No QB decision yet, but here’s what Muschamp liked in USC’s latest scrimmage
Will Muschamp seemed mostly pleased Sunday night.
No, he had not put an end to the quarterback battle between Ryan Hilinski and Collin Hill, which seems poised to go for one more week. But he saw a level of energy as his team went through a second scrimmage the day before at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Some of the things he saw and liked:
▪ One week after Hilinski was player of the day in the first scrimmage, Hill was player of the day this Saturday, Muschamp told reporters. The veteran has shown poise and toughness in running the Mike Bobo offense he’s been steeped in for going on five seasons. Muschamp said the competition will hopefully finish up next week, after the team’s third scrimmage.
▪ The team got in 140 live scrimmage snaps, plus 10 live special teams snaps, 10 punts.
▪ The staff tried to mimic some of the rhythms of a game day, including a pregame meal and the usual pregame routine.
▪ The coach also praised the work on the new 2001 Club, Cockaboose Club and recruiting areas that are part of a large-scale project to upgrade Williams-Brice Stadium.
▪ Freshman center Trai Jones rolled his ankle but should be fine.
▪ Freshman tight end Eric Shaw returned from some bone spurs to play 18 snaps and catch a couple balls.
▪ Muschamp liked the way his offense protected the ball, with only one fumble. But he was irked at several young defensive linemen for loafing and not getting on the ball (the coach called it a teaching opportunity), as well as several tipped balls that could have been picked off but were not.
▪ The team again had a lot of explosive plays, something that has continued from the first scrimmage.
▪ There were a few issues with first-down negative plays, five times when false starts or other penalties put the offense in 1st and 15.
▪ The tackling has been good with only 12 missed tackles last week and eight on Saturday. While that could point to some issues with backs not making plays, tackling was an issue last season, so the staff was happy with it.
▪ Freshman Mitch Jeter would be the team’s kickoff guy at this point. Punter Kai Kroeger kicked well, though he put a pooch opportunity into the end zone.
▪ In terms of other injuries, running back ZaQundre White missed the scrimmage with a hamstring issue, while Jahmar Brown is still dealing with a sprained knee and might be out until the first game week. Safety Jaylin Dickerson should return Tuesday after a hamstring issue. Linebacker Ernest Jones is still coming back from an appendix issue.
This story was originally published September 6, 2020 at 6:57 PM.
