Lincoln Riley's message about USC's embattled offensive line continues to be that all will be fine.
Redshirt freshman left tackle Elijah Paige, who has given up 8 pressures (including 2 sacks and a quarterback hit) the last one and a half games, will get better.
USC's unsettled right guard situation, where second-year linemen Alani Noa and Amos Talalele rotated last week, is a good situation with two talented players getting work.
The reality remains, however, that in their first two Big Ten games the Trojans have yielded 36 pressures, including 4 sacks and 9 hits on quarterback Miller Moss.
It is the single-most glaring concern for No. 11-ranked USC, which takes on Minnesota in its next road challenge Saturday, and Trojans fans are hoping that Riley will be proven right.
"Sure, you'd love to leave any game with a quarterback not taking any hits, but that's not always reality. We played two good teams, two good defensive football teams, that's going to happen to him. Obviously, it's something we want to continue to clean up, but everybody's involved in that," Riley said. "Schematically, we're involved in it, Miller's involved in it, the receivers, the backs, the tight ends, the O-line obviously, everybody. Sometimes you're going to take some hits. When people really try to blitz you a lot, like happened multiple times the other day, like there's times they're going to bring more than you block and that's part of it. That's part of playing the position."
Riley was non-committal when asked if he'd continue rotating the two young linemen at right guard, or if veteran Gino Quinones could enter the mix there.
"Alani and Amos both did some really good things in the game, I think it was good being able to rotate those guys some. ... They both showed us enough that we want to keep repping them," Riley said.
"... I don’t know that I know right now or necessarily have a preference [on continue to rotate or settling on one starter]. It can work both ways. I know we’re going to need both of those guys. They’re two really talented players. They’re two guys I know that are going to improve as they go along. They’ve got a little bit of position flexibility for us, so regardless of how it plays out, whether we rotate or whether we settle in on somebody, it’s a long year, it’s a physical schedule we’re playing. We’re going to need them both either way. "
USC was better up front against Wisconsin than vs. Michigan, but it still wasn't great as the Trojans yielded 15 pressures, a sack and 3 others hits on Moss.
Right tackle Mason Murphy, who gave up 3 of those pressures (including 2 QB hits), talked after practice Tuesday and was asked what OL coach Josh Henson's message has been since the woeful showing at Michigan.
"The emphasis was just doing what we are coached to do to the best of our ability and taking it serious, coming out every day with that in mind and thinking of something every day to come out and perfect," Murphy said. "... Just focusing on our technique and fine-tuning those details because that's what separates yourself when you're playing good people -- it's not how big and strong you are. Everybody's big and strong. It's how well can you do the things you're coached to do and how disciplined can you be when you do those things."
Murphy added, "It was definitely a wake-up call for us as a unit -- as an offensive unit -- and we just got to continue to keep growing."
Perhaps the biggest area of concern, though, has been the young left tackle Paige, who gave up a team-worst 4 pressures (with a sack) vs. Wisconsin. Riley felt he progressed from his Michigan performance, though.
"Elijah played, yeah, much better for us. Did some really, really good things in the game. Played quite a bit better than the week before and I think he's just going to continue to grow and learn from it," Riley said. "He's just that type of kid. He's just going to get better and better and has an incredible ceiling. ...
"I think the kid is a competitor. He really wants to be a very good player. And he’s, you know, playing a position, left tackle, that’s the toughest position to play, no matter how many years that you play. And you’re doing it as a young guy. You play against good defenses every week, you’re going to go through some growing pains. It’s just going to be part of the kid’s climb. The key is for him, he can’t let any adversity he’s faced, he can’t let it defeat him, he can’t let it discourage him. He’s just got to continue to learn and grow and bank those reps and bank those experiences and keep going. He does that, he’s going to be a phenomenal player. And he’s given me no reason to think he’s going to do anything but that."
Saturday at Minnesota is another opportunity for the offensive line to show it's trending in the right direction.
"Coach always stresses to us that we have barely scratched the surface of how good we can be as an offensive unit, as an offensive line in general," Murphy said. "So yeah, that's just really the biggest thing is us believing in that, taking the coaching serious and fine-tuning."
First, let's dive into what the film showed us from last week -- with clips.
Breaking down USC's offensive line performance vs. Wisconsin by player
(Game grades per PFF on 0-100 scale where grades in the upper 70s and 80s are above average and the 90s are rare.)
LG Emmanuel Pregnon (86 snaps)
75.6 overall, 82.0 run-blocking, 71.6 pass-blocking, 3 pressures allowed, 1 penalty
This was another good game for Pregnon as I think he is the best blocker on this team. He is just consistently more physical than everyone else. Pregnon has some issues with some pass rushing moves, but he is someone who will not be bull rushed. The best performer not only according to PFF, but he definitely passes the eye test.
The Good:
13:02 left in the first quarter, Emmanuel Pregnon pulls to the right and pancakes his defender, giving Woody Marks the running lane to gain 5 yards on fourth down -- more than enough for the first down.
The Bad:
8:11 left in the first quarter, Pregnon does a good job of driving his defender back but loses him and the defender ends up stopping Marks after a 3-yard gain.
4:50 left in the second quarter, Pregnon pulls to the right and blocks the edge. The edge does a swim move against Pregnon and beats him to the outside, causing Miller Moss to step up and throw an incomplete pass.
C Jonah Monheim (86 snaps)
68.6 overall, 63.3 run-blocking, 79.3 pass-blocking, 1 pressure allowed, 0 penalties
Monheim didn’t have the best game of the season as he had some troubles. As all the other games this season, he doesn’t really over-physical anyone but beats them with his footwork. Monheim had his trouble with angles and missing defenders in the second level. It's not a big issue as that can be fixed watching film and working on it in practice. Monheim is one of those players who can clean that up and bounce back with a solid game, but there is a lot to improve on.
The Bad:
