The Trojans ended their first week of Spring Football with their first practice in pads on Saturday at Howard Jones Field. The team will have one week off for Spring Break before suiting up for four straight weeks of practices beginning on Tuesday, March 22.
- USC head coach Clay Helton was impressed with his team's competitiveness on their first full day in pads, especially being one day away from the start of a week-long break. In the team's final competition period, the offense and defense went after it, forcing two turnovers and ending on a long touchdown from Max Browne to JuJu Smith-Schuster.
- While the offense had the final say, winning the competition drill on the final three plays, Helton felt that it was the defense which stole the show on Saturday. "I thought the defense won the war today, I really did," he explained. "I thought they brought a physicality and a toughness and created turnovers which hadn't been happening really in the first two practices."
- Senior safety Leon McQuay III highlighted the final 15 minutes of practice, intercepting Browne on back-to-back plays to give the defense an early lead. "To see Leon come up with two plays like that made me a happy person," said a pleased Helton, who explained that McQuay is a player he thinks has benefited from the one on one meetings the coaching staff had with the entire team this offseason. "He's an extremely talented young man and when he knows his assignment he plays really fast. He's a really physical player at the safety position as well. I'm expecting really big things from him."
- The head coach has also been impressed with some of the young members of USC's defensive line - Rasheem Green and Porter Gustin - through the first week of practice. A sophomore defensive tackle, Green has demonstrated "his quickness and quick twitch off the ball, especially in one on one pass rush", while Gustin, a sophomore defensive end, is "really causing havoc in both run and pass". On the opposite side of the line, Helton has been pleased with sophomore offensive tackle Chuma Edoga who he says has been "pretty special off the edge" through one week.
- Spring practices, and your RipsIt team, will be back in one week with more news from Howard Jones Field. For now, here's Helton's complete post-practice presser...
