12/5/2021 football Edit

COLUMN: Donte Williams, players put USC's rough season in perspective

Ryan Young • TrojanSports

Publisher

BERKELEY, Calif. -- It was the end of a season all USC fans would love to quickly forget, and yet there was no rush to leave the field Saturday night for the Trojans after their 24-14 loss at Cal.

Some players were joined on the field by their families, posing for pictures, sharing hugs and surely a little commiseration. A line of loyal fans, or relatives, waited atop the concrete wall that leads into the stairs and tunnel toward the locker room, slapping hands with the players. Some of the Trojans tossed their gloves to the younger fans.

Athletic director Mike Bohn waited near those stairs for a while, dispensing hand shakes and hugs to the players who came over to him. Freshman wide receiver Kyron Ware-Hudson stood at the top of those stairs embracing one teammate after another.

Down the stairs and up the tunnel, under the bleachers at California Memorial Stadium, is a large gathering room outside the locker room. Once everybody had filtered in, the team spent another extended period holding a private meeting with more hugs, more emotion.

Eventually, interim coach Donte Williams and the players then met with reporters. There were very few questions about the game -- more about the trials of the season and where things go from here.

"We've been through this whole year, workouts, spring ball, it's pretty emotional. A lot of guys their last game as a 'SC Trojan was today and we spent a lot of blood, sweat and tears together, a lot of ups and downs, lots of years together. So it's pretty emotional," redshirt senior center Brett Neilon said.

At 4-8, USC finished with the program's worst record since a 3-8 mark in 1991. The Trojans finished with what was arguably the worst defensive season in program history, giving up 31.8 points per game (tied for 102nd nationally) and 407.1 yards per game (88th nationally). That's an ignominious record for points (30.6 PPG in 2000 was the program's previous worst) while a solid final performance vs. Cal, holding the Golden Bears to just 265 yards, helped the Trojans avoid topping the record in that category too (408.7 YPG given up in 2019.)

"Everybody, they look at the record, they don't know everything that we've been through. We've been through a lot together and still guys are out there and continue to fight," Williams said. "You can see by the way that fourth quarter went. We've got a quarterback that technically hasn't got snaps really all season, and you see guys on offense and defense still going out there and fighting for one another. It's a true brotherhood, it's a true love or one another, so no matter what -- the season kind of came in and out and ... it was a rollercoaster.

"So what? It was a challenge. It was a challenge that we all accept. Life is all about challenges and it's about how you come out of that challenge."

That is indeed all that really matters now -- how the Trojans come out of this and start over with new head coach Lincoln Riley.

Saturday night felt like a time capsule to a previous era of USC football -- one that ended last Sunday when Riley was hired.

Cal was given a second chance at a missed field goal and converted after the Trojans were offsides on fourth down. USC fumbled twice in Cal territory -- one returned 55 yards for a touchdown and on when an unblocked pass rusher demolished backup QB Miller Moss before he could see it coming). The Trojans missed two field goals and turned the ball over on downs at the Bears' 3-yard line after a bad snap hit tight end Erik Krommenhoek, who was in motion. QB Jaxson Dart was knocked out of the game by a hard tackle on a scramble. Etc.

Just another frustrating night overall.

Unfortunately, because its mid-November game with Cal was postponed due to COVID issues in the Bears' program, USC had to go on the road for this meaningless meeting between two teams already eliminated from postseason consideration.

"I'm happy for the guys that did come up to fight," Williams said. "We come out here with two freshmen corners that's never started a game. You take Mike Jack (Michael Jackson III) at starting receiver, never had a start, just go down the list at each position. It was all kind of new guys that was out there and those guys fought. I don't know the exact number of guys we had, but it had to be less than 50 scholarship players. They came out here and they all played their heart out. ... I'm happy for that. I'm unhappy with the result of the game."

Not counting specialists or walk-ons, it looked like USC had 47 other scholarship players active or available. Some others like QB Kedon Slovis, running back Keaontay Ingram, wide receiver Gary Bryant Jr., safety Xavion Alford and tight end Lake McRee made the trip but didn't dress due to injuries. Others remained at home.

"Some guys [are] hurt, some guys [are] dinged up, so they already was playing very limited snaps anyway and they weren't all the way cleared. Like I said, [CB Isaac Taylor-Stuart] got cleared on Thursday and came out here and played, so some guys weren't all the way fully healthy and they're already looking at their future and different things like that. There's nothing that I hold against those guys -- to each his own and I'm just happy for the guys that came here and did fight," Williams said.

This was not the ending any of the Trojans expected. This was not the season anyone expected.

And so more the scrutinizing the game, or even the travel roster Saturday, it was time to simply put these last few months in perspective, to the extent that Williams and the players were willing.

Here were their takeaways in their words ...

