On Kareem Orr’s performance against Chad Hansen...
“I thought he did a good job. Very solid on him. Obviously we all were very impressed with Hansen and thought he is a very good receiver. Obviously we did a good job on him, great job on him the second half, but we did well.”
On the flexibility on defense as compared to past seasons...
“The biggest thing that I can assess at this point is that we need to get back to focusing on fundamentals. The thing that happens to us is just critical errors. We’ll have some guys playing really, really well every play, but three plays. Those three plays we’ll give up 14 points. It’s just one of those things, alignment, stance, keys, and first step. I think that we are probably trying to do too much early in the season for where we’re at. We’re trying to find where that happy medium is, because you can’t be just completely simple. You have to be able to execute what you’re trying to execute. I think we’re figuring out what we can do.”
What is different for USC in 2016 than 2015...
“Very similar team, very talented team. We will not play, and have not played, against better running backs and receivers. They have four or five receivers that are big time. This will be the best offensive line we played against. Their tight ends are very, very talented so they’re very similar in that regard. Defensively, big, talented, big, talented in the backfield, dynamic in special teams with Adoree’, they look very similar. They’ve played Alabama and Stanford, and Utah. I just think they’ve played really good people and have been in very close games. Obviously they got beat pretty badly by Alabama, Stanford was fairly close, and Utah was a very close game. They turned the ball over and kind of hurt themselves, but they’re just as talented as any team we’ll play. This is probably the most talented, physically and speed wise, that we’re going to play against. Going on the road we did a great job at playing Sun Devil football. So their record is not indicative of what type of team they are.”
On limited pressure on defense…
I think that we’ve tried to be adaptive, we spent a lot of time researching. Not just researching plays, we've researched our players. We knew coming in we were going to have a young secondary. this is the youngest secondary we’ve ever had. We have always had a more veteran group. I think Laiu played one of his best games and I think Armand (Perry) is playing really solid. So Armand, Laiu, Kareem Orr, those are all guys with experience so the other two posits are guys who don't have experience. We’re learning as we go. We’re getting better, and the good thing is we’ve been able to do that and win. We’re moving up in sacks, moving up in tackles for loss and we pressured a little bit more last week. I think we thought we had to look at that bunch to adapt to what we’re doing and it’s difficult because the less you pressure the more you have to be a little bit more diverse in your coverage packages. We have got to find that happy medium there. The thing up to this point has just been making mistakes. We didn’t leave guys uncovered last game, we did a good job of that. We just gave up a couple fades and sometimes that happens. The screen play, we were supposed to have two guys on it, and neither of them were on it. Those are the things that happen, but I do think that our vertical coverage has improved. There are some areas we are pressuring pretty good, but if you don’t do it as much you're not going to be as good at it so we’re just trying to get the happy medium for where we’re at. We just want to win. Obviously we’ve played some really powerful offenses and that’s contributed to it, but also I think we’ve had a lot of growth. I think we’ve settled on what the lineup is going to be and putting Laiu back at spur has helped us."
On the leadership TJ Rushing provides on the sideline…
“TJ has done a great job. He communicates well with the secondary down on the field and communicates well with them on the sideline. The two of us work with the secondary, but he is their coach and runs their meetings. His job is to watch the other team’s receivers and watch our technique so he can coach our guys up on that. It is great to have somebody that I am comfortable with. He was with me for two years as a graduate assistant and he played in the NFL for five or six years, so he has brought a lot expertise to our team. He’s a guy that will eventually make it as a defensive coordinator, and one day as a head coach. He has that kind of character and that kind of leadership.”
On playing Salamo Fiso, Christian Sam, Laui Moeakiola and DJ Calhoun on the field together…
“Depending on the grouping I would love to have those guys on the field at the same time. We planned on that, but first we have to get them all healthy. We think Christian is getting better. He made progress last week and we are hoping that he will be ready to go this week.”
On the defense’s performance in the second half…
“I thought Ami (Latu) played his best game inside. JoJo (Wicker) played well too and did some great things against the rush. Crump is second in the league in sacks. So I definitely think we played better in the second half. Our defensive line and our linebackers is definitely the strength of our run defense. I will always have high expectations for them and I think they definitely responded well in the second half.”
On Manny’s performance vs Cal compared to UTSA…
“He has grown every week and I think he has faced diversity in both games and responded well in both instances. He is a 4-0 quarterback so he has done well.”
On returning to the coliseum following a memorable trip two season ago...
“I reflected on that when I saw Jaelen outside the tunnel before the game! I would be a liar to you if I didn’t tell you that was a great memory of mine. That will always be special moment to me and I would love to go create another one.”
On USC QBs Sam Darnold and Max Browne...
“Sam Darnold is very good, as well as very athletic. Sam and Max can both run and throw the deep ball very well. They’re similar, the difference is Sam Darnolds athleticism.”
On Zane Gonzales' progression as a kicker at Arizona State...
“As a freshman starter, he was a very talented young man. He has averaged about 25 field goals a year while working his tail off. He didn’t even do our kickoff duties as a sophomore. He just got in the weight room, trained and got so much stronger. The power that he has is tribute to his hard work because he developed his kick offs 15-20 yards. That is pretty remarkable. That’s a luxury for us to have, the field goals and kick offs going into the end zones. From a field goal standpoint, he just works. He has worked very diligently to get better and better. He’s the guy that deserves all the accolades that comes his way because he has just done it all the old fashion way; hard work, determination, kept his head down. He is a great young man and it’s very remarkable to think about what he’s close to accomplishing and what he has already accomplished. Im very proud of him. I don’t know what we’re going to do in the future. I am getting pretty spoiled with him making points every time he gets to the 40. He was a really good kicker, then he became an elite kicker, and now I think he is even higher than that. I use to think of the thirty yard line (as in range) his sophomore and junior year, now we have pushed that up to the forty yard line. We feel pretty good and he has been very solid."
“I thought he did a good job. Very solid on him. Obviously we all were very impressed with Hansen and thought he is a very good receiver. Obviously we did a good job on him, great job on him the second half, but we did well.”
On the flexibility on defense as compared to past seasons...
“The biggest thing that I can assess at this point is that we need to get back to focusing on fundamentals. The thing that happens to us is just critical errors. We’ll have some guys playing really, really well every play, but three plays. Those three plays we’ll give up 14 points. It’s just one of those things, alignment, stance, keys, and first step. I think that we are probably trying to do too much early in the season for where we’re at. We’re trying to find where that happy medium is, because you can’t be just completely simple. You have to be able to execute what you’re trying to execute. I think we’re figuring out what we can do.”
What is different for USC in 2016 than 2015...
“Very similar team, very talented team. We will not play, and have not played, against better running backs and receivers. They have four or five receivers that are big time. This will be the best offensive line we played against. Their tight ends are very, very talented so they’re very similar in that regard. Defensively, big, talented, big, talented in the backfield, dynamic in special teams with Adoree’, they look very similar. They’ve played Alabama and Stanford, and Utah. I just think they’ve played really good people and have been in very close games. Obviously they got beat pretty badly by Alabama, Stanford was fairly close, and Utah was a very close game. They turned the ball over and kind of hurt themselves, but they’re just as talented as any team we’ll play. This is probably the most talented, physically and speed wise, that we’re going to play against. Going on the road we did a great job at playing Sun Devil football. So their record is not indicative of what type of team they are.”
