USC Football Notes: Big opportunity for Solomon Byrd, Domani Jackson update

He was listed as the co-third-string defensive end on the official depth chart after transferring in this summer from Wyoming with hopes of making a major impact. In the season opener, he played just 5 snaps, reinforcing the notion that he was on the outside of the team's defensive plans.

Then starting rush end Romello Height left the game at Stanford early with a shoulder injury Saturday, and it was Byrd -- not Korey Foreman -- who got the bulk of the work the rest of the way at that position, playing 48 snaps and tallying 2 sacks (which makes him the team leader for the season).

"They earn it on the practice field," defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said of Byrd's sudden re-emergence. "Throughout the course of the game, you’re constantly evaluating kind of in the moment. It could be a situation where a guy gets hot and he’s making some plays, you kind of go back to him. It could be a situation in terms of what the offense gives you. But the bulk of that is how guys practice. You earn reps on the practice field. Solomon has. ... I was thrilled for Solomon. Had a major impact, couple of sacks for us. He’ll have an impact this week as well."

Head coach Lincoln Riley said on Tuesday that Height would be given some time off this week rest his shoulder. Riley did not make a definitive statement about Height's status for the game Saturday night vs. Fresno State, but Grinch seemed to indicate where things stood Wednesday.

"He’ll have every opportunity to be a starter here," Grinch said of Byrd. "So goes it for everybody else. We’ll make a decision Thursday how the rotation's going to go. But I was pleased with him."

Byrd was scheduled to talk with reporters Wednesday after practice but slipped out, so he was not available to share any perspective on his breakout game.

But he told TrojanSports.com back in May, upon announcing his transfer, what his expectations were for this season.

"I want to prove I'm the best D-lineman in the country. I really want to prove that, and I feel like going to a place like 'SC, the stage, coach [Shaun] Nua, it's [a great opportunity]," he said.

Byrd tallied 45 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles as a redshirt freshman in 2019 while emerging as a star on the Wyoming defense. He would sit out the 2020 pandemic season as a precaution as his wife Taysia was considered high-risk should she contract COVID. Byrd returned to the field last season and notched 37 tackles and 3.5 sacks in eight games.

To have 2 sacks in his first extended action at USC is a strong statement of his potential in this defense.