Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s game: