LOS ANGELES — USC unofficially kicked off the 2024 season when it opened fall camp Friday. The Trojans held a local media day Wednesday, their first practice Friday and practiced once again Saturday.
Here is some of what we learned over the past few days.
1. Saturday’s practice was open to the media, which is a rarity. There were restrictions on what could be reported, but below are some takeaways.
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Makai Lemon was impressive Saturday. The sophom*ore isn’t the biggest receiver. He’s not the fastest. There are times he can get overlooked by his classmates in the receiver group, but he’s a smooth, solid wideout. It looks like he’s put on muscle this offseason, too. It’ll be interesting to track his development.
Receiver Zachariah Branch probably had the highlight of the day when he made a diving catch in the end zone during one-on-ones.
Safety Akili Arnold came up with a nice diving interception during a team portion of practice.
I probably wrote this during the spring, but it remains true during camp: True freshman linebacker Desman Stephens II looks the part physically at 6-foot-3, 233 pounds. USC has plenty of veterans at linebacker, but he’ll be another player worth tracking.
back outside ‼️✌️ pic.twitter.com/sCQwwfU4Sx
— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) August 3, 2024
2. Due to NCAA rules, Saturday was a non-padded practice, so I don’t want to take too much away from what was happening along the line of scrimmage. It’s a different deal when the pads come on.
The offensive line will be under the microscope during camp and the season. At separate points in the spring, head coach Lincoln Riley and offensive line coach Josh Henson said they would look in the portal for offensive linemen.
The spring portal window came and went without USC adding any transfers along the line. That leaves the Trojans with a two-deep filled with first- or second-year players. Right guard seems to be the most wide-open position. Second-year linemen Amos Talalele and Alani Noa are in the mix along with redshirt senior Gino Quinones. Henson said there’s the possibility that redshirt freshman Tobias Raymond could rep there as well.
“It’s time to get ’em ready,” Henson said. “I mean, at some point you’re going to take young guys and say it’s time for that guy to make the jump, to make the leap where he’s performing at a level that’s good enough for us to go win championships. That’s why they call us coach. That’s why they came here and that’s why we recruited ’em here. So we’ve got to make all those things happen.”
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3. USC seems set at left tackle (Elijah Paige), left guard (Emmanuel Pregnon) and center (Jonah Monheim) while Mason Murphy is the favorite at right tackle. Last year, Henson shuffled the line a ton and didn’t settle on a starting five until two or three weeks into the season. Even after that, USC shuffled the starting lineup again after seven games. The line lacked chemistry last season, and it showed on the field.
Henson was asked if he wants to zero in on a starting five sooner this year. It’s extremely rare to go with the same five starting linemen throughout a season. Injuries are bound to pop up, so the depth pieces need to be prepared.
On the flip side, Henson said, “There’s a certain continuity that comes with five guys that operate together, think alike, see the things. Sometimes one of them grunts, they don’t even get the words out, they grunt and it’s like I know what that grunt means, or here comes a blitz and you hear a noise but you know because you hear a noise from the guy beside you and he’s seeing it too. It’s confirmation. Sometimes those things are happening really fast before the snap and it’s loud. I do think there’s a certain level of continuity that comes with the five. We just have to see where we’re at.”
4. Expect Quinones, who is coming back from a knee injury that kept him out of the final 11 games last season, to receive reps at center. He primarily lined up at guard last season, and his return is valuable to USC’s offensive line rotation.
5. Versatility will be a big part of new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s philosophy. That much is clear from how many players will play at different spots along the defense.
When asked how senior Jaylin Smith, who has started the past two years at nickel, fits in the defense, Lynn described him as “a defensive back” and said the staff challenged him to learn every piece of the secondary. He could line up at nickel, corner or safety.
Greedy Vance Jr., a Florida State transfer who joined the program in the spring, can play nickel or corner. Fourth-year safety Anthony Beavers Jr. will rep at safety and linebacker.
Defensive lineman Gavin Meyer, a Wyoming transfer, is listed at 6-3, 290 pounds. The thought is he’ll play in the interior. He didn’t want to get into specifics but said, “I would say (I’m) definitely able to play wherever on the defensive line” and pointed out he played inside and on the edge at Wyoming.
6. During local media day Wednesday, a reporter asked Lynn what the two biggest priorities of the defense are.
Lynn responded quickly: “Stopping the run and affecting the quarterback.” Lynn’s defense at UCLA ranked third nationally in yards per rush allowed (2.65 yards) last season and seventh in sacks (43).
The Bruins had more talent on the defensive front last season than the Trojans do, but at least we know the vision for Lynn’s defense in an ideal scenario.
7. There’s a lot of talk about the Notre Dame series after Riley’s comments at Big Ten media days last week when he essentially said USC would evaluate the viability of the series if it meant a cleaner path toward a national championship.
Trojans athletic director Jen Cohen hadn’t said much publicly until Friday when she appeared on ESPN 710 AM and was asked about the importance of keeping the rivalry.
“Tradition will always be important for us,” Cohen said. “I think that’s what separates USC from a lot of other programs, and USC-Notre Dame is a storied rivalry. One that means so much to our fans, not just here but our fans across the country. Ultimately, we’re always going to do what’s best for our student-athletes, and you’re right, things are changing, but tradition is part of doing what’s best, too. So we’re going to do what we can to honor that and evolve in this space as we go.”
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USC’s contract with Notre Dame runs through the 2026 season. Cohen didn’t back herself into a corner one way or the other with her answer, so this will be something to monitor.
8. At Big Ten media days, Riley spoke about the rebuild he took on when he accepted the job. At one point he said he’s “not a magician” and stated he couldn’t fix everything overnight.
The Trojans overachieved in Riley’s first year and underachieved in his second year, so Year 3 will be telling. USC isn’t expected to contend for a Big Ten title and is not generally viewed as a playoff team.
Riley was asked Friday when the build and the program would be firing on all cylinders.
“There’s no patience,” Riley said. “It’s just an understanding of it is what it is. Our patience is we want it to happen yesterday. That’s been our mentality from the day we walked in here. Despite all the things we knew we had to build, but the day I got hired I said championships are going to be the deal from the beginning and everybody looked at me like I was crazy. And nobody thought it was possible and we put ourselves right there. So yeah, no limitations on what we can do. There’s definitely no patience. There’s an incredible sense of urgency, but you also understand that the key is everybody involved, we can’t ever get down when one thing doesn’t go perfect. The path, it’s not going to be perfect. I think it’s more of an understanding of that.
“It’s going to continually build. It’s going to continually grow. We’re going to build on and celebrate the successes and try to replicate and get as many of those as we can. Then (if) we have something that doesn’t go our way, we’re going to use it as a chance to learn. It’s going to motivate us more and we’re going to fix it and get better. One of those two things are going to happen, and we’re going to respond no matter what. Our history as a staff tells us and confirms when you do that, you build. And that’s what we’re doing.”
USC is in an interesting spot as it embarks upon camp. It’s difficult to remember when the Trojans had this little preseason buzz. Maybe that’s a good thing or maybe the expectations — BetMGM has USC’s preseason win total set at 7.5 — are right.
We’ll learn quickly where USC stands. The Trojans open the season in less than a month against LSU. In the meantime, we’ll try to gather more clues about whether USC will exceed or meet those expectations.
(Photo of Lincoln Riley from last season: Jason Parkhurst / USA Today)
Antonio Morales covers USC football for The Athletic. Previously, he spent three years at the Clarion Ledger in Mississippi, where he covered Ole Miss for two seasons and Jackson State for another. He also spent two years covering preps for the Orange County Register and Torrance Daily Breeze. Follow Antonio on Twitter @AntonioCMorales