On limited pressure on defense…
I think that we’ve tried to be adaptive, we spent a lot of time researching. Not just researching plays, we've researched our players. We knew coming in we were going to have a young secondary. this is the youngest secondary we’ve ever had. We have always had a more veteran group. I think Laiu played one of his best games and I think Armand (Perry) is playing really solid. So Armand, Laiu, Kareem Orr, those are all guys with experience so the other two posits are guys who don't have experience. We’re learning as we go. We’re getting better, and the good thing is we’ve been able to do that and win. We’re moving up in sacks, moving up in tackles for loss and we pressured a little bit more last week. I think we thought we had to look at that bunch to adapt to what we’re doing and it’s difficult because the less you pressure the more you have to be a little bit more diverse in your coverage packages. We have got to find that happy medium there. The thing up to this point has just been making mistakes. We didn’t leave guys uncovered last game, we did a good job of that. We just gave up a couple fades and sometimes that happens. The screen play, we were supposed to have two guys on it, and neither of them were on it. Those are the things that happen, but I do think that our vertical coverage has improved. There are some areas we are pressuring pretty good, but if you don’t do it as much you're not going to be as good at it so we’re just trying to get the happy medium for where we’re at. We just want to win. Obviously we’ve played some really powerful offenses and that’s contributed to it, but also I think we’ve had a lot of growth. I think we’ve settled on what the lineup is going to be and putting Laiu back at spur has helped us."
On the leadership TJ Rushing provides on the sideline…
“TJ has done a great job. He communicates well with the secondary down on the field and communicates well with them on the sideline. The two of us work with the secondary, but he is their coach and runs their meetings. His job is to watch the other team’s receivers and watch our technique so he can coach our guys up on that. It is great to have somebody that I am comfortable with. He was with me for two years as a graduate assistant and he played in the NFL for five or six years, so he has brought a lot expertise to our team. He’s a guy that will eventually make it as a defensive coordinator, and one day as a head coach. He has that kind of character and that kind of leadership.”
On playing Salamo Fiso, Christian Sam, Laui Moeakiola and DJ Calhoun on the field together…
“Depending on the grouping I would love to have those guys on the field at the same time. We planned on that, but first we have to get them all healthy. We think Christian is getting better. He made progress last week and we are hoping that he will be ready to go this week.”
On the defense’s performance in the second half…
“I thought Ami (Latu) played his best game inside. JoJo (Wicker) played well too and did some great things against the rush. Crump is second in the league in sacks. So I definitely think we played better in the second half. Our defensive line and our linebackers is definitely the strength of our run defense. I will always have high expectations for them and I think they definitely responded well in the second half.”
On Manny’s performance vs Cal compared to UTSA…
“He has grown every week and I think he has faced diversity in both games and responded well in both instances. He is a 4-0 quarterback so he has done well.”
On returning to the coliseum following a memorable trip two season ago...
“I reflected on that when I saw Jaelen outside the tunnel before the game! I would be a liar to you if I didn’t tell you that was a great memory of mine. That will always be special moment to me and I would love to go create another one.”
On USC QBs Sam Darnold and Max Browne...
“Sam Darnold is very good, as well as very athletic. Sam and Max can both run and throw the deep ball very well. They’re similar, the difference is Sam Darnolds athleticism.”
On Zane Gonzales' progression as a kicker at Arizona State...
“As a freshman starter, he was a very talented young man. He has averaged about 25 field goals a year while working his tail off. He didn’t even do our kickoff duties as a sophomore. He just got in the weight room, trained and got so much stronger. The power that he has is tribute to his hard work because he developed his kick offs 15-20 yards. That is pretty remarkable. That’s a luxury for us to have, the field goals and kick offs going into the end zones. From a field goal standpoint, he just works. He has worked very diligently to get better and better. He’s the guy that deserves all the accolades that comes his way because he has just done it all the old fashion way; hard work, determination, kept his head down. He is a great young man and it’s very remarkable to think about what he’s close to accomplishing and what he has already accomplished. Im very proud of him. I don’t know what we’re going to do in the future. I am getting pretty spoiled with him making points every time he gets to the 40. He was a really good kicker, then he became an elite kicker, and now I think he is even higher than that. I use to think of the thirty yard line (as in range) his sophomore and junior year, now we have pushed that up to the forty yard line. We feel pretty good and he has been very solid."