USC Trojans

LOS ANGELES -- It’s been less than three weeks since USC wrapped up spring ball, but there the Trojans were this past Monday and Wednesday, a large collection of players tossing the ball around on Brian Kennedy-Howard Jones Field. It was the usual suspects making the majority of the big plays during the volunteer passing sessions -- guys such as Cody Kessler, Max Wittek and Nelson Agholor. But there was one more slightly under-the-radar player who stood out too, just as he quietly did throughout the spring -- tight end Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick.

“It’s great to get back to work,” Cope-Fitzpatrick said. “Any time you get to play football, it’s always a blessing, especially with the weather that we’ve been having. We’re just having fun putting in work as a team.”

Showcasing soft hands and looking quick and fluid in running his routes, the 6-foot-5 sophomore with two career catches under his belt has taken his game to another level over the course of the last two months, emerging as a more-than-capable option at a position that certainly could use his services this fall. After all, while Xavier Grimble and Randall Telfer make up what is arguably one of the top tight end duos in all of college football -- the Trojans currently only three scholarship players at the position with Junior Pomee's status unclear. In terms of depth, that’s a dangerously low number, as USC head coach Lane Kiffin found out the hard way this past spring.

Grimble first went down with a chest fracture midway through the spring. Then in the final week of workouts, Telfer was forced to the sideline with a torn meniscus in his knee. Fortunately for Kiffin and Co., Cope-Fitzpatrick was waiting in the wings and ready for a chance to make a statement. And that’s precisely what the Rocklin (Calif.) Whitney product did, particularly in the spring game when, as the only true tight end available, he came through with a big six-catch performance.

And while that outing undoubtedly served as a major confidence booster for Cope-Fitzpatrick, it’s the increased workload that he shouldered throughout the March and April practices that has proven to be even more valuable.

“The game is starting to slow down, and I’m starting to feel a lot more confident in my game,” Cope-Fitzpatrick said. “Instead of pressing like I might have before, I’m starting to use my natural abilities. It was just about getting reps in -- and not even so much the physical reps, but it was more about the mental reps. I spent a lot of time in the classroom really breaking down what I needed to work on.”

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LOS ANGELES -- The USC Trojans opened up the 2013 spring ball practice session with a spirited workout, which is typical for the first day of spring.

“I thought things looked good today,” USC coach Lane Kiffin said. “That is usually the case in spring, guys are fired up to get out here and start going to work. I also liked what I saw from our coaches, especially since some of them have only been with us for a short time. They were really ready to go.”

One of the new items to watch for the Trojans this spring is the 5-2 defense which is run by new defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast. Kiffin said that getting the new defense set is the top priority of spring and the highlight play of the day was an example of how the defense can shine. Jabari Ruffin -- who was lined up at defensive end -- had an interception of a Cody Kessler pass after dropping back into coverage and leaping in the air to make the play.

Kessler is part of what is expected to be an intense quarterback competition along with Max Wittek and Max Browne. Kiffin said Kessler was on schedule to be named MVP of the day until the interception and he also liked what he saw from his true freshman.

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LOS ANGELES -- No. 13 USC Trojans beat California Golden Bears for the ninth straight season on Saturday at the Coliseum, 27-9. Here are news, notes and quotes from the game that won't make it into our other coverage from the day:

Seven sacks

Coach Lane Kiffin likes to begin his postgame news conferences after USC wins by telling reporters what the "story of the day" was.

Sometimes, he's right on target; sometimes he's not. He was exactly right with his opening comments this time.

"I think that the game was won at the line of scrimmage," Kiffin said, pointing out that his Trojans had seven sacks to Cal's zero.

That really was the single biggest reason USC beat Cal on Saturday, the single biggest reason the Trojans were able to put last week's upset loss at Stanford behind them despite a decidedly less-than-perfect performance on offense and in the secondary.

"They came around today," defensive line coach Ed Orgeron said of his unit.

USC's linebackers have been the defense's strength over the last season-plus, and it's not necessarily any different now, but the Trojans' linemen really made the three 'backers look good Saturday.

"It's great when the linemen are rotating, staying fresh and keeping their linemen off us linebackers," said middle linebacker Lamar Dawson. "Then we can make plays."

Weakside linebacker Hayes Pullard said the linemen forced Cal quarterback Zach Maynard into some unusual mistakes.

Defensive end Wes Horton, who played at full strength for the first time this season, said the Trojans noticed in meetings this week that Cal's offensive linemen wouldn't be difficult to beat if schemed correctly.

