- Four players are using the bye week to get healthy. DE Leonard Williams, TE Randall Telfer, RB Tre Madden and WR JuJu Smith spent the morning rehabbing.
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Two more health related notes: Walk-on WR Christian Tober had surgery at USC Keck Hospital to repair a broken collarbone and senior RB D.J. Morgan is not playing football this season to focus on track and field. "I recruited D.J. out of high school, and he was an elite track athlete, and he wants to get healthy for that opportunity, and so we wish him the best of luck," said head coach Steve Sarkisian. Morgan clarified after practice that he needs to get healthy, but could still pursue an NFL career.
- While the Trojans have many regrets about the performance at Boston College, the focus is on fixing the problems going forward and not dwelling on past mistakes. "We need this bye week. We need to get better. A bye week does not mean a week off," said Sarkisian. "The taste is going to be in our mouth a little longer than normal, which maybe isn't a bad thing."
- Several Trojans have suggested since the game that they did not handle the success of a Top 10 ranking very well. QB Cody Kessler said they had a team meeting about it this week.
- On the offensive side of the ball, the questions remain about play-calling vs. execution, and the answer seems to be both. Coaches need to improve on "in-game adjustments" and handling "in-game adversity," said Sarkisian.
- Kessler put it on himself and the players, saying, "We had a lot of missed assignments when we were trying to establish the run. The play calls were there. The looks we wanted were there."
- As for the five sacks given up, "The offensive line is getting blitzed all day and I need to get the ball out of my hands. That's all on me," said Kessler.
- The offensive linemen know they need to do a better job protecting the quarterback, paving holes for the running backs and communicating. "We all need to be on the same page. We need to come a lot more focused from now on," said RT Zach Banner. "We can't loosen up the screws, like Coach Sark says. We can't let up. I'm not saying that's what we did. But we need to come and play our game. If we had played our game, it would have been a totally different outcome."
- The wide receivers are certainly not pointing fingers at anyone else. "We've got to run better routes. We've got to catch the ball when it comes our way, and we've got to get open," said Nelson Agholor. "Things that wide receivers should always do whether the ball comes their way or not."
- George Farmer was a positive for the wide receiving corps securing his long awaited first touchdown as a Trojan (pictured). "It felt great. It's been awhile since I've been in that end zone. I think since high school, so yeah, it felt great," said Farmer. "Unfortunately, it couldn't contribute to the win so it didn't really mean that much. Next time, I hope I can have a touchdown that will contribute to our win."
- While Kessler is hard on himself, his play has also been a bright spot. He is completing 71% of his passes with 8 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. "I think I can do better," he said. "Like I've always said, protecting the ball is my biggest thing and I've been doing an OK job with that right now."
- The Trojans will have to wait two weeks for Oregon State at the Coliseum, but they are already chomping at the bit. "We're still going to go hard and Oregon State is going to feel the wrath," said Farmer. "Coming off a loss, no one wants to feel down about it, so we're going to come out hard."
- Here is Sarkisian's post-practice press conference:
