University Southern California Trojans
Players Mentioned
Lincoln Riley Evaluates USC Football’s Spring Scrimmage in the Coliseum
April 09, 2023 | Football
News & notes from USC's 11th practice of spring:
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The conditions were perfect on Saturday (Apr. 8) morning for a scrimmage at the Coliseum. The Trojans returned to their regular season home for the first time this spring for the team's 11th practice of camp. Head coach Lincoln Riley evaluated how the team performed shortly afterward:
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"It was a little bit different than some of our practices here as of late, in that there were some pretty big momentum swings in the scrimmage," Riley shared. "The offense started pretty quickly, had a good first couple of drives. Defense dominated the middle part of the scrimmage. I think at one point we had six or seven straight series with no points."
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"We did a full overtime at the end, which there was a lot of back and forth on and we split the teams up, and it got pretty competitive there at the end and finished with a kind of epic two-point attempt there at the end, which was fun," Riley said.
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The head coach noted how USC is currently at its healthiest this spring, which allowed the team to play competitively Saturday with depth:
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"We got a full 85-plus plays," Riley said of USC's scrimmage. "We were able to do a couple other drills. We got a lot of live special teams work today, work the big four and were able to kick field goals and extra points as well."
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Riley shared his initial takeaways, including several standouts from the day:
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"Zach [Branch] had a couple of really nice plays," Riley said. "Kyron Hudson had a really nice play in the overtime period. Backs all had some productive runs, but there were also a lot of tackles for loss and guys in the backfield too."
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On Raesjon Davis: "[He] had a sack strip and then picked up the fumble. I couldn't tell for sure if he was a part of the sack, it was close, but he picked up the fumble and scored, which was a big play defensively."
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Redshirt freshman Domani Jackson spoke to the media for the first time in his Trojan career earlier this week. The corner shared the progress he has made this spring; his first camp fully healthy. Riley expanded on Jackson's growth on Saturday:
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"In some ways he's kind of going through those things that you go through your true freshman year, you're learning to compete against really good other players that are really good on the other side of the ball every single day," Riley said. "You can see him day-to-day where he'll do some things well and he'll make a mistake, but then a lot of times he's able to correct it the next day and just keep going forward."
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Riley also stressed that Jackson's growth is dependent on the corner becoming more comfortable with defensive coordinator Alex Grinch's scheme:
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"We've got to get him settled into a point where he can really turn loose and play aggressive all the time," Riley explained. "Because when he does that, you see the strength, you see the length, you see the top end speed and he's learning to use that more aggressively and learning when he can. Each day he just gets a little more confident. And the mistakes are starting to trend down. The positive plays are starting to go up and that's going to be a process."
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When asked to compare USC's defense at this point last spring to the present day, Riley couldn't find too many similarities:
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"Totally different," Riley said. "From a scheme knowledge standpoint, from a talent standpoint, especially in the front seven."
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"Defensively last year there was a little bit of a sense of you had your handful of really good players and then there was too much of a gap between those guys and everybody else," Riley explained. "Whereas, now that you've got some really good outstanding individual players, but the gap is closed, and because of that they have more competition, more depth."
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"Guys are really having to push, guys learn the system better," the head coach continued. "We've got some good leaders on that side of the ball. So certainly a long way from where we were a year ago. I mean there's no question about that, but still, a long way to go. [I've] been encouraged with what I've seen the spring, again, particularly the depth in the front seven and then the emergence of some of the guys in the secondary would be the two things I'm the most excited about."
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Junior Raejson Davis is competing for more playing time in the 2023 season. Riley shared how the inside linebacker is faring so far in camp:
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"He's had a good spring," Riley said. "I think we can all sense that this is a key time for him. He made some really nice plays in [the Cotton Bowl] for us. He had been starting to trend and do some really good things in practice leading up to that. And he's had a lot of opportunities this spring and it's a good room right now."
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"So Raesjon has raised his game," Riley continued. "He's certainly making less mistakes, playing a lot cleaner. He's really worked hard to put on some strength and play a little more physical, because he is always been able to move, and that's showing up as well. So it's been a positive spring and he's certainly going to be right in the middle of [the ILB competition]."
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Redshirt freshman Anthony Lucas was Riley's final topic of his media availability Saturday. The head coach shared his initial impressions of the defensive lineman this spring:
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"He's done a good job. I've really been impressed [since he's] a younger guy to transfer in. He's learned our stuff," Riley said. "He's been very reliable from a scheme standpoint. He makes explosive plays, he's brought really good energy and competitiveness to each day."
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Riley also noted that Lucas has been one of the first newcomers to be "gold plated" this spring - meaning that the defensive lineman has been taking care of his business both on and off the field:
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"He's really acclimated well," Riley said of Lucas. "He's just been a really fun guy to have in the program. He's been a fun guy to put on our defense. And yeah, just his transition. You never know exactly how that transition's going to go, especially with a younger guy that's still not seasoned as far as a collegiate football player. And he's handled it very well. So now I've been super impressed. He's got a really, really high upside and he's one of those guys, you feel his impact in practice just about every day."
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