"They were OK," Horton said. "It was a matter of creating the right moves to beat them."

Horton and fellow end Morgan Breslin certainly found them -- Breslin was credited with three sacks, the most by a USC defender since Rey Maualuga's 2008 Rose Bowl performance against Illinois.

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LOS ANGELES – There certainly was a different feel on Brian Kennedy/Howard Jones Field on Tuesday as the Trojans set their game plan in motion for Saturday’s game with the Hawaii Warriors. The team was in full gear today and it was a more spirited practice than has been seen in quite a while, with defensive line coach Ed Orgeron’s booming voice reverberating throughout the field right from the get-go.

The biggest news of the day came following practice when Lane Kiffin named Max Wittek as the back-up quarterback ahead of Cody Kessler. It was a close battle, but the Trojans head coach felt a decision had to be made -- at least for now.

“Somebody has to be No. 2, and Max is No. 2,” Kiffin said. “It has nothing to do with who will be the starter next season. Both have commanded the offense well, they both made a bunch of plays and had good numbers throughout the fall.”

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USC head coach Lane Kiffin announced after practice that linebacker Marquis Simmons and cornerback Brian Baucham were ruled academically eligible for the 2012 season, but cornerback Isiah Wiley did not qualify.

Kiffin said Wiley, a junior college transfer who started the last six games of the 2011 season, will look to play this year and USC will help him do that, which likely means he will transfer.

"It's good to get Simmons and Baucham back, those are two veteran guys at positions of need. They can also help with special teams," Kiffin said. "Wiley is a loss but we move forward. We worked all spring without him and his loss will be felt less because we did things that way. Outside of that one guy, we did well academically."

Friday was a light practice, helmets and no pads, as the Trojans begin the process of winding down fall camp. The team will simulate a home-game atmosphere by staying in the team hotel Friday night, holding a situational scrimmage Saturday morning and then attending the annual Salute to Troy event Saturday afternoon.

The scrimmage will not be a physical one, Kiffin said. It primarily will involve substitutions, communication between coaches and players, timing of getting in and out of the huddle, etc. Kiffin said the scrimmage will have no bearing on position battles such as the backup quarterback spot.

Junior Pomee was out there today working with the tight end group and he looked good in pass patterns. Christian Thomas did not have a helmet on but he was out there for early agility drills and even shadowed the other players for a few reps. That was as much as we've seen from Thomas in a while, so that could be an encouraging sign that he's getting closer to a return to the field. Randall Telfer did not take part in practice.

Wes Horton and Lamar Dawson also were held out.

When the team got together for 11-on-11 work today, here were the starting lineups:

Offense: Barkley, McNeal, Vainuku, Woods, Lee, Grimble, Walker, Martin, Holmes, Martinez, Graf

Defense: Breslin, Uko, Woods, Greene, Sarao, Pullard, Bailey, Robey, Brown, McDonald, Starling

Barkley led the first unit on a touchdown drive at the end of practice. Kiffin put 1:31 on the clock with the offense on their own 20-yard line. The offense got a couple first downs before facing a third down at their own 45, kicker Andre Heidari yelled from the sideline: "I'm in range if you need me, Kiff." Barkley then hit Marqise Lee for a first down, then another pass for 22 yards to Lee, and eventually a Barkley sneak for the score.

Robert Woods had a terrific play earlier in the practice when he took a short bubble screen from Barkley, made Brown miss, and then turned on the speed down the sideline. Kiffin commented after practice that Woods "is in very good shape."

Silas Redd had a 25-yard run off the left side behind a block from Marcus Martin. Morgan Breslin made a good play to get in the backfield quickly and hold D.J. Morgan to no gain. De'Von Flournoy had a nice fingertip catch of a ball across the middle from Max Wittek and he outran Anthony Brown after the catch for a touchdown.

The team worked on full punt and kickoff return drills. There was also some scout-team work to prepare for Hawaii.

LOS ANGELES -- The Trojans practiced on Dedeaux Field today, primarily on the outfield grass, as Lane Kiffin said the team had torn up the grass on Brian Kennedy-Howard Jones Field so far in camp.

Kiffin said two things really jumped out at him today; the number of explosive plays given up by the defense over the top and the number of fumbles from the offense.

“We had really been doing well in terms of not giving up big plays,” Kiffin said. “It was really the best we had been looking in that area since we got here but today the offense did a good job in that area. On the other side, we had been protecting the ball fairly well but the defense was able to get three fumbles today -- they did a good job of stripping the ball.”

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