Practice Report: USC Football Needs "All Hands on Deck" When Facing UCLA's Powerful Offense

It's no secret that USC is going to have its hands full with UCLA's Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Just ask the man whose challenge is to scheme against the multi-talented quarterback this week.

"There's so much to like from a quarterback-evaluation standpoint, but obviously from a defensive perspective there's a lot of frustrations when you watch him," USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said Wednesday.

The Trojans have faced many dual-threat quarterbacks this season, but Thompson-Robinson's confidence sets him apart. The quarterback is in Year Five under head coach Chip Kelly and his scheme, and is on track to surpass 10,000 career passing yards this Saturday.

"What's different [about Thompson-Robinson] than the other guys? I think you've got an experienced guy that's very confident in what he does," Grinch explained. "So it's very hard to shake him."

Even if USC can "shake" Thompson-Robinson, the quarterback's mobility gives him a level of unpredictability that even the best of the best can't scheme against.

"The frustrating part about elite quarterbacks that can move is it's not about having a good call," Grinch explained. "It's not about having guys defended early in the play. The play just starts the minute he makes any movement that would be described as an unnatural movement of the quarterback."

If a mobile quarterback wasn't enough, veteran running back Zach Charbonnet completes the powerful one-two punch that is UCLA's offense. The senior is a combination of strength and speed, who can play on every down for the Bruins.

"You're talking about probably the best tailback that we've faced this year," Grinch said of Charbonnet. "[He has] the ability to run through tackles, run hard, has a patience to him that really frustrates you defensively because you feel like you might have got him bottled up but he's just getting started."

Grinch stressed that it will take consistency from all 11 of his defenders on Saturday to put the Trojans in a position to win.

"It's all hands on deck," Grinch said. "You've got to make sure that if you're not on a body in coverage, then you've got to go attack the quarterback. From a run-fit standpoint, we've got to win and not just be in your gap, but destroy blocks. Find ways to eliminate some plays [before you] even allow them to get started. If they get every play started, it's very tough to play defense."

Notes from USC's Wednesday practice of UCLA Week:

While this is the first time Grinch will face UCLA's offense, it won't be the first time that Grinch will go up against head coach Chip Kelly. The two actually coached together at New Hampshire, when Kelly was the offensive coordinator and Grinch was just starting his coaching career as a defensive backs coach:
- "I've got a lot of respect for Chip. I call him a friend and I've been a fan, I can't be a fan anymore that's the way it goes, but I have been for a long long time," Grinch said. "He's elite at what he does and has been for a long long time. I've got nothing but positive things to say about him. He was the offensive coordinator when I was there…We were assistant coaches together but he's elite at what he does and will be a major challenge this weekend.
Quarterback Caleb Williams has been known to rise to the occasion when it comes to big-time rivalries. He shared his calm mindset heading into Saturday's matchup:
- "It's another game to me," Williams said. "I've been in other big rivalry games so far in my career, so I'm just treating it like another game."
While there is a lot of hype and even trash talk surrounding this week's crosstown showdown, Williams shared the Trojans have tunnel vision on their goals.
- "One of the first things that we talked about as a group and as a team is focusing on us," Williams said. "Not focusing on social media… with other teams, what they have to say, or what they're doing or anything like that. Focus on us playing our game, and going out there trying to help the Trojans go 1-0."

Wednesday's media availability:

Players Mentioned

Caleb Williams