David Shaw
How would you characterize Meeks and Holder? As one of the top corner combinations in the country? How would you describe that?
All the tools are there. The effort is there. The mentality is there. Now they have to put it on the field.
They haven't done that already?
Not in tandem and not for any length of time. Both guys have missed a little time. Alijah missed a lot of last year. Meeks missed a little but of time. They're both getting to that point now when they're both completely healthy, dialed into the game plan and snaps under their belt. They know their abilities are individually and collectively. It's one of those things where we'll see where they stack up at the end of the year.
Shaw praised Justin Reid, Brandon Simmons, Meeks and Holder for continuing to elevate their games while helping younger players. He said sometimes you can lose track of your own responsibilities as you take on more of a leadership role. He said Reid especially takes football very seriously.
Lance Anderson
I spoke a little bit with Anderson before turning on the recorder about it being a great moment for Jordan Fox that he made good plays in his first game. For those who don't remember Fox was part of the 2015 recruiting class but had to stay back home for a year to work on his academics and arrived in 2016. It would have been easy to go elsewhere instead. Which reminds me that I saw Jordan Fox Tuesday after practice joking around with fellow New Jersey native Donald Stewart. Fox was catching passes from KJ Costello in the end zone. He looked to be enjoying himself.
Anderson said Fox did "really well" in his first game. Other guys making debuts or at new positions who stood out: Frank Buncom at safety/nickel and it was "fun to see Jovan Swann get in there and have some success".
Considering who got their feet wet in Australia and some extra work now leading up to USC, who has carried that good start into the practices since?
Frank Buncom continues to stand out. He's very mentally focused and zeroed in on what we're doing. It's great to have another guy back there who can do that. Sean Barton started his first game and continued to progress and play really well. It's good to see Mike Tyler back and practicing. He's looked really good the last couple days. It will be nice to have his presence as a pass rusher.
And Justin Reid always stands out. He had a tremendous camp and he had such limited snaps in the first game. He's playing at a very high level right now.
Is Mike Tyler going to be on any type of pitch count?
I'm feeling pretty good and I guess we'll see how the rest of the week develops. He was a little limited yesterday and did more today. He was full go ... and looked good. I'm anticipating he'll be fully ready to go on Saturday.
What does it do for you to have Quenton Meeks and Alijah Holder able to be on the field together?
They're both outstanding players. They're both very advanced mentally and understand the defense really well. Not only physically but mentally they can handle a lot. They're both playing at a high level and got limited snaps in the Rice game. We have been very pleased with those guys.
Against USC how do you make the decision with your nickel to counter with moving a lineman or a linebacker for the extra DB?
We try to look at the matchups and if they're going to put three receivers out there we're going to try to get the extra DB out there. We have part of our base package that we can play 11 personnel or 12. So we feel good about going back and forth a little bit. A lot of it is about matchups. For them they have such talented skill guys and that is the case every year. This year is no different when you look at the collection of running backs they have and Burnett at receiver and a couple young receivers. We have to be able to match that with skill of our own.
Can you talk about your options at nickel?
The great thing is we have several guys who can play that position. Quenton Meeks played it as a true freshman and played it a lot last year. Justin Reid is able to play that position. You saw Malik Antoine get a lot of reps against Rice playing nickel. So we have a number of guys. Also, Alameen Murphy has repped there. Different from a few years ago we're repping more guys so it gives us more flexibility.
With Terrence Alexander expected to miss the USC game, who do you envision taking his reps?
Maybe it gives Alameen a few more reps at corner or somewhere in the nickel package. Also, Malik Antoine, it might elevate him. He becomes the fourth corner right now.
How do you stop Sam Darnold?
Somehow you have to get to him and bring him down, but that is not the easiest thing. It's crazy how you see D-linemen draped all over him and he's spinning out of it. You see him on the run and think you have him where you want him and all of a sudden he makes an amazing throw. He makes so many dynamic plays when he's on the move. It's absolutely amazing. It demonstrates his arm strength and how comfortable he is throwing on the move. You have to find a way to get pressure and once we get there we have to get him down, which is not an easy task.
