University Southern California Trojans
2019 BYU Wednesday: Notes
September 11, 2019 | Football, USC Ripsit Blog, Features
Click the play button above to watch USC DC Clancy Pendergast discuss USC's first road game of the year.
The Trojans continued their preparation for their first road game of the season.
- USC senior DE Christian Rector has been limited in practice this week due to an ankle injury, and redshirt junior Connor Murphy has stepped in to replace him. Murphy, who had the first sack of his career against Stanford, earned praise from DC Clancy Pendergast. "I like his length," Pendergast said. "It's one of the reasons we recruited him. We like his physicality. And he's a big body out there that gets in throwing lanes that the quarterback's got to throw over. I'm really glad to see his progress."
- Pendergast explained that redshirting has helped Murphy grow immensely. "He's really matured," Pendergast said. "He came in here and had the double hernias and fought through that, but it's given him time to let his body grow a little bit and really mature with the technique that we're trying to use defensively up front."
- Like Murphy, Pendergast was also impressed with redshirt sophomore DL Jay Tufele's performance against Stanford. "He played with really good gap integrity," he explained. "When we did move him, he played with really sudden movement and got vertical."
- Tufele is heading back to his home state of Utah this weekend when the Trojans face the BYU Cougars. "I have a lot of family and friends that are coming out," said the Salt Lake City native. "I'm really excited to go back home and put on a show for them. Nothing beats going back to your home."
- Last year, when the Trojans played at Utah, Tufele put on a show for his family in attendance with a scoop and score touchdown early in the game. "Man, shoot. Whatever happens, happens," he replied when asked if he could promise another defensive touchdown on Saturday. "I'm just ready to make plays for my team and hopefully come out with a win."
- Over the years, Tufele has forged a bond with fellow DL Marlon Tuipulotu. "Marlon's a great player," Tufele said. "We've got a great chemistry going. I know that he's going be able to do his job, and he knows that I'm going to be able to do my job. We're going to hold it down and have the linebackers come and make good plays."
- Sophomore LB Palaie Gaoteote IV is hoping to improve his vision on the field to help him make bigger plays each week. "Whether it's shifting my eyes to the running back, or just looking at the linemen and seeing how they're blocking and reading the blocking schemes — from Week 1 to Week 2 my eyes got a lot better at keying in on those things," he said.
- The Trojans are youthful at some spots on defense, but Pendergast is confident the team will stick to its training in the first road game of the season. "There's always somewhat of a concern, but this field we practice on is as big as the one over at the Coliseum, so we kind of take that approach," he said. "We've just got ot go there and handle our business."
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