Donte Williams:

"It's a challenge any time after the second game of the season you're going to make a change as a head coach. It's challenging just from a morale standpoint altogether, so every day is like a reset of the mind and the mind is going to take you a lot more than the physical abilities can. So from the get-go it was already a challenge. And it was a challenge that I accept and a challenge that we all accept -- we're all in this together as a football program and an administration. We accepted that challenge. And we did everything we could to overcome it -- it just sucks that the record doesn't show that."

Redshirt senior RB Vavae Malepeai:

"I mean, I feel like challenges come in many different forms so it's anyway you want to play it, whether it's a coaching staff change, a culture change. But we all looked at it as an opportunity rather than a challenge, and I feel like although the record doesn't show, we didn't get the record we wanted, I'm proud of everybody in this room, coaches included. They stuck with us through everything. I mean, it's not easy when you get your head coach fired the second week of the season, but that's life. Stuff happens, but everybody came together as one group and we fought every weekend. Like I said, it wasn't the record we wanted, but here we are."

Redshirt senior C Brett Neilon:

"I think obviously you guys know how much adversity this team faced, even last year with COVID and all that. Yeah, it's been a pretty crazy two years, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I thought the team played really hard all year and we just came up short in a lot of games. Coaching changes, rumors, all that, injuries, just stuff like that, but we battled and the last two games we played our hearts out and just ended up short ...

"I think just when your head coach gets fired Week 2, [Clay] Helton's been good to a lot of guys and it was tough. It's unsettling and things like that, unsettling for the coaches, but I thought everyone in our facility handled it well, we played hard and did what we could. The season just didn't go the way we wanted it to."

Redshirt senior S Isaiah Pola-Mao:

"I'd say a rollercoaster. I mean, that's anywhere, though. You're going to have your ups, you're going to have your downs, but it's part of the journey. I think that's what you've got to get out of it."

Redshirt sophomore RB Darwin Barlow:

"It's still a blessing to be in this position. As a man you go through things. You've got to fight through adversity -- that's what makes a man. The season didn't go the way we want to, so just coming up, we get back in the lab, we work and next season will be better. That's just how it is. You've got to grind until you shine. ...

"Coach Helton getting fired, just so many things happened off the field, it was just hard. And then losing. But just like I said before, we're just going to learn from it. That's the great thing about football -- it makes a man. It's a blessing to be a part of it, be part of this game, not everybody gets to play it."

Redshirt senior DE Nick Figueroa:

"You have to be willing to fight through whatever adversity it is, personal or team. I dealt with injuries all season, I know next year I'm going to have to be more diligent about taking care of my body. Team-wise, we know what we put in this offseason wasn't good enough. We're going to have to change and be more efficient, work on our deficiencies and get better as a team. Whatever new guys come in player-wise, build a better culture, get this thing turned around. I'm definitely excited to work with the new coaches. You know, this year, I mean, it is what it is."

Only those in that locker room know the full extent of what went on behind the scenes. Everybody has heard stories or pieces of stories about the frustrations that mounted and the person tolls that accumulated through these last few months.

Ultimately, like Figueroa said, it is what it is at this point.

As soon as this season mercifully ended, a new era of USC football had already launched.

Williams would not address his future with the program, whether he expected to remain on staff under Riley or move on. It has seemed to be looking less and less likely Williams will return, in part because he could simply express that if it was his hope or his intention.

"To be honest, I haven't even thought about that right now," he said Saturday night. "It's a lot of guys in that locker room right now that hurt. And everybody thinks about the players, but I mean, it's the staff, it's the support staff, it's a lot of people that hurt. I mean, even shoot, the fans hurt because this is not the season that they expected or we expected as a whole. So that's a lot of people that are hurt. For me to sit up here and talk about my future, that is selfish, and one thing I am not is a selfish person."

No, he certainly is not. Williams took on an impossible task this season and did his best. If the collateral of that experience leads to his moving on from the program, that's unfortunate as he's been a major asset as USC's top recruiter the last two years.

But change is inherently unpredictable and at times messy.

Riley was expected to meet with the USC players at 6 p.m. PT Sunday as the Trojans formally turn the page with the future starting immediately -- which should be cathartic to everyone who experienced the toll of this season in any way.

Then again, with significant roster turnover expected as Riley goes to work rebuild the Trojans, there could be more collateral felt still before the rebuild truly takes shape.

But with that all sinking in, Figueroa, who has already conveyed his intentions to return for his final year of eligibility next season, left things on a positive note Saturday night while effectively summing up the feeling shared by a fan base that had no more angst left to give after this final loss -- only hope for what is to come.

"There's a lot to look forward to, lots of young guys, lots of optimism in the program. Coach Riley's out here landing recruits left and right. We've just got to use the momentum -- the season's behind us," Figueroa said. "... I wish we could have ended better and had momentum going into the offseason, but we're starting tomorrow with Coach Riley so we're excited about it."