Trojans’ defense hitting its stride during spring practice


With the spring game on the horizon, the USC football team is making the most of the final few days of spring practice.

This week’s practices were held at the Coliseum, which looked even more gargantuan in its emptiness. There has been a slightly different feel to practice of late, mainly because the players will actually be suiting up and hitting one another in real game action on April 11 for the spring game.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian has been keen on giving the team a variety of game-like scenarios during spring ball. At Thursday’s practice in the 11-on-11 drills, quarterbacks Cody Kessler and Max Browne were asked to start from the shadow of their own goalposts. 

On the first two drives, the offense managed to pick up a handful of first downs. The next two drives, however, saw the defense force a safety and a pick-six on back-to-back plays. The defense was fired up and rightly so, though they were unable to lay the lumber because the players were only wearing half-pads. Tuesday featured no pads, while the shoulder pads came out on Thursday. On Saturday, the team will be donning full pads, which will be a nice sneak preview of the spring game.

Though spring practice is essentially the prologue of the season, some storylines and takeaways have really stood out so far. The defense is firing on all cylinders, as several players have left positive impressions on coaches and teammates alike.

Soon-to-be junior safety Su’a Cravens is just scratching the surface ability-wise. Defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, defensive backs coach Keith Heyward and linebackers coach Peter Sirmon certainly realize that Cravens can go from exceptional to unstoppable. Cravens is one of the most dominant safeties in the country, and quite frankly, the stat sheet cannot do his game justice. Sure, in 2014 his ten total tackles against Cal turned heads, as did his 31-yard pick-six against Oregon State. But his consistency just might be his greatest quality of all.

“Instinctually he’s always had it,” Sirmon said. “From where he started the first two weeks last season in terms of just the fundamentals, he’s grown immensely, and I think you are going to see that reflected in consistent production the whole season.”

As the linebackers coach, and thus the coach of defensive quarterbacks, Sirmon emphasizes consistency. Dependability trumps flash, and that same premise holds true for Cravens’ game. That steady production at the safety position provides a major boost to the Trojans’ secondary, even in spring ball.

As for the fellow members of the defensive backfield, Adoree’ Jackson spent Thursday’s session with the offense. Jackson hauled in a number of passes, contorting his body every which way and reminding every pair of eyes watching him that he is just as dynamic on offense as he is on defense. It is somewhat baffling to see USC’s No. 2 playing the role of shutdown corner on Tuesday only to come back on Thursday and dominate at the wide receiver position.

“I think what we learned about Adoree’ a year ago is he has a really high football IQ,” Coach Sarkisian said. “We’re going to have to be very strategic when we go into games of exactly how we’re going to use him.”

Sarkisian lauded Jackson’s diverse skillset, saying the freshman phenom is capable of scoring whenever the ball is in his hands. “He is something else. His ability to learn, retain and ultimately apply what he does on the field day after day from one side of the ball to another is very impressive,” Sarkisian said. As a two-way player, Jackson is the definition of an ironman and is truly a rare breed in modern-day college football.

Meanwhile, during Thursday’s “finish challenge,” inside linebacker Lamar Dawson made the winning play, as he once again showcased his skills and continued his high level of play that coaches have seen from him all spring. Coach Sarkisian said, “He’s just been a really active player for us—a guy who continues to show up and do those things we think he’s capable of doing.”

Additionally, inside linebacker Olajuwon Tucker is stronger, knows the playbook better and is becoming more versatile. Tucker and Dawson both look primed for a strong 2015 campaign, which will be of the utmost importance to this defense because of the up-tempo spread offenses, as well as the pass-heavy offenses and pro style offenses, that the Trojans will face in Pac-12 play.

“In our conference, we get spread out so much, and our linebackers get put in a lot of one-on-one scenarios to shed blocks off of guards and then get off the blocks and make those plays and make those tackles,” Sarkisian said. Sarkisian stressed size and physicality from the linebacker position as a way to minimize big gainers by dynamic offenses’ dangerous playmakers.

It should also be noted that defensive tackle Cody Temple is getting important reps this spring. Coach Sarkisian praised Temple for his tenacity in practice, especially because he is going up against one of the best centers in the nation in Max Tuerk. 

“All in all, it was a really competitive practice,” Sarkisian said. “There were some really cool teachable moments for us about playing and becoming a more disciplined football team, which is what we’re striving to become.”