Had it been even two weeks, I doubt he’d be available.” Certainly very fortunate on our part that we had the opportunity to have a month before this game. “He’s progressed maybe a little faster than what we anticipated. “He’s ready to play,” Lincoln Riley said. USC’s Heisman Trophy winner had assured - and reassured - in the aftermath of the loss to Utah that he’d return, and on Sunday morning, his coach would finally confirm his quarterback’s plans to play against Tulane in the Cotton Bowl on Monday. Yet to Caleb Williams, there was never a question. In the weeks that followed, his coach would caution about the significance of his injury, laying the groundwork for the quarterback to bow out of a bowl game, which, on paper, meant little in the grand scheme of a terrific turnaround season. I won’t make excuses for the performance or any of that, but getting back the confidence with my ankle is helping me with my play, being able to tackle, being able to burst with speed, stuff like that.”ĪRLINGTON, Texas - His limp would linger long after USC’s Pac-12 title game heartbreak, the pain in his left hamstring a lasting reminder of all that was lost that night in Las Vegas. Just maybe, like, two weeks ago, it started to feel like I was 100% able to plant off of it and do stuff. It was really hard not being able to play against UCLA. “And it was a mental toll, just trying to fight back. “ was way worse than people understood,” Gentry said. But Gentry acknowledged he wasn’t the same when he returned from a four-game absence. The USC sophomore linebacker still gutted his way through games against Notre Dame and Utah at the end of the season, never letting on that the injury was still seriously bothering him. Ever since, any finger-pointing from outside the program has trained on USC’s coordinator and the direction he’s taken the Trojans defense.Įleven weeks after he burst from the injury tent in Utah on a severely sprained ankle, hopping his way into USC’s defensive huddle for an impassioned, impromptu speech, Eric Gentry said his ailing ankle was finally back to normal. Those shortcomings were laid bare in its Pac-12 title defeat as USC gave up 533 yards and a season-high 47 points to Utah in what was easily its worst tackling performance of the season. We were expected to have a championship-level defense, and we weren’t able to do that in the ‘22 season.” We didn’t play good enough defense two times, but I don’t take a lot of solace in that. “You’re charged with having a championship-level defense at USC. So when he was asked Thursday to take stock of what he accomplished with USC’s defense in his first season as coordinator, Grinch stepped into the line of fire once again. Even if it means putting himself in the crosshairs. It’s part of the reason, players say, that the USC defensive coordinator commands respect. (Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)ĭALLAS - Alex Grinch isn’t the kind to sugarcoat.
0 kommentar(er)