How would you characterize Meeks and Holder? As one of the top corner combinations in the country? How would you describe that?
All the tools are there. The effort is there. The mentality is there. Now they have to put it on the field.
They haven't done that already?
Not in tandem and not for any length of time. Both guys have missed a little time. Alijah missed a lot of last year. Meeks missed a little but of time. They're both getting to that point now when they're both completely healthy, dialed into the game plan and snaps under their belt. They know their abilities are individually and collectively. It's one of those things where we'll see where they stack up at the end of the year.
Shaw praised Justin Reid, Brandon Simmons, Meeks and Holder for continuing to elevate their games while helping younger players. He said sometimes you can lose track of your own responsibilities as you take on more of a leadership role. He said Reid especially takes football very seriously.
Lance Anderson
I spoke a little bit with Anderson before turning on the recorder about it being a great moment for Jordan Fox that he made good plays in his first game. For those who don't remember Fox was part of the 2015 recruiting class but had to stay back home for a year to work on his academics and arrived in 2016. It would have been easy to go elsewhere instead. Which reminds me that I saw Jordan Fox Tuesday after practice joking around with fellow New Jersey native Donald Stewart. Fox was catching passes from KJ Costello in the end zone. He looked to be enjoying himself.
Anderson said Fox did "really well" in his first game. Other guys making debuts or at new positions who stood out: Frank Buncom at safety/nickel and it was "fun to see Jovan Swann get in there and have some success".
Considering who got their feet wet in Australia and some extra work now leading up to USC, who has carried that good start into the practices since?
Frank Buncom continues to stand out. He's very mentally focused and zeroed in on what we're doing. It's great to have another guy back there who can do that. Sean Barton started his first game and continued to progress and play really well. It's good to see Mike Tyler back and practicing. He's looked really good the last couple days. It will be nice to have his presence as a pass rusher.
And Justin Reid always stands out. He had a tremendous camp and he had such limited snaps in the first game. He's playing at a very high level right now.
Is Mike Tyler going to be on any type of pitch count?
I'm feeling pretty good and I guess we'll see how the rest of the week develops. He was a little limited yesterday and did more today. He was full go ... and looked good. I'm anticipating he'll be fully ready to go on Saturday.
What does it do for you to have Quenton Meeks and Alijah Holder able to be on the field together?
They're both outstanding players. They're both very advanced mentally and understand the defense really well. Not only physically but mentally they can handle a lot. They're both playing at a high level and got limited snaps in the Rice game. We have been very pleased with those guys.
Against USC how do you make the decision with your nickel to counter with moving a lineman or a linebacker for the extra DB?
We try to look at the matchups and if they're going to put three receivers out there we're going to try to get the extra DB out there. We have part of our base package that we can play 11 personnel or 12. So we feel good about going back and forth a little bit. A lot of it is about matchups. For them they have such talented skill guys and that is the case every year. This year is no different when you look at the collection of running backs they have and Burnett at receiver and a couple young receivers. We have to be able to match that with skill of our own.
Can you talk about your options at nickel?
The great thing is we have several guys who can play that position. Quenton Meeks played it as a true freshman and played it a lot last year. Justin Reid is able to play that position. You saw Malik Antoine get a lot of reps against Rice playing nickel. So we have a number of guys. Also, Alameen Murphy has repped there. Different from a few years ago we're repping more guys so it gives us more flexibility.
With Terrence Alexander expected to miss the USC game, who do you envision taking his reps?
Maybe it gives Alameen a few more reps at corner or somewhere in the nickel package. Also, Malik Antoine, it might elevate him. He becomes the fourth corner right now.
How do you stop Sam Darnold?
Somehow you have to get to him and bring him down, but that is not the easiest thing. It's crazy how you see D-linemen draped all over him and he's spinning out of it. You see him on the run and think you have him where you want him and all of a sudden he makes an amazing throw. He makes so many dynamic plays when he's on the move. It's absolutely amazing. It demonstrates his arm strength and how comfortable he is throwing on the move. You have to find a way to get pressure and once we get there we have to get him down, which is not an easy task.
