- The Trojans "came out healthy" from today's scrimmage, including the competitive return of DT Noah Jefferson.
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The QB announcement is expected to come Saturday afternoon. Both starting candidates, Max Browne and Sam Darnold, fared well today in their closing arguments. Helton called it one of the "smoothest" days USC has had offensively.
- Helton on Browne: "Max did a very nice job, really [spreading] the ball around and not making critical errors."
- Veteran safety Chris Hawkins has the secret to guessing who the starting QB will be. "The quarterback with the number 4 on his jersey, whoever has a number 4 on their jersey," Hawkins joked. "I think 14 and 4, they both have 4."
- Hawkins sized up the quarterback battle from a teammate's perspective. "Sam's more of a dual-threat, he can really push the pocket," he said about Darnold. "And Max is Max. He came in my class. He was one of the frontrunners of our 2013 class. I have confidence in both of them and honestly, to me it doesn't matter who starts. I feel like our defense is going to set the tempo."
- Helton will pull advice from his coaches, but ultimately, the decision lies with him. And while he has wrestled with it for months, he will give the starter a long leash. "I'm going to name one and allow that guy to be the guy," said the former QB coach. "I never want a guy to be looking over his back all the time."
- Quarterback is not the only position battle. The depth chart will let everyone on the team know where they stand going into the season opener. "Once they come out with the depth chart, we move forward as a team --- there's no more guessing," said Hawkins.
- Junior CB Adoree' Jackson is one name inked on the top line. In Clancy Pendergast's aggressive scheme, Jackson will be locked up in one-on-one coverage much more than previous seasons. "[It's] pretty fun being on an island. A lot of people have islands named after them," Jackson smiled. "Hopefully, they can name a couple of our DBs, and we can get our own island."
- Jackson has spent most of camp on an island with JuJu Smith-Schuster. The Biletnikoff Award candidate enables Jackson to "[get comfortable] sticking someone like that" in preparation for Alabama's Calvin Ridley.
- While the Trojans know Ridley is the real deal, Alabama has a QB competition of its own and new starters at several spots, so Pendergast is more focused on his defense than his opponent. "There's a lot of unknowns," he said about the Crimson Tide offense. "We just have to rely on our scheme and our techniques and the things that we've taught the players throughout the spring and summer and Fall Camp."
- Here is Helton's press conference, including extensive conversation on the quarterback debate:
