O/NSO: Talking the talk edition

The Obvious: For the first time as part of the 2021 fall training camp schedule, the USC Trojans will enter the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday afternoon ready to have at with an expected scrimmage and/or periods of intense hitting.

The Not So Obvious: Leading up to the Trojans first training camp practice in the Coli, head coach Clay Helton has spoken glowingly of his team, as was to be expected, and gave his assessment that everything is beautiful, every player is improved, the team is stronger and in better shape than ever, and all things cardinal and gold are upbeat and celebratory.

The Obvious: So what college coach in America doesn’t speak in such glorious terms regarding their team during the early days of training camp?

The Not So Obvious: Okay, maybe Alabama’s legendary Nick Saban doesn’t, but who’s paying attention to him, and what has he done lately? After all, every fall both Saban and Helton have something in common: They speak to the expectations of their storied programs, which is winning conference titles and national championships.  

Just admit that thus far in Saban’s 14 seasons with the Tide, Alabama has been just plain lucky in capturing a meager six national titles, seven conference titles, and eight divisional crowns in the overrated SEC. As far as Coach Helton, through five seasons in the vastly underrated Pac-12 Conference, the Trojans head mentor has achieved one conference title and three Pac-12 South Division crowns. Give Helton 14 seasons like Saban, and let’s see if the achievements gap narrows considerably. However, we digress.      

The Obvious: The start of USC fall training camp allows players to think big regarding lofty team goals with visions of national championships dancing in their heads.

The Not So Obvious: Speaking of national championships – which the Trojans have done 11 times in its glorious history – sophomore offensive left tackle candidate Courtland Ford doesn’t mince words when he says, “We have every key to success to be a national championship team, and we have to put it together.”

The Obvious: It isn’t a reach to say that the Trojans’ fortunes in 2021 rest on the health of All-Pac-12 junior quarterback Kedon Slovis.

The Not So Obvious: So it caught the media’s attention when head coach Clay Helton recently said the goal was to keep Slovis protected and healthy this season. The coach said, “Obviously, we’re a 55-to-65-percent pass team. Pass protection is going to be key and being able to keep Kedon (Slovis) upright. He’s had two injuries over the last two years, and as long as he’s standing upright and healthy, we’re in a good situation.”

The Obvious: No question that the one area that is drawing the most scrutiny is the offensive line under first-year head coach Clay McGuire.

The Not So Obvious: While the O-line coach believes that his unit has certainly improved from that first day last spring, some of his overall assessments are refreshingly candid. Although, in his opinion, there has been improvement in pass blocking, Clay McGuire said, “We just have to become better pass protectors.” And nobody knows that better than All-Pac-12 quarterback Kedon Slovis, whose health depends on it and has suffered from it in the past.

The Obvious: There continues to be a lot of attention being paid to sophomore offensive tackle Jonah Monheim (6-5, 295), who has drawn high praise from Clay Helton and O-line coach Clay McGuire.

The Not So Obvious: With so much positive smoke surrounding the young and talented Monheim, the O/NSO gets the impression that Jonah’s days as a future starter may be coming much sooner than later, which, of course, could possibly affect current incumbent senior right tackle Jalen McKenzie, who no doubt wants a final season to impress NFL scouts. In other words, it’s a dicey situation regarding Jalen’s playing status.

The Obvious: Another returning offensive lineman to keep an eye on during training camp is jack-of-all-trades junior interior lineman Justin Dedich.

The Not So Obvious: Dedich (6-2, 300), who says the offensive line has improved “big league,” can play either center or guard, and should earn a niche along the line. If Dedich does end up starting at right guard, who will be the expected backup to senior starting center Brett Neilon? It could be freshman Andrew Milek (6-5, 305), who was injured during spring ball and could be a serious challenger for the backup to Neilon.

The Obvious: There is rising excitement over the potential of Texas transfer running back Keaontay Ingram, whose USC teammates have said since spring that he is a different type of back in the Trojans’ stable of ball carriers.

The Not So Obvious: As talented as Ingram is, his personality lights up the room. The transfer hinted that with a big season, he could be headed to the NFL, a true one-and-done. When asked about why he selected to transfer to USC in the first place, with a big smile remarked, “The marketing opportunities. L.A. in general. The way the offense was set up coming into next season. I feel like it was a win-win situation, so I was like, ‘why not SC.’ Now I’m at SC living it up and having fun.”

The Obvious: USC offensive football was once known through the decades as Tailback U., although it would be fair to say that hasn’t been the case in recent years due to a heavy emphasis on the passing game.   

