Why second game under Donte Williams is real test of USC’s growth

Saturday volition people the archetypal location crippled of the Donte Williams epoch astatine USC. The interim caput manager and Los Angeles autochthonal is expecting 2 twelve friends and household members successful the Coliseum stands arsenic helium leads the Trojans onto the field.

“It means a batch but astir importantly it means a batch to this team,” Williams said Thursday. “Just for america to travel backmost home, the past clip we was astatine location didn’t spell truthful well. So it’s astir going retired determination and showing our fans and showing our assemblage conscionable who we truly are.”

And conscionable who this USC squad truly is, is anyone’s guess, really.

The interior dichotomy of USC could not person been much pronounced the past 2 weeks. How could you foretell that the aforesaid squad that, by erstwhile caput Clay Helton’s admission, folded astatine the archetypal motion of adversity against Stanford would a week aboriginal flooded a 14-point shortage and an wounded to starting backmost Kedon Slovis to bushed Washington State?

But that’s benignant of been the communicative of USC the past respective seasons, hasn’t it? The squad has looked susceptible of surviving up to the endowment level and the instrumentality base’s expectations 1 week, and past similar a shadiness of itself the next.

Sometimes it tin adjacent hap wrong a game, arsenic it did successful the triumph implicit Washington State. On Washington State’s archetypal 3 possessions, USC allowed the Cougars to determination 192 yards. Sandwiched astir a gutsy goal-line stop, the Trojans surrendered 2 touchdowns.

But the adjacent 7 drives, USC held Washington State to net-zero yards and did not let different point.

To a man, USC antiaircraft players accidental nary in-game adjustments were needed to marque the shift; it simply came down to execution, and the loosening of immoderate choky nerves.

“This system’s astir players. I deliberation that immoderate coordinator volition archer you that. There’s nary magical calls,” antiaircraft coordinator Todd Orlando said. “So it’s each astir the players. The players stepped up and the guys who tin marque plays who person done it consistently successful signifier did it successful the game.”

The drop-off successful the tally crippled from Week 2 to Week 3 was different stark reminder of the Trojans’ accordant inconsistencies.

In the archetypal 2 games of the season, USC averaged 172.5 rushing yards per game, providing much-needed equilibrium to a USC discourtesy that hasn’t had a reliable tally crippled since the days of Ronald Jones II.

But the tally crippled lone earned 48 yards connected 25 carries against Washington State, with backup backmost Jaxson Dart providing a game-high 32 yards. Malepeai and Ingram combined for conscionable 25 yards connected 16 carries.

Offensive enactment manager Clay McGuire enactment overmuch of the blasted connected his portion for the deficiency of production, and players noted that Washington State’s twists and stunts up beforehand confused USC’s blocking efforts.

“It conscionable wasn’t us. Nothing that we were doing was us,” McGuire said. “Nothing that we tried to physique oregon go arsenic acold arsenic that group, arsenic acold arsenic that culture. We weren’t playing hard, we weren’t competing. We were making anserine mistakes.”

McGuire was capable to marque immoderate adjustments; elder Jalen McKenzie replaced redshirt freshman Jonah Monheim astatine close tackle to commencement the 2nd half. The determination seemed to settee down the enactment and supply much walk extortion for Dart, and McGuire decided to thrust that portion for the remainder of the game.

After the game, Williams said helium had spoken with the enactment and moving backs and received promises that that benignant of show won’t hap again.

“They’ll clasp each different accountable. They’ll beryllium acceptable to go,” Williams said. “It won’t hap again. It’ll beryllium a large alteration connected Saturday.”

That’s wherefore Saturday’s crippled against Oregon State volition beryllium specified a litmus trial for USC. It’s 1 happening to rally for 1 week nether Williams, to clasp the us-against-the-world mentality that comes aft your caput manager is fired 2 games into the season. But tin the Trojans drawstring that into sustained success?

Take the 2020 triumph implicit Washington State, a 38-13 triumph wherever it felt similar each the pieces for USC had clicked into place. The pursuing week the defence was a messiness and the Trojans needed a last-minute rally to bushed UCLA.

Usually things chill down the 2nd week aft a mid-season coaching change. The speech astir the erstwhile manager dies down, and you settee into the play and look guardant to the adjacent section for the program.

But this week has been inundated with speech astir a backmost competition. After his cervix wounded past weekend, third-year starter Kedon Slovis was replaced by Dart, who threw for much passing yards than Slovis has successful immoderate crippled since his freshman season.

Following the game, Williams said that there’s ever a contention for immoderate starting job, and declined to accidental Slovis would beryllium the starting backmost again erstwhile healthy. But present USC is successful a concern wherever Slovis has practiced the past 2 days, and Dart hasn’t practiced owed to a genu injury.

Asked astir the concern connected Thursday, Williams said everyone volition find retired who the starter is connected Saturday earlier kickoff, though helium did praise however Slovis has practiced this week.

“He came retired to signifier and helium was throwing that shot around, taking shots downfield. He already has bid of the offense, and a batch of guys successful this locker country including myself judge successful him,” Williams said. “I saw idiosyncratic who’s coming backmost that’s conscionable resumed their relation wherever they usually are, which is the starting quarterback.”

It’s different imaginable distraction successful a play afloat of them. Williams is putting the impetus connected himself to acceptable the close illustration for the squad and effort to promote a much accordant week-to-week showing.

“You can’t fto 1 small happening get by each of a sudden,” Williams said. “One day, 1 happening is truly large to maine and past the adjacent it’s not specified a large deal, past that’s the aforesaid with the players, they’ll beryllium inconsistent. I person to beryllium the aforesaid idiosyncratic each day.”

INJURY REPORT

McKenzie near signifier connected Tuesday owed to dehydration, Williams said successful his Thursday greeting property conference, and was held retired of signifier Wednesday arsenic a precautionary measure.