Most hands will be on deck for Saturday.
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- Marc Tyler and Matt Kalil returned to practice on a limited basis, but Jawanza Starling is still out.
- Nickell Robey made the biggest play of practice ripping away a Matt Barkley pass for a pick-six. The corners will need confidence going into battle with the best pass offense in the conference. "We expect them to throw the ball a lot," said CB Shareece