USC Football Notes: Defense adjusts in second scrimmage, other observations

USC is two scrimmages down and through "Hell Week," as coach Clay Helton called it, and the Trojans will now be transitioning into some game-planning for their Nov. 7 opener against Arizona State.

As has been the case all preseason, media were not permitted to attend the scrimmage due to COVID-19 protocols and so all perspective has to be filtered through Helton, who shared his takeaways on Monday morning.

After singling out the secondary for allowing a number of big plays in the first scrimmage a week earlier, Helton praised the defense overall for its performance this weekend.

"I thought the defense really set the tempo on the day," he said. "I know we didn’t get to talk after Thursday’s practice, but I thought offensively, Thursday’s full-padded practice had a lot of live tackling to it. I thought the offense really won that day. It was really neat to see the defense bounce back and set the tempo. It started with getting pressure to the quarterback and getting the quarterback off his spot, getting Kedon off his spot. Whether it was pressures or four-man rush, really putting them in uncomfortable situations all day.

"Then, from a coverage standpoint, I can’t commend Craig Naivar and Donte Williams enough for what they’re doing. In the first scrimmage, we had some big plays down the field. We made that a point of emphasis this whole week. On the day, limiting the big play was evident. Great coverage. If you put pressure on the quarterback, get him off his spot, and have great coverage, you’re going to win a lot of football games."

USC made limited video from the scrimmage available and it showed safety/nickel Greg Johnson making an interception on Slovis.

Helton didn't get into any more specifics on plays or individuals regarding the secondary, but he did again spotlight junior linebacker Palaie Gaoteote, who really seems to be benefitting from new defensive coordinator Todd Orlando's arrival.

"I mentioned last week how pleased I was with EA and his leadership. He's kind of leading the way for our linebackers right now and I thought he had an unbelievable scrimmage on Saturday," Helton said. "I said this last week, I think that TO has been so good for him and has taken him to even another level. I'm really expecting huge things from him this year. "

On the offense side, Helton highlighted the second-string offensive linemen. That's really one of the more interesting competitions this preseason, but again, without media access it's hard to know just how ready that second unit is.

The startling offensive line is essentially set with redshirt junior Alijah Vera-Tucker at left tackle, redshirt junior Andrew Vorhees at left guard, redshirt junior Brett Neilon at center, redshirt senior Liam Jimmons at right guard and redshirt junior Jalen McKenzie at right tackle.

But USC has minimal experience behind that group -- mostly in the form of redshirt sophomore center/guard Justin Dedich, who made two starts last season when Neilon was injured.

"There were some kids that may be called in at a moment’s notice, and I thought they had their best day. The four weeks of work, the two weeks of the OTA, as well as the two weeks now of camp has helped a Casey Collier, a Liam Douglass, a Justin Dedich, a Courtland Ford, a Jonah Monheim, a Jason Rodriguez -- those guys have stepped up," Helton said. "Now, and I told them, any one of y’all can go in a game and you’re ready to contribute. They brought a really nice game to the park on Saturday."

The Trojans have been working those linemen at multiple spots to increase versatility and options should they need to replace a starter somewhere on the line. Ford and Monheim, the two true freshmen, and Douglass, a redshirt sophomore, have received the most consistent praise through camp. Rodriguez, a redshirt freshman, has been getting work at various spots, and Collier, another true freshman, seems to be behind the others right now but is a very intriguing prospect for the future at 6-foot-7, 290 pounds.

Overall, USC went 81 plays in the scrimmage and did not incur any further injuries, Helton said.

"You get 81 plays of tackling and everyone walks out clean, that’s a great day," he said.

Last week was dubbed "Hell Week" as it was the most physical week of live tackling for the preseason, capped by the scrimmage Saturday, which again was held early in the morning to help simulate the setting for the Trojans' 9 a.m. PT season opener in two weeks.

"I want to thank our marketing staff and the Coliseum for providing the exact environment that we’re going to see on Nov. 7, from music to crowd noise to the environment. It was more a game simulation than the first scrimmage we had. It felt like a game," Helton said. "Really happy with our players. When you go six days, hard work, and show up early on a Saturday morning and bring the right attitude, the right energy, the right execution, and just the love to compete. That’s what was evident on the day is how they compete when they step out there."

A day after sophomore wide receiver Munir McClain and his family held a news conference in front of Galen Center to contest his suspension from team activities, with a handful of teammates standing behind them in support, Helton again said he could not comment on the situation.

"Before we get started, I want to alert everybody that I cannot and will not comment on the recent LA Times article or anything related to the topic due to privacy laws. I’ll reference you to the university statement that was released yesterday," Helton said.

He was asked two more follow-up questions and reiterated his stance. First, he was asked if claiming unemployment benefits -- which is the basis of McClain's situation and has prompted some level of interest from federal agents -- is against team or university rules.

"Like I said, respect your question a lot, but like I said earlier, any discussion on that topic, I can’t have a comment on. I’ll refer you to the university statement. Thank you," Helton said.

He was then asked if it was protocol for a player to be suspended if they're under university inquiry.

"Again, respect your question. But again, I’ll refer you to the university statement. Thank you," he said.

Meanwhile, Shan McClain, Munir's mother, tweeted out more comments Sunday night after the news conference.

Helton reiterated that a formal depth chart will be revealed the Friday before the season opener.

