ASU Tuesday: Notes

The Trojans were happy to be back on the practice field with plenty to work on after a tough loss in South Bend.

Injury report per head coach Clay Helton: CB Iman Marshall (held with knee injury), WR Steven Mitchell Jr. (held with shoulder injury), DT Josh Fatu (progressing from concussion), OLB Porter Gustin (light running), RB Stephen Carr (cut for the first time today on injured foot), and C Nico Falah (cleared to practice with chest contusion).

USC QB Sam Darnold was not on the injury report because he practiced fully today despite injuring his ankle against Notre Dame. "Felt really good today," Darnold said about his ankle. "Just going to keep going off of this, keep icing, keep doing my rehab."

Darnold has been under a microscope this season, and he made a pair of mistakes with a fumble and a turnover in South Bend, but he was otherwise efficient on the night. "I thought I took what they gave me besides that one throw," Darnold self-assessed. "And obviously, the fumbles you want to have back."

Helton agreed with his assessment, saying that Darnold "distributed the ball well" and made "one poor decision that whole game."

Of course, the turnovers crushed the Trojans chances as Notre Dame cashed all three in for first half touchdowns. "We've got to do a great job of holding on to the ball," Helton said about this week's test at ASU. The Sun Devils have "thrived in that category" the last two weeks.

New punt returner Jack Jones committed the third turnover, dropping a ball inside his own 10. Helton said that Jones made "the right decision" in electing to fair catch the ball, but he has to make the play.

Jones did give the Trojans more explosiveness in the punt return game, and so he is competing with Ajene Harris and Trevon Sidney for the spot this week.

In a big early hole, Darnold explained the anxiety of trying to mount a huge comeback, which leads to mistakes. "Just trying to get all 21 points back in one play," Darnold said about his interception. "Can't do that. Got to just continue to play ball and play my style of ball, which is just taking what the defense gives me."

Darnold could use some help from the run game which was shut down on Saturday. Helton explained that the offensive line was simply losing too many one-on-one battles. The Trojans will need to minimize "physical beats" to reestablish the line of scrimmage.

Helton, as always, shoulders the blame, and while Darnold appreciates that, he wants the players to take accountability. "Coach Helton, I think that's kind of what he does. Sometimes as players, it's a good thing when he takes the blame. But honestly, sometimes I feel like it's the players making the mistakes," Darnold said. "Coach Helton does his thing. He's really consistent in game plans, and so are all of our coaches. Players need to play better. We're taking that upon ourselves and trying to do that every single practice and every game from here on out."

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