USC Trojans

LOS ANGELES -- The Trojans held a scrimmage on Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with the offense having the most balanced day of the spring.

“I thought this was the best day for the offense in terms of having a good balance of running the ball and throwing the ball downfield,” USC coach Lane Kiffin said. “Both of the quarterbacks were accurate, they handled things well, and I thought the offensive line has put together two of their best practices in a row.”

There was plenty of scoring in the scrimmage, including two touchdowns each from Nelson Agholor (four catches for 93 yards) and Justin Davis (11 rushes, 54 yards).

Agholor has scored at least one long touchdown in each of the three spring scrimmages so far. Today, it was a 59-yard effort on the opening series on a pretty pass from Cody Kessler down the right sideline.

It was the second eye-opening practice in a row for Davis. Not only did he get into the end zone twice but his most impressive run might have been when he bowled over Leon McQuay III on an 11-yard gain in the red zone.

Both quarterbacks did well too. In addition to the opening touchdown to Agholor, Kessler also had a scoring pass courtesy of a great effort from Victor Blackwell. With the offense at the 25-yard line Kessler lofted a pass into the right corner of the end zone, where Torin Harris had solid coverage on Blackwell, only to see Blackwell simply leap up and get the ball for the score.

As a side note, Blackwell’s high school coach, Bruce Rollinson from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei, was standing on the sidelines near the play and had a big smile on his face for his former star. Kessler ended the day completing five of nine passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns.

Wittek, who also played for Rollinson at Mater Dei, hit Agholor for a 15-yard score, but his best throw of the day came when he threw down the right sideline to George Farmer for a 47-yard gain. Wittek completed three of five passes for 84 yards and one touchdown, he also had one potential touchdown pass dropped by Blackwell.

On defense, the two most active players were J.R. Tavai and Josh Shaw.

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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 -- USC Trojans freshman offensive lineman Zach Banner is redshirting this season, so he has been left at home for each of the Trojans' three trips this year.

But coach Lane Kiffin is throwing him a bone this week and putting Banner on the travel squad for the team's game against Washington. Banner grew up in Tacoma, Wash., 30 miles from Seattle, where the game will be played, and was raised a Huskies fan.

Banner was elated to find out he'd be accompanying the team, even though he won't be playing unless something drastic happens.

"If I was gonna pick any trip, it'd be this one," he said this week.

The mammoth 6-foot-9, 335-pounder expects about 30 family members to attend and anticipated he'll be giving out a "a lot of love pats and I-miss-you's" on the field afterward.

Teams are allowed to take 70 players on conference road trips. Kiffin said NCAA-mandated scholarship limitations and normal injuries have left the Trojans with less than 70 available players who they could count on in a game.

"We're not at that point," Kiffin said. "So we take some guys that never play and so that's the good thing about the sanctions. ... Zach gets to go on a trip home and go up there.

"Hopefully we won't be doing that for many years."

Banner, the son of former NFL lineman Lincoln Kennedy, said he was stressing to himself that it was a business trip, regardless of the game's location. The fact that he went to several Huskies home games as recently as last season doesn't matter anymore, he said.

"One thing that's cool about it is Coach Kiff is giving me the opportunity not only to go home and see the family, something I'm not able to do because I'm not from around here, but he's also giving me the experience of what it's like to travel," Banner said this week. "Next year, for my real freshman year, I'm gonna know what it's like to travel and not have it phase me."

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LOS ANGELES -- It was a shorts and helmets practice for the Trojans as they gear up for Saturday's matchup with Washington in Seattle. With the team working a day ahead of schedule, Wednesday’s practice resembled more of a Thursday practice in regard to what was worked on, and Kiffin was pleased with where the team is now, in terms of its preparation.

“Once again, good to be a day ahead [and to] have a first Thursday -- we’ll have another one tomorrow,” Kiffin said. “I thought [the] guys looked good. I think they’re excited to go on the road again and play in a great environment.”

Shaw still in the mix at cornerback

One of the biggest storylines of the week has centered on Josh Shaw being thrown into the competition at cornerback, as the Trojans search for consistent play at the spot opposite Nickell Robey.

After practice, Kiffin said no decision had been made as to whether the Palmdale native will see time against the Huskies at the position occupied by Torin Harris for the last three games.

“We haven’t figured out what we’ll do on game day yet,” Kiffin said. “We’ll go back after this practice, and after tomorrow’s, and I’ll obviously talk with the defensive staff about how he’s doing over there, and we’ll go from there.”

The emergence of Williams

Supplanting Antwaun Woods in the lineup, freshman Leonard Williams earned the second start of his USC career against Utah, and he responded with five stops at defensive tackle. According to Kiffin, the move had less to do with Woods and more to do with Williams' exceptional play so far this season.

“That was off of performance -- nothing to do with Antwaun,” Kiffin said. “That was all Leonard. Leonard had performed really well in his opportunities in the games, especially in the previous game, Cal. So it came down to how we run our program -- to create more production. So Leonard got the start and he did well, and he’s going to be a great player here.”

Night to forget for Heidari

As viewers saw on television, place-kicker Andre Heidari had what might have been his roughest night as a Trojan against Utah, connecting on just 1 of 3 field-goal attempts -- the first time in his career he has missed two field goals in a game.

But as Kiffin revealed, what most people didn’t see was that Heidari also lost his composure on the sideline, at one point appearing to have a verbal altercation with some fans in the stands.

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LOS ANGELES -- Unconcerned about having been named the AP preseason No. 1 team in the country, the USC Trojans were business as usual Saturday morning, participating in a low-key practice that lasted a little over two hours. Here are the practice highlights:

• Originally scheduled for an 8:45 morning practice, the Trojans pushed the start time back to 9:00. The reason for the early morning practice reschedule from the traditional afternoon workout was due to a youth baseball tournament on Dedeaux Field.

• With defensive ends Wes Horton and Greg Townsend Jr. in attendance but not participating, the Trojans first-team defensive line consisted of ends J.R. Tavai and Kevin Greene along with tackles George Uko and Antwaun Woods. FYI, Townsend was no longer wearing a “boot” on his right foot.There has been no explanation given for Horton being held out.

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LOS ANGELES -- It was another practice session on Dedeaux Field today as the Trojans hit the part of fall camp that Lane Kiffin called "the grind".

"It's this way for every team around the country," Kiffin said. "Guys are banged up. There is a mental and physical toll. Mental from learning the playbook, physical from coming out here and playing football. We don't get to work with them during the summer so no matter how much they do, it isn't playing football. You just can't simulate the physical part in the summer and it's different when the pads come on."

Kiffin confirmed that freshman defensive end DeVante Wilson tore his left ACL in practice yesterday, will need surgery and is out for the season.

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