COLUMN: Donte Williams' impact hard to deny in Trojans' dramatic turnabout
PULLMAN, Wash. -- This has been a whirlwind week for Donte Williams.
From learning Monday he was now USC's interim head coach to preparing for a game five days later, scrambling to get up to speed on all the responsibilities that come with his new role, and all the while trying to keep a team together that had played so poorly the week before that former head coach Clay Helton was fired just two games into the season, yes, Williams was stretched mighty thin.
But he wasn't too busy to fit in a lesson for his players earlier this week when he found the locker room left unkempt after practice one day.
"I went in and I cleaned it up," Williams said, sharing the anecdote after the game Saturday. "And the next day I told them that if this happens again the consequences that will occur, and the next day you went in there and that locker room, it was spotless. So just the way that we [were] all able to flip the switch, even myself, we did that. I'm very proud of this team and we're gonna stick together throughout this."
That much seems clear at this point.
As if the Trojans hadn't been through enough unexpected change this week, they lost starting quarterback Kedon Slovis on the opening series Saturday at Washington State after he took a punishing sack and watched the rest of the game from the sideline in a coat.
This USC team which came out flat a week ago against Stanford and never recovered fell behind again by 14 points and had yet to score heading into the final minute of the second quarter. Fans were again filling up message boards and social media, forecasting a repeat -- another game in which the Trojans were significantly favored (7.5 points this time) and yet couldn’t deliver.
That was the vibe outside the team, at least.
As we would learn over those next two-plus quarters and through the postgame insights from players, the vibe inside the team appears to be fully mirroring that of its detail-oriented, relentlessly-determined, no-nonsense interim head coach.
The Trojans that struggled in the Coliseum last week against Stanford had no answers, falling down by 29 points and setting off the chain of events that would follow.
The Trojans that showed up at Washington State on Saturday built momentum where there wasn't any, played to their potential (for the first time all season) and scored the final 45 points in a resurgent 45-14 win.
"I credit that to our hard week of practice," center Brett Neilon said afterward. "Donte made a lot of changes. Tuesday-Wednesday were some of the hardest practices I've been through, and I feel like we leaned on that in the second half and we weren't going to lose. We got conditioned, we're together as a team and we're in it for each other. I just think Coach Donte made a lot of changes for the program and it showed up on the field."
Sure, it was Washington State, which lost at home to Utah State in its opener and then beat an FCS-level Portland State team. The Cougars aren't expected to make a lot of noise this year, and this is definitely a game the Trojans -- under normal circumstances -- are expected to win.
Except, so was last week, when they were 17-point favorites at home, and again, nothing about the week since has been normal.
So it only seems fair to correlate the dramatically different performance with the distinctly different voice in the locker room.
More about that in a minute ...
As for how Williams and USC injected life back into this season, it started with Washington State up 14-0 in the final minute of the second quarter. It was fourth-and-9 for USC from the Cougars' 38-yard line, with true freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart making his collegiate debut, which started with an interception and a lost fumble within his first three possessions Saturday in the rain.
Not exactly many clear harbingers for what would follow from there.
Williams considered going for a long field goal, he'd say later, but that wasn't the message he wanted to send, and everything he's done since assuming the interim role has been purposeful and strategic.
"You know what, I was thinking maybe at this moment in time, we was thinking field goal a little bit. And I looked at a couple guys and then Drake [London] came to me and said, 'We gonna kick a field goal?!' I said, 'You know what, you guys told me you believe in me, and I believe in y'all. Let's score.' And shoot, we did it," Williams would say afterward.
Sophomore receiver Gary Bryant Jr. easily beat a linebacker out of the slot and got behind the defense while Dart dropped in a perfect pass for a 38-yard touchdown. Everything felt different from that point on ...
USC would go into the second half down 14-7, but fired up -- by that big throw from the freshman QB and by whatever Williams said in that locker room.
The stirring halftime speech has become a cliche go-to for any second-half comeback, but the comments from the players Saturday make it worth noting in this case.
"Yes sir, yes sir, yes indeed. It was amazing," linebacker Kana'i Mauga said. "It really gave us the motivation to come out on the field and shut them out."
Said Neilon: "Coach Donte fired us up, got us going and then, yeah, in the second half I thought all cylinders were clicking. Special teams were making plays, offense, defense. ... He basically just said, 'This is all we got in the locker room. Every person in here knows that we can go out and win -- it's not over.' Basically just go out and show that we're the better team."
Basically, though it sounds like it might have entailed more than that.
"You know what, it was just about making sure guys wasn't pressing so hard. They understood that we're there for each other. The offense is there for the defense, the defense is there for the offense, special teams, right?" Williams said when asked what he told the players at halftime. "Some of the things I said I just can't release, but let's just say that them dudes [were] ready to play in the second half."
Indeed.
The defense, which gave up touchdowns on two of its first three series, didn't allow any of the next eight full Washington State possessions to go longer than five plays or 18 yards. (Not counting the standalone final play of the first half after the late USC touchdown).
That included five three-and-out punts, a sack fumble caused by Drake Jackson and recovered by Tuli Tuipulotu in the end zone for a touchdown, a Calen Bullock interception and a stop on downs. (That also doesn't include the goal line stand back early in the second quarter on four plays from the 1 and 2-yard line sandwiched between the Cougars' two touchdowns.) Washington State's final possession went a little longer but ended in a Jayden Williams interception.
