Soccer | September 06, 2022
For the first time this season, the USC offense swapped its red “home” practice jerseys for white as a sign of things to come. The Trojans will travel north this weekend to face their oldest rival: the Stanford Cardinal.
“We’re excited to go and play the conference opener on the road,” the head coach said. lincoln riley he said Tuesday. “As a program, if you want to be at a championship level, you have to agree to go and play away from home. These conference away games are like gold.”
Stanford presents another opportunity for the USC defense to prove itself when it comes to stopping the run. The Trojans had mixed results against Rice, so Riley stressed how important she will be against her conference foe.
“You’re going to have to be clean in the running game, obviously they present a lot of different challenges that way,” the head coach said. “We had some moments in this last game where we were [clean in the run game] and some moments where we were not. We will have to be more consistent there.”
Riley also added how Stanford’s Tanner McKee presents an additional problem for Trojan defenders.
“Plus, you’re up against a very high-level quarterback,” Riley said. “So the coverage has to be sharp. The guys have to do a good job of putting pressure on him. It’s going to take a little bit from everyone. You have to play great team defense against a group like this because obviously they can hurt you both ways.”
USC Stanford Week Tuesday Practice Notes:
-
Now that the game film can be studied, Riley gave an update on the competition at left tackle between court ford Y bobby haskins:
-
“I think you just have to let it play out. There are benefits to [letting them continue to compete]. We know we’re going to need more than five offensive linemen this year… If it works where someone breaks up, great. My hope is that someone is playing amazing and the other is still playing great. And that is the separation. Right now that’s what it would take because they’re both playing pretty well. And we want them to step up and play really well.”
-
-
Riley shared Tuesday that redshirt senior Mekhi Blackmon he has “really cemented” himself as the top corner of the team. He also explained that the freshman in the red shirt Ceyair Wright He has done a good job so far, but the team will have to rely on many corners throughout the season.
-
Blackmon shared his thoughts on this year’s Stanford team, which seems to be spending more than Cardinal teams of the past.
-
“It’s kind of exciting for me, being a secondary guy. Of course, we’ll still have to concede the run. But defending passes is where we make our money, so I’m looking forward to it.”
-
“They’re always a very physical and good group of guys who don’t make a lot of mistakes. So our mistakes have to be limited as well.”
-
-
Senior Redshirt Racer travis dye he had a noteworthy lightning-charge play against Rice on Saturday. Recalling Tuesday’s play, Dye brought up an analogy with food.
-
“I knew I had a route. I saw the defensive end coming. You know, he’s showing all these ribs and I had to give myself some baby back ribs! Put some barbecue sauce on him real quick. But yeah, you know, all my might They headed straight for his side.”
-
-
Dye continued his humorous way of explaining things by describing the quarterback’s many talents. Caleb Williams.