Up-Tempo Offense

The Trojan offense this year looks a lot like the Washington Husky offense of last year—up-tempo with abbreviated huddling. Speaking about the quick pace of practice, Sarkisian stated that he "always appreciated the practices that went quickly, that got a lot of work done in a short amount of time." The defense looked like they were caught off guard on multiple occasions during practice on Thursday, as players were found wide open by Kessler on the backside of the play more than once. If whomever the starting quarterback is can get the play calls under his belt for this offense, the fast pace will help slow down the defense’s pass rush and keep the opposition in more basic defensive looks as well.

Versatile Running Backs

It sure looks as if an emphasis will be placed in getting the ball into the hands of running backs through the air this year. The offense repeatedly ran what looked like a pick play for the running back on a wheel route up the sideline that proved successful on multiple occasions, as well as misdirection screens that look to emphasize the open-field abilities of backs like Javorious Allen and James Toland.

Cody Kessler Looks Sharp

Quarterback Cody Kessler looks much improved from last year, especially in terms of his accuracy. His ball placement was superb, often putting the football in places to facilitate yards-after-catch for his receivers. One throw in particular stood out, and involved a deep pass to what appeared to be a covered receiver—however, the size advantage the receiver had over the defender combined with the throw just over the defender’s head resulted in one fantastic completion.

READ MORE: USC Spring Football Practice Recap: Tuerk At Center; Kessler Has Edge

Defense Conservative, Yet Aggressive

Starting safety Su’a Cravens acknowledged that “we (USC) won't be as aggressive as we were last year. We blitzed a lot [last year]. We're going to have to cover some spread teams this year." While this may be the case, it doesn’t mean that the Trojan defense will be passive. While there indeed didn’t seem to be many exotic blitzes put forth by Justin Wilcox’s defense on Thursday, their style of play was as passionate and physical as ever. It was obvious that going after the ball was emphasized by the coaching staff,

and on nearly every play there were defenders trying to rip and punch the ball loose from the offense’s grasp. While the playcalling might be more conservative, don’t expect this USC defense to be pushed around.

Su’a Cravens Looks Like A Force

Cravens was one of the ringleaders in the defense’s aforementioned ball insecurity efforts, and looks poised to make a figurative leap after a successful season last year. Not only will he play his normal safety position in the defense’s base package, but he will occasionally drop down to play linebacker when the defense goes into its nickel package in a role similar to that of Dion Bailey last year. Cravens is also currently up to 230 pounds after playing at 215 last year, yet still looked as fast and spry on the field as ever. Look for a big year out of the sophomore.

Leonard Williams Could Be In For A Special Year

Defensive lineman Leonard Williams sat out of Thursday’s practice due to being “banged up” recently, but his stellar play last year combined with the defensive scheme this year could spell even bigger things in the future for the 290-pound junior. The previously mentioned fact that USC won’t blitz as much this year means that the defense will rely on mostly a four-man rush to get pressure. And the presence of players like Antwuan Woods, who mentioned that he has been asked to “two-gap” more often (which essentially means playing the run instead of rushing the passer), means that things could very well open up for Williams to assume more of a “single-gap” role conducive to pressuring opposing quarterbacks.

Reach Staff Writer Andrew McKagan here or follow him here.