Lincoln Riley Praises Several Standouts Against Arizona

There were several offensive players tasked with stepping into new or bigger roles this past weekend as the USC Trojans played without their top two wide receivers and top offensive lineman. USC head coach Lincoln Riley offered extensive praise for a few during his appearance on the Trojans Live radio show Monday night.

USC did not have wide receivers Jordan Addison and Mario Williams, nor offensive guard Andrew Vorhees available for the game. Addison and Vorhees were known by USC coming into the game, but Williams was a surprise. Riley said they felt Williams would be able to go, but during warmups he felt he couldn’t.

In their places, wide receivers Tahj Washington and Kyle Ford saw more passes thrown their way and both responded with 100-yard performances. Along the offensive line, Mason Murphy started his first game at right tackle and Jonah Monheim slid in from right tackle to right guard. The Trojans didn’t give up a sack and allowed just one tackle for loss against the Wildcats. And Monheim put together a near-perfect game at guard.

“I can’t say enough about Jonah,” Riley said. “Jonah goes in there and grades 95% in his first start ever at right guard…He’s one of the best players on our team.”

Murphy Learning From the Veterans

It was an interesting decision to change three positions on the offensive line with Vorhees sidelined. When Justin Dedich missed some time earlier this season, Gino Quinones came in at right guard and the rest of the line remained the same. This time, with Vorhees out at left guard, Dedich flipped from right guard to left guard, Monheim slid in to right guard and Murphy came off the bench to play right tackle.

Riley called Murphy one of the most talented young players on the roster. He credited the young lineman as well as the veteran offensive line room in part for getting Murphy to this point.

“It’s been good for him to be around some of our veterans that are kind of grinders, tough guys,” Riley said. “They really kind of handle their business like pros. And Mason’s needed to learn that, like most freshmen. He came in, he had no clue how to prepare. No clue what in his mind was working, and what working really looks like…You see some of those wires starting to connect. And again, it’s the culture within the team. There’s a good culture in that offensive line room right now. And that’s been good for him and it’s helped him progress. We felt like he was ready to play on that right side.”

Wide Receivers Step Up

Washington and Ford put up the big numbers against Arizona, but Riley praised several others as well.

With Williams sidelined, USC asked Terrell Bynum to move inside and help fill that role. He unfortunately had a touchdown wiped out due to a penalty. But he did have three receptions for 29 yards.

“He’s one of our smartest, most mature receivers,” Riley said. “So it was very key for us that he was able to play well.”

Ford finished with six receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. And Brenden Rice added five catches for 62 yards and a score. Riley said they’ve been looking for more production from the X receiver position. He said those two made several extremely important plays, including contested third-down receptions.

But Riley saved his most extensive praise for Washington.

Washington hasn’t always shown up on the stat sheet this season. In USC’s eight games, he has four with four or more receptions and four with two or fewer. That includes games against Stanford and Washington State where he didn’t catch a pass.

But Washington has been invaluable on offense and special teams this season.

“He’s been playing his tail off and got a few more opportunities, and continues to be one of the most valuable players on this football team,” Riley said. “We have a lot of confidence in that kid that whatever job it is. And you name it. He’s got about 50 different job on this team, it feels like. He’s good at all of them and he’s extremely reliable. I think more and more he’s a guy that we’re wanting to get involved because again, he is so reliable and so tough.”