The Cougars totaled 43 yards over the second and third quarters as the Trojans seized the game.
Meanwhile, Dart became a story unto himself. The freshman quarterback delivered big throw after big throw, completing 30 of 46 passes for 391 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and 1 lost fumble. The second interception was negligible, a low-risk shot on a third-down that effectively served as a punt because it stuck the Cougars at their own 5 and set up that sack and score in the end zone.
"Did you see Jaxson with that punt? That punt right there pinned them," Williams joked.
Dart's passing yards are the most ever by a USC quarterback in his debut, surpassing JT Daniels' 282 yards in 2018 vs. UNLV.
Daniels' career trajectory at USC was forever altered when an injury opened the door for Slovis to assert himself and claim the job early in the 2019 season. In this case, Slovis' injury -- Williams didn't specify when asked, but the TV broadcast referred to it as a neck injury -- isn't season-threatening. In fact, Williams said he believes the QB will be able to practice this week.
It nonetheless provided an opening for Dart, though, who in turn provided a juicy storyline for the week ahead as Williams declined to commit to a QB after the game when asked who would start Saturday. (He was intentionally vague and answered in coach speak, so it's probably perilous to read anything into it either way).
Whatever becomes of Dart's breakout performance, it provided a spark the offense badly needed.
As Williams seemingly did this whole week ...
"I feel like it says everything and it speaks for itself," junior cornerback Chris Steele said when asked what this collective performance reflected about Williams' leadership. "We were down 14-7 coming into the half and Donte, he basically told us, 'You rockin' with us?' He was going to make the necessary calls for us to win this game and everybody bought into that. We came out and played real physical. The offense played lights out. I feel like it's the best they played all season, and it just seemed like everybody clicked today.
"I think everybody understands the type of team that we have and everybody's adjusted to the change very well. We're going to keep going, 1-0 every day."
Said Williams: "You guys got a chance to see what Trojan football is all about. We've still got some things to clean up, just like I got some things to clean up coaching-wise and we'll continue to do that. But the guys played hard, they came out after halftime and they played even harder. So that's what I expect, that's what this team expects."
That's what the fan base expects from USC football but hasn't necessarily seen so much of in recent years. In fact, "halftime adjustments" has mostly been used as a sarcastic pejorative by Trojans fans.
Williams can't fix everything overnight -- and he may only have 10 games or so to leave his mark in this position (though, anything is possible if he keeps this up) -- but he has been deliberate in letting the players know that he isn't just a placeholder. And mostly that he isn't at all interested in protecting the status quo.
USC used to only practice in full pads on Tuesdays during game weeks. As Neilon noted, that changed immediately, with Wednesday also now a fully-padded practice moving forward.
Furthermore, it was reported by The Athletic's Antonio Morales and USCFootball.com's Keely Eure -- and since confirmed by TrojanSports.com -- that Williams made some immediate symbolic tweaks to the Trojans' operations this week, including roping off the SC logo in the middle of the locker room floor so that it is respected rather than walked over, not allowing hats in the team room and requiring everyone to wear the same uniform without individualizations.
After the game Saturday, Steele noted that he had to change into his team-issued sneakers before heading to the bus to comply with the rule.
It's all part of Williams' emphasis on accountability, which carried over into the game when right guard Liam Jimmons was immediately subbed out after a false start penalty and Steele was subbed out for one play and a conversation with his coach after a personal foul penalty.
"I mean, everything's a mindset with Donte," Bryant said. "No matter what it is. So coming out here he didn't want none of the receivers to play with sleeves. Just having that mindset of we going to be a dog and having that 'we going to be the No. 1 team in the country' mindset."
Said Neilon: "I think one of my favorites was he actually made Tuesday and Wednesday both full-padded. Tuesday, he put some matchups on the board -- like so and so vs. so and so and he's like, 'We're going to watch these reps tomorrow in front of the whole team whether you get your butt kicked or you win it. We're going to show it on Wednesday.' He also showed some of the bad plays of the older guys. One play I didn't finish or whatever and the linebacker made a play and he called me out in front of the team. That's something I appreciate. That's what we got to do."
Fans will probably grow numb to the phrase "go 1-0" by the end of the season -- as in not just go 1-0 each week, but each day, each play, etc. -- as Williams reiterates it constantly and his players echo it in refrain.
It may sound like more coach speak on the outside, but all that matters is if the players buy into it. So far, it's hard to argue with anything Williams has done since taking over -- or to overlook the impact he's already made on this team.
"It's all the little things that all add up to these big things. And that's why I feel like we played so well today -- it's all the little things we corrected, just making sure our team's on top of what we're supposed to do, not only physically but off the field," Steele said. "Making sure our locker room is squeaky clean before we leave every night. Just all those things that go into a team. You don't really understand how big of a difference it makes until it makes that big difference."
There was a big difference with the Trojans from last Saturday to this one. It's only one game against a Washington State team expected to finish near the bottom of the Pac-12, but another way to look at it is it is one step in the right direction.
Given where things stood a week ago, well, that feels significant right about now.
Williams wanted to clarify one thing, though, when one of his players was asked about the team playing hard for its interim head coach.
"We play for each other. So it's definitely, we're all like this," Williams said, interlocking his fingers. "It is us and we, nobody's playing for me -- we are playing for each other."