Spring football is underway at USC. After one of the most unique seasons in a while in 2013, where USC had four head coaches in as many months and still won 10 games, the Steve Sarkisian era kicked off Tuesday afternoon at Howard Jones Field. The practice went two hours, ending right on time, and while many Trojans sat out with injuries sustained last season, there was plenty to gauge.

 

New Coach, New Practice Style

With Sarkisian comes the fast-paced offense he practiced while an assistant at USC and later installed at Washington. This meant less dwelling on play calls, and instead getting in as many snaps as possible. "It was way different," said quarterback Cody Kessler on the changes from Kiffin to Sarkisian. "We did nothing the same… You could tell last year [when] we'd run a play and then talk about it, [but] this year we ran 120 plays in an hour and 45 minutes."

Sarkisian is also more involved in practice than Kiffin. He was yelling throughout, and even got on the field to change ball spots and engage his players. "It was by no means perfect, and there's plenty of stuff to work on and learn from the tape and to get better at for Thursday, but all in all it was awesome coming through [the] gate," Sarkisian said. "It was the first time [as] head coach coaching these guys, and I had an absolute blast."

 

Tuerk In The Middle

After playing at guard his first two seasons, junior Max Tuerk moved to center today. USC has a big hole to fill with Marcus Martin leaving early for the NFL, and as the most experienced and consistent player on the line, Tuerk is the ideal candidate to follow in the footsteps of Martin and Khaled Holmes. "Whatever's best for the team," he said on moving. "I moved around a lot the last two years, so moving to center is a new, awesome thing I can do. I like the shotgun…if they need me to play center, I'll play center." With Chad Wheeler entering his second season and Aundrey Walker out with an injury, Tuerk will need to be the rock of the line in order to keep whoever is under center safe.

 

Wideouts Back

Two wide receivers who missed all of 2013 to injury, George Farmer and Steven Mitchell, both participated. Farmer, a 5-star wideout who came to USC with Marqise Lee and Robert Woods, was set to be USC's impact third wideout last season but instead tore ligaments in his left knee and redshirted. When asked how his knee is, he said it's 85 percent healed. "I want to say I'm not favoring one of my legs at all, I just want to say I want to get this one (his left) a little stronger, as opposed to when I want to go up and jump. I might not be able to jump as high off my [left] leg as my [right] leg, but that'll come eventually, and as the months go on I can feel myself getting stronger and you know it'll come, so that 15 percent I'm not worried about. It's my first day back out here and I feel better than I thought I would," he said. 

Meanwhile, Steven Mitchell also had his first practice since last summer on Tuesday. He said that he focused on learning the playbook and really studying football in the year he was out, and wide receivers coach Tee Martin echoed that sentiment. There is no set No. 2 wide receiver behind Nelson Agholor and while Darreus Rogers might be considered the favorite due to his experience in 2013, Mitchell, Farmer as well as Victor Blackwell will all be competing for first-team spring reps.

 

USC used posters and pictures for play calling, something not seen under Kiffin. Oregon made the sideline signs popular, but USC's were less creative, using the NFL logos of teams like the Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions.

 

Injury Report

Leonard Williams had work done on his shoulder after USC's Las Vegas Bowl win, and will be limited in the spring in order to be ready for next fall. He participated in run-throughs on Tuesday.

Josh Shaw has a stress fracture in his foot, which will limit him in the fall. He didn't participate on Tuesday.

Justin Davis is still nursing his ankle injury from the fall and will be limited. Sarkisian wants to try to have him participate in walkthroughs, but not much more beyond that.

 

Scrimmage Starters (L to R)

Linebacker: Scott Starr - Hayes Pullard - J.R. Tavai - Quinton Powell

Defensive Line: Kenny Bigelow - Antwaun Woods - Delvon Simmons

Defensive Back: Kevon Seymour - Su'a Cravens - Leon McQuay III - Chris Hawkins

 

Quarterback: Kessler

Running Back: Tre Madden

Wide Receiver: Nelson Agholor - Darreus Rogers

Offensive Line: Chad Wheeler - Giovanni Di Poalo - Max Tuerk - Khaliel Rodgers - Nathan Guertler

Tight End - Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick - Randall Telfer

 

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