Thoughts from Tuesday's practice, through the eyes of USCRipsIt...
- In place of the injured Matt Barkley, Aaron Corp took nearly all the first-unit snaps in the full-pads workout, stepping up with an impressive all-around performance. "He had a very good day today," Coach Carroll said of Corp. "He looked sharp."
- Meanwhile, Carroll said Barkley remains "day-to-day" as he tries to come back from a bruised right shoulder suffered in Saturday's 18-15 win at Ohio State. "We'll make a determination when it seems right," Carroll said of picking the starter for Saturday's game at Washington.
- Thanks to some creative, off-the-script play-calling on the final snap of the day, the offense clinched a 13-11 victory over the defense in the practice-ending team period, capturing the Competition Tuesday crown. Quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates called for a designed quarterback run with Corp on the final play of the team period to secure the offense's hard-fought victory. "That's a solid win for the offense," Coach Carroll said in the post-practice huddle.
- Safety Taylor Mays sat out of the practice and watched with an ice pack on his sprained knee for much of the day.
- On the first play of the practice-ending team period, cornerback Josh Pinkard played excellent coverage and stepped in front of an Aaron Corp pass over the middle to snag the interception. But on the very next play, Corp bounced back with a perfectly placed deep ball to Damian Williams over the middle and, near the end of the period, completed another sweet pass to Williams for a touchdown.
- On one play in the final team period, linebackers Luthur Brown and Shane Horton combined for a sack on Aaron Corp, prompting a boisterous celebration from coach Ken Norton Jr. "That's what Competition Tuesday is all about!" Norton bellowed. "They just swallowed him up!"
- Aaron Corp went 5-for-6 and Mitch Mustain went 4-for-4 to give the offense a dominating performance in the 10-play 7-on-7 period. "This is officially a no-competition period!" running backs coach Todd McNair playfully yelled during the blowout.
- To add versatility to the tight 64-man Pac-10 travel roster this weekend, Garrett Green took reps at wideout and even caught a pass during the final team period.
- Former Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone and two renowned southern California pastors -- Francis Chan of Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley and Todd Proctor of Rockharbor Church in Costa Mesa -- attended the practice.
University Southern California Trojans
Saturday, August 15
Saturday, August 15
Friday, August 14
Friday, August 14
