USC recommits to mixing things up on the offensive line
The shuffling was supposed to start early in spring, a first step in finding an answer to USC’s issues up front. But after three weeks of the same five in the same spots on the first-team offensive line, USC’s coaches finally followed through on their promise to mix it up.
They just picked a peculiar time to try. As fans filtered into the Coliseum for the first time in over a year to watch USC’s spring game, the few thousand in attendance were made witness to a messy experiment up front. With its top five linemen split between two teams, in combinations they’d never played in, the Cardinal and Gold teams combined to give up eight sacks amid almost constant pressure on their quarterbacks.
Nonetheless, coach Clay Helton said Saturday that he was pleased with what he’d seen from the offensive line through spring so far. Before the spring game, the first-team line consisted almost exclusively of Courtland Ford at left tackle, Jalen McKenzie at right tackle, Andrew Vorhees and Liam Jimmons at guard, and Brett Neilon at center, four of which were starters last season.
But with just six practices remaining, new offensive line coach Clay McGuire said Tuesday he’s recommitting to the pledge USC’s coaches made at the start of spring.
The USC football team opted to postpone its spring practice Tuesday and dedicate its afternoon session to discussing racial injustice as a team.
“We are going to shuffle the line,” McGuire said. “We were trying to get a little evaluation in there and see where we’re at. We’ve got six practices to make it uncomfortable. We’re going to flip flop some guys, put some guys in different positions, and kind of reorder the lineup a little bit, just to figure out and see who our best five to eight guys are. When we figure that, when we go into fall camp, we’ll have a really good idea of how we’re going to play this season with our guys.”
How much that shuffling might open up opportunities for USC’s rising young linemen remains to be seen. Ford, who started one game last season, has had a stranglehold on the left tackle position through spring and doesn’t appear to have any immediate challengers.
But when asked what Ford had done to separate himself at that spot, McGuire said, “We’ve got a couple guys in that room that really have the potential to be really good tackles.”
“Courtland has done a really good job,” McGuire said. “Every day he shows up, and you’re getting his best. He’s in-tune. He’s focused. He’s in there. He’s not somewhere else. With that approach, he’s done some really good things for us. He looks like he’s going to be a good option for us at the tackle position, as well as some other guys.”
Those other options could include fellow redshirt freshmen Jonah Monheim and Casey Collier. McGuire praised Monheim’s performance in camp and noted Collier’s “incredible talent”. Vorhees, who has started only at guard, could also earn a look at left tackle, after holding his own at the position during Saturday’s scrimmage.
No matter the position, the terminology is new up front under McGuire, who came to USC from Texas State in the offseason, armed with years of experience in the Air Raid offense.
That experience has “helped tremendously” so far, Neilon said.
Chris Steele is doing all he can this spring to ensure he increases his interception rate while dropping his reputation for penalties in USC’s secondary.
“What we’re doing really fits this offense,” Neilon said. “Just the way we’re pass-setting now is different. And also, he preaches a lot of physicality. We’ve been super in-tune with goal line and short yardage and being physical in the run. Even just IDing the runs, too, there might be a change there that you see. It’s super exciting.”
The position battle up front will likely continue into the fall, even if the five linemen who started the spring as the first-team line remain the odds-on favorites for starting spots. But among that group, there’s an understanding the offensive line needs to be better, if USC has any hope of contending.
“The offense goes as we go,” McKenzie said. “We’re the thing that keeps it running. When everybody is looking to somebody, they’re going to look to us.”
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