- Head coach Steve Sarkisian was much more pleased with today's effort and enthusiasm, calling it "totally opposite" from Tuesday. "I thought the guys were flying around on both sides of the ball," said Sarkisian. "They are obviously in great spirits and they're really looking forward to Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum."
- The defense dominated most of the afternoon, showing "the pride factor" after giving up some deep balls on Tuesday. "They stepped up today," said Sarkisian, who once again pointed out the performance of LB Su'a Cravens.
- Sarkisian on Cravens from last night's Trojans Live: "If Su'a Cravens isn't a First Team All-American and Pac-12 Player of the Year on defense, I'd be shocked. He's just playing phenomenal football."
- Cravens picked up another sack today on an inside move working in combination with DE Delvon Simmons. He also read a screen play and made a one-handed interception for a pick-six.
- The kickers were tested today in pressure situations, and they struggled a little bit from distance. The battle continues between Alex Wood and Matt Boermeester, and Sarkisian still has "a long way to go" before making a decision.
- Wood served as Andre Heidari's super-sub the last two years, so he has the advantage of experience over Boermeester at the major college level. Wood called the job "50/50" in regards to balancing the mental and physical skills needed to succeed at this level. "A lot of high school kickers come into college and they just can't do it," said Wood. "Some kickers have gone out there and lost games just because of the pressure. You know they make that in practice. It's a lot of mental. You just have to focus on your job and not what people are saying or yelling or spitting or whatever."
- Wood has been unfairly tagged as a short and accurate specialist. He made a 51-yard field goal off the ground in high school, and he is out to prove this season that he has the leg to boom it through from distance.
- Staying on special teams, Sarkisian listed Adoree' Jackson and Steven Mitchell as the obvious candidates to return punts and kicks. But, talented freshmen like like Ronald Jones II and Isaiah Langley could get in the mix during Fall Camp.
- Jackson is expected to play both offense and defense at some point on Saturday.
- Mark Sanchez showed up at practice today, and he was bouncing around the practice field with a beaming smile. "He and Cody actually have a really good rapport," said Sarkisian, who joked that the quarterbacks spent most of the time making fun of him.
- Sarkisian explained that the Spring Game will look more like a practice, but there will be live scrimmage portions with a scoring system to match the offense against the defense.
- Here is Sarkisian after practice today:
