Practice Report: Lincoln Riley, USC Football Reminisce 'Neilon Nudge'

It looked like a sled drill that USC's offensive linemen have repped endlessly on Howard Jones Field. But instead of driving his weight into a piece of equipment, center Brett Neilon put his force into pushing quarterback Caleb Williams across the line to gain on a critical fourth down. It was a heads up play that displayed focus, determination and constant effort.

"It was awesome. I mean, one of my favorite plays that I've ever had anywhere," head coach Lincoln Riley said Tuesday. "That right there is everything that we've been preaching. That gives you a chance even when you're not at your best, and we weren't at our best offensively. But the elite effort and fight gave us a shot there."

Offensive lineman Bobby Haskins echoed Riley's sentiments, sharing how the play reflects the goals of the position group.

"That's what we've got to pride ourselves on as an offensive line. That's an unbelievable play by Brett," Haskins said. "Coach says it all the time, 'Second effort isn't second. It's just what we do.' And so, him having a play like that where he's running downfield, following Caleb and pushing him ahead for the first down on a fourth down play like that. That's what we want to be as an offensive line. That pretty much sums it up right there."

On 4th & 6 in the clutch, the @uscfb offense embodied Fight On!🔥 pic.twitter.com/jmRxLEBYvA
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) September 25, 2022

Notes from USC's Tuesday practice of Arizona State Week:

Lincoln Riley likened Caleb Williams' performance on Saturday to a pitcher in baseball who sometimes "doesn't have his best stuff" one night. The head coach added that there are many more variables that influence a quarterback's performance than the average person would expect:
- "The deal with throwing, everybody thinks about, 'Well throwing is -- like just a quarterback and a physical thing,'" Riley said. "Like, if any of these things are out of sync, it can look a little bit off, right? A protection's off sync, a route is a little bit off sync, footwork, bad preparation, bad coaching. Anything can make it look a little bit off. And we had instances of all of those. When you do that, the offense is just going to be a tick off. And when you're a tick off against a good defense, it can look like it did the other night. So I think just refocusing us on operating the way we need to, coaching better, playing better. I know it sounds kind of boring, but it's the truth."
Cornerback Mekhi Blackmon shared how USC's first battle in a hostile environment has the potential to bring the Trojans even closer together:
- "Most definitely because … they sat our fans, like our family -- my mom and them flew out," Blackmon said. "They were all high in the stadium in the back, so it felt like it was just us versus the orange. [It's] only going to make us stronger, only gonna get us better. But last week's win doesn't do anything for us this week. We've got to continue to fight."
Left tackle Courtland Ford suited up against Oregon State Saturday but did not end up playing, as Bobby Haskins played the entirety of the game. Riley gave more insight on USC's left tackle position Tuesday:
- "By the time we made the game-time decision, we thought in a perfect world if Bobby could go the whole way in this one, we think he's ready to do it," Riley said. "And then we think Courtland is like right on the edge of really getting back to being himself. And so it was like, if Bobby could take all these [reps], Courtland gets another week to be back. We felt like Courtland would be closer to 100% this week, and I think that's the case Bobby. Bobby came out of it really healthy, did some really good things. And Court is back to 100% now. So, mission accomplished."

Players Mentioned

Mekhi Blackmon

Courtland Ford

Bobby Haskins

Brett Neilon

Caleb Williams