The Not So Obvious: From the final days of spring ball to the early days of training camp, Trojans’ running back coach Mike Jinks continues to say he wants to “establish two guys back there, 1-A and 1-B back” and not be juggling running backs by committee. As a point of information, the Air Raid does not really look at how many times a player carries the pigskin, but the number of “touches” a player gets, which incorporates receiving passes as well as running the ball.

The Obvious: Graham Harrell is the Trojans’ third-year offensive coordinator.

The Not So Obvious: You get the impression after listening to Coach Harrell pontificate that he is more enthralled with the 2021 group of running backs than he was with last season’s unit. The 2020 departed group includes Stephen Carr (Indiana) and Markese Stepp (Nebraska), two once highly recruited blue-chippers. It should be fascinating to compare the 2020 and 2021 running games and whether the lack of success in 2020 was due to talent, scheme, play calling, commitment to a running game, and/or just plain offensive line coaching. A number of SC linemen have said that in Clay McGuire and because of his background coaching the Air Raid blocking system under former WSU head coach Mike Leach, who is now at Mississippi State, he is a better fit than former O-line coach Tim Drevno because Drevno was more familiar with power football techniques.

The Obvious: There are a number of USC fans that were very disappointed that running back Markese Stepp, who looked outstanding during his sporadic time on the field, transferred out of Troy looking for apparent greener rushing grass.

The Not So Obvious: Recently, Stepp told a Nebraska media gathering that he would describe his new Nebraska offense as “gritty”, a power rushing physical offense, and the USC offense as “flamboyant”, a finesse passing oriented offense. Stepp went on to say that USC is basically a passing offense throwing the ball about 50 times a game and that three running backs divided 15 carries per game. The former Trojans back, while not really disparaging his former university, was just telling it as he saw it. The O/NSO is curious to see if Stepp’s appraisal of the USC offense holds true in 2021.

The Obvious: Much is expected in 2021 from true freshman defensive end Korey Foreman, who was considered by many the premiere high school player in the country.

The Not So Obvious: Let’s give Korey credit for being brutally honest of his assessment of transitioning from a lost high school season due to COVID to his first couple of practices at Troy. Foreman said, “The speed of the game has gotten a lot faster than I thought it would be. Being able to come out here and train in the offseason, I thought I was able to prepare for it, but it’s something you can’t prepare for. You step in and it’s just a new world.”

The Obvious: Junior outside linebacker Drake Jackson is expected to be an all-star in 2021.

The Not So Obvious: Yes, there are a lot of expectations for Drake. Most figured this would be his last season at Troy before heading to the NFL. However, Drake has just recently returned to the Trojans’ practice field, doing so on Wednesday after previously being MIA due to a health and safety protocol. Don’t know about you, but whenever the O/NSO sees the words health and safety protocols, the first thing that pops up in our mind is COVID. It’s the times in which we live.

The Obvious: While true freshman Jaxson Dart continues to impress on some days and has a learning curve on others, he continues to move forward after a successful stint during spring ball.

The Not So Obvious: Unlike Dart, the Trojans other freshman quarterback prodigy Miller Moss did not play his senior high season of ball due to COVID scheduling and CIF transfer issues. Thus far in training camp, Miller continues to grow and the gap between him and Jaxson Dart continues to narrow, which should have been the expectations.

The Obvious: Because of the talent and depth at tight end, the Trojans use two TE packages, according to veteran senior tight end Eric Krommenhoek.

The Not So Obvious: Krommenhoek told the media that there is a tight end package for those that do more blocking and a package for those with exceptional pass reception skills. Now the question is whether this two-package arsenal will be used to its fullest extent during the season?

The Obvious: With the current temporary departure of wide receiver Bru McCoy, all eyes are looking at the depth of the Trojans wide receivers. 

The Not So Obvious: A key potential depth return is that of sophomore Kyle Ford (6-2, 225), the former Prep All-American from local Orange Lutheran High. We all know the story of Ford having to rehab from his second ACL injury to be ready for this season, but if the kid can do it at some point and retain his speed, he suddenly could become a major ingredient to the wide receiver mix. Nobody questions his toughness.   

The Obvious: And finally, if you had to root for one player during the 2021 USC training camp, it would have to be junior linebacker Soloman Tuliaupupu.

The Not So Obvious: Now, here’s a young man (6-2, 225) who is heading into his junior season, once as highly a decorated national high school recruit as you can get from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei, and he has hardly sniffed the grass of an actual college football game, thanks-but-no-thanks to foot and knee injuries that scream out to give up the game he loves. No way this kid is listening. In fact, the truth is that he was going through controlled drills during the first week of practice, which is about as inspirational as it gets. How can you not root for him?