Lincoln Riley talks USC scrimmage standouts as defense shines
The USC Trojans took part in their first scrimmage of fall camp over the weekend. Head coach Lincoln Riley said it was about 90 plays and offered the coaches an opportunity to look at just about every player on the roster.
Overall, the USC defense came out on top.
“Defense certainly had the upper hand overall in the scrimmage,” Riley said.
There were offensive bright spots, but not enough to overshadow a defense that, according to Riley, “Made less mistakes and made more plays overall.”
Riley said he was “pretty pleased” with how the defense tackled during the scrimmage. That could catch the attention of all USC fans. The Trojans were, to put it mildly, not consistently good when it came to tackling last season.
“A lot of times, the first scrimmage, tackling is a weak area,” Riley said. “Just because you’re out there in open field, truly, for a number of snaps and you’re not blowing a whistle. I thought we did a nice job limiting some of the big plays offensively.”
Safety Zion Branch was a notable standout on the defensive side during the scrimmage. Riley added that the defensive line “certainly won the day” during the scrimmage. Linebacker Mason Cobb applauded the energy the defensive players brought to the scrimmage. Defensive lineman Jack Sullivan couldn’t pick one sack that stood out from the rest but said there were plenty to choose from.
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Riley Names Offensive Standouts
While attention centered mostly on the defense, Riley did say some offensive players stepped up. He mentioned offensive tackle Michael Tarquin “had a really good scrimmage” along the offensive line.
Riley said quarterback Miller Moss had an early turnover but bounced back to play well the rest of the scrimmage. Tight end Lake McRee made some impressive plays. And true freshman wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane got another major shoutout. A few days after quarterback Caleb Williams called Lane out for his impressive play this fall, Riley did so as well.
“[Lane] had a really nice scrimmage, had a couple really good catches, some big-time plays,” Riley said.