He also referenced several injured players he expects will soon return to action.

"Really, I think our 1’s are coming into focus. We do have a couple guys that are coming off of injury that I can’t wait to get back into the fold -- a Joshua Jackson, a Gary Bryant, a Markese Stepp, a Kana’i Mauga. Those guys are right on the cusp of being back in practice and going, and that’ll dictate what we look like in the first game," Helton said. "And so, we’ll wait until Friday. It’s really because of just getting some guys cleaned up from injury. The 1’s are coming to play, but the 2’s are what I’m looking forward to. That’s where the most competition is at right now."

Bryant and Jackson are freshman receivers, and Bryant in particular seemed to have a good shot at contending for a role as a prototypical weapon out of the slot before sustaining an ankle injury.

It's not clear if Stepp, the redshirt sophomore running back who led USC with 6.4 yards per carry last season, had a setback with his surgically-repaired ankle, as he was practicing earlier in camp and by all accounts looking close to full strength. It was not specified by Helton. But it was clear that senior Stephen Carr and sophomore Kenan Christon have been leading the backfield this preseason, with redshirt senior Vavae Malepeai also limited.

"I really think our runners have taken shape with Stephen Carr and Kenan Christon, Quincy Jountti has done a nice job. Looking forward to getting Markese back," Helton said.

Mauga, meanwhile, was set to compete for the starting middle linebacker role with sophomore Ralen Goforth.

Helton touched on Goforth's performance this preseason while having an extended shot to establish himself there with Mauga sidelined by a hamstring injury.

"I've been really pleased with Ralen Goforth and his sense of urgency to be a great player. You could see it when we first arrived back and how he was working in the weight room. You see the change of his body right now, it is a physical, strong body. I mean, putting additional weight on and additional strength without losing his explosiveness and he's had a really good camp," Helton said. "I think of getting a Kana'i back and a Tayler [Katoa] back. But with that being said, I think Sivi [Nomura] has done a wonderful job in the reps that he's been able to get also. Right now with the ones we've been working with EA and Ralen but those other men that I mentioned will come into play and contribute, as well as."

Helton also noted that redshirt sophomore Raymond Scott, who is listed as a safety on the roster, is back working at linebacker to help with the depleted depth there.

"Ray's played that position, he's a hybrid between safety and linebacker with his body type and he's providing us extra depth, too. And I commend him. He said, 'Coach, however I can help the team.' He's done some nice things in the scrimmage so he'll provide a kid that has some experience and provides some extra depth there," Helton said.

As for the safeties, it sounds like redshirt freshman Max Williams, redshirt sophomore Chase Williams and graduate transfer walk-on Micah Croom, who played previously at Dartmouth, are the second-string safeties behind Talanoa Hufanga, Isaiah Pola-Mao and Greg Johnson.

USC is now calling the nickel spot, where Johnson starts, a third safety.

"That three-spoke safety group has been neat to see what quality of depth that we have. Right now you look at Talanoa, Zay and Greg and all of sudden Micah, Chase and Max come in, and you can throw [Briton Allen] in there as well, and there's really no lack of production," Helton said. "That's what I'm appreciative of right now is you don't feel the fall off when the second group comes in, and that's a credit to Craig [Naivar]. Craig runs that three-spoke, Donte's handling the corners, Craig's running the nickel and the two safeties and both guys are doing a wonderful job with their guys. We went from some explosive plays in scrimmage one to hardly any in scrimmage two and they really improved, so credit to those guys."

Whether it's offensive coordinator Graham Harrell or teammates or Helton himself, the praise for sophomore quarterback Kedon Slovis has been steady this preseason, and Helton added some more Monday while talking about the physical transformation he's seen from the signal-caller.

"You forget that he was a true freshman last year and you walk in and your body's not fully even developed yet, and you're thrown into this situation and he produces for us. Now having an offseason, the first part was getting his arm healthy, and that was the most concentration over those February, March, April months, and as we hit May he poured himself -- poured himself -- into his strength training, his core training," Helton said. "Even prior to throwing one ball, what Graham does with those kids as far as developing core muscle groups for throwing, it's an every day drill. Now all of a sudden you look at this kid and he's 215 pounds, he's almost 6-3, and he's a full-grown man. I walked up to him last year, oh my gosh, this young man, almost boy is going out there. And now you walk up on top of him and you go, 'Wow, this is a full-grown man.' And I think he's just developed a lot of core strength.

"He's always had great arm talent, but he's making every throw on the field. He's making back shoulder throws 35 yards down the field, and everybody on the field is going 'Woah.' You've got to have some special arm talent and strength to be able to do that, so I like where he's going, I really do."

As noted, USC will start working on game prep for Arizona State this week with less than two weeks before that season opener.

"The first four weeks of this, the two weeks of the OTAs as well as these last two weeks have just been about us. We have not concerned ourselves with another team, it's about us growing as a team, learning new schemes defensively and special teams, going from Year 1 to Year 2 offensively, developing chemistry with the quarterbacks and the skill players and establishment of some runners," Helton said. "... And now we shift to starting some game plan this week, some basic game plan for ASU. But in talking to our coordinators, they still don't want to leave the competitive aspect of getting good-on-good. So it will be a mix this week of doing half of continue to concentrate on us and us getting better fundamentally and putting in some basic schemes for ASU."