University Southern California Trojans
2018 Arizona Tuesday: Notes
September 25, 2018 | Football, USC Ripsit Blog, Features
The USC offense is growing in confidence as a key Pac-12 South game looms.
It was a chilly evening in Los Angeles, but expect things to heat up in the desert this weekend.
- Here is the injury report, per head coach Clay Helton: DL Jay Tufele (held out with an illness), OLB Porter Gustin (held out due to knee for precautionary reasons), OG Andrew Vorhees (limited by sternum contusion), WR Velus Jones Jr. (monitoring an elbow injury), WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (limited by AC shoulder sprain).
- The Trojans are feeling better about themselves this week, but they know there is a long way to go before they are out of their early season hole. "We still have a lot to prove," WR Michael Pittman Jr. said. "It's really nice to get a win, but we have to keep winning."
- To do that, USC's running game must keep improving. The Trojans set an early tone on the ground last week, but struggled to consistently make an impact. "Like Coach [Tim Drevno] says, 'A lot of money left on the field.' We did good, but there were a lot of other opportunities that we missed out on," said RB Vavae Malepeai.
- Malepeai leads the Trojans with 5 touchdowns this season. "The season's not even close to getting done yet," said the RS sophomore. "I never want to get comfortable. Just coming in week-by-week, day-by-day and getting better. It's not really any stat we're looking at or anything we're really keeping track of."
- USC continues to employee a three-headed monster in the backfield, and with Drevno up in the booth, Helton handles the substitutions. "We all feed off each other's energy," Malepeai said. "We have a saying: 'Stay ready so we don't have to get ready.' So by the time we're in, we just do what we've been practicing all week. We just try to get each other better."
- Helton "leaned on" Malepeai and Stephen Carr last week because Aca'Cedric Ware was unable to practice with a knee issue, but expect to see the senior more this week.
- The passing game has found its rhythm as QB JT Daniels builds trust with his veteran receivers. "You felt that chemistry on the practice field last week," Helton said. "I was hoping it would show up Friday night and it did."
- Daniels has distinguished himself early in his career by throwing an accurate deep ball and being aggressive down the field. "The good ones that I've been around have no conscience," Helton said. "They just let it fly. He's one of those guys."
- Pittman and the receivers love it. "We always knew that he was that guy," Pittman said of Daniels. "His confidence and mentality, you just know that he's a crazy dude."
- Down 13 in the third quarter, Pittman made perhaps the biggest play of the season to date, taking a short throw 50 yards to the house. "It felt good. It was my first time since the Pac-12 game, so I felt like it was much needed for a confidence booster for the team at that point," he said. "I feel like it helped us get back into the game, gave us some life I guess."
Players Mentioned
TB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
OLB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
TB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DL
/ Football
OG-OT
/ Football
TB
/ FootballWednesday, July 08
Wednesday, July 08
Wednesday, July 08
Monday, July 06
