Neilon gives football a push
Here’s the scene: It’s 4th and 6 on USC’s own 43-yard line. The Trojans are down 14-10 to Oregon State with 2:51 to play in the fourth quarter. Sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams takes the snap from the shotgun and drops back to pass.
Pressure comes immediately from the edge and the pocket collapses even quicker, forcing Williams to step up and take off. Williams scrambles up the middle, nearly to the first down marker, where he’s met by two Beaver defenders.
It looks like he might be stopped short, putting an early end to USC’s undefeated season. Suddenly, out of nowhere comes redshirt senior offensive lineman Brett Neilon. Neilon gets behind Williams first, keeping him up on his feet long enough for his fellow offensive lineman to help propel their quarterback past the line for a crucial first down.
Five plays later, Jordan Addison’s 21-yard touchdown reception put the Trojans up for good, keeping USC’s Pac-12 Championship hopes alive.
Head Coach Lincoln Riley had some high praise for the game-saving play.
“[It was] one of my favorite plays that I’ve ever had anywhere,” Riley said in an interview with 247 Sports.“That right there is everything we’ve been preaching. The elite effort and fight gave us a shot there.”
“It was just a pass play, pass block and then I just saw him run,” Neilon said about the play. “And then I saw him get stuck, and I kind of knew, you know, 4th and 6, he’s got to be semi-close. The refs weren’t blowing the whistle, so I assumed he was right there and I just ran and hit him for the extra yardage.”
Neilon, who was a 2020 All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention, has been a member of the Trojan offensive line since 2017. He’s gone through four different offensive line coaches in his time with the team, but that hasn’t changed the way he practices and plays.
“Coach Henson always preaches run to the ball, so that’s kind of what I did,” he said.
The team practices heads-up plays like the one Neilon made in the OSU game, but Neilon made sure to point out that plays like that also involve “little instincts.”
As a child, Neilon and his family moved to Tokyo for his dad’s work. He stayed there until eighth grade, when he moved back to the United States. By the time he returned, he was a multi-sport athlete in baseball, basketball, and soccer, but also was proficient in the Japanese martial art known as aikido. He played football in high school, and started on varsity as a sophomore.
Additionally, he considers himself a good dancer and an even better singer. Without hesitation, Neilon said his go-to karaoke song is “Love Story,” by Taylor Swift.
Coming out of Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, 247 Sports had Neilon ranked as a four-star recruit, 23rd overall in the state. He committed to USC, the alma mater of both his father and his brother, in February of 2017.
Neilon’s game day ritual goes a bit like this: “If it’s a later game, we do a team stretch later, watch some games, and usually start around two. Right when I get [to the locker room] I get changed, I grab Ritz Sour Cream Bites, and then I actually take a 20-minute meditation on the floor.”
Why Ritz Sour Cream Bites? Neilon smiled at his superstitious pregame snacking habit.
“I grabbed them the first game, and now every time I have to eat them,” the veteran offensive lineman said.
Neilon has been a part of both USC’s Pac-12 championship-winning team in 2017 (the year in which he redshirted) and the team which finished with its worst record in nearly two decades.
“That 2017 team, man, that was a talented team. And even years after that, we had a lot of talent,” Neilon said.
Although the talent has been there, the lack of recent success has been present as well. With the Lincoln Riley era just beginning, Neilon claims that there have been noticeable changes.
“I think just the culture, what Lincoln has brought, just bringing us together, just really doing a tremendous job, discipline and all that, and just really feeling like [we’re] a team. That’s why Lincoln is the cream of the crop.”
It’s safe to say that the USC football program has had its fair share of ups and downs in the past few years, but as of right now, the Trojans are making big waves in the world of college football. The Trojans have a 5-0 record, are undefeated in conference play, and are ranked 6th overall in the country.
Neilon understands the importance of this season. His primary goal? To “just win out.”
Sophomore guard Jonah Monheim is on the same page as his lineman counterpart, and echoed the words of his offensive coordinator.
“[Coach Henson] says, ‘winning often dulls hunger’. Winning in general, you look at the history of sports, it can dull. Day-to-day, week-to-week. That can’t be what happens,” Monheim said. “You’ve got to stay hungry. You’ve got to stay relentless. Take it one day at a time.”
Neilon has been through thick and thin during his time as a Trojan. He knows what it’s like to win and to be a champion, but also what it’s like to be at the bottom. Although winning out is a main goal of his, Neilon wants more out of his final season.
“I’m so thankful I came back and get to play another season,” he said, “[I’m] just enjoying every day and encouraging the guys, having fun, obviously, win each week.”
Neilon’s clutch heads-up play against Oregon State saved the day for the Trojans. Now, as the season continues, the entire team will make a push to the promised land: the College Football Playoffs. Will they finally make it there? It would be unlikely without the strong veteran presence of Brett Neilon.