Film Review: Can USC build on its OL progress from last week?

With USC getting diminishing returns from its offensive line in previous weeks, OL coach Josh Henson decided it was time for change last weekend and flipped Mason Murphy inside to right guard with Jarrett Kingston moving out to right tackle.

The result? The Trojans' running backs averaged 9.75 yards per carry (albeit on only 12 attempts) and quarterback Caleb Williams had noticeably better protection despite still taking 3 sacks.

"I thought it worked well. I think you look at the results and it kind of showed," Henson said. "I just thought Mason probably of all the guys that could have moved inside, with the experience level of what we need, had the best ability to lower his hips and play with power on the interior. We kind of made the decision we were going to move him inside because we needed more power, and then the decision was between who to start outside. That was a tough decision -- at the end of the day we went with Jarrett and that's what we'll go with until something changes."

Why USC abandoned the run game after early success -- especially with MarShawn Lloyd getting just 2 carries after the first quarter despite rushing for 86 yards on 7 attempts for the game -- is a question that never got a great answer this week.

But the production in the run game in that limited sample size was encouraging.

"I felt like, No. 1, we just got some better push up front," Henson said. "I thought we did a good job of holding our own physically against Utah, who is a physical football team -- they've got mass and size and play well with their hands. And No. 2, once we got going I just felt like there was a certain level of confidence that developed from us playing better."

Murphy said there was some adjustment to playing inside but also some positives to the change.

"Everything just happens faster. Everything's right in front of your face, and at tackle you have a little bit more time to react to certain things, but at guard everything just happens right in front of you. That was probably the biggest adjustment," Murphy said. "I like pass blocking at guard a lot more because it's just easier because it's right in front of you, but I like run blocking at tackle a lot more."

So does he see this as a permanent position change?

"I'm just here to play my role -- whatever the coach needs from me, I'm going to do it," he said.

Kingston, meanwhile, was one of the PFF's highest-graded offensive linemen last season at Washington State while playing left tackle (although he played left guard in previous years for the Cougars).

"I told coach, 'It was like a breath of fresh air.' I played tackle for most of the season last year," Kingston said. "... I have the power side too, but I feel like I'm more athletic so I can work in the space that tackle has because it's more space than guard."

Said Henson: "I think it's kind of like back to old hat for him. ... You kind of instinctively know what to do when different things happen when you've been doing that [in the past], so yeah, I think there's a high level of comfort for him there."

The question is can USC sustain its improvements up front?

First, we look back at the offensive line performance against Utah in more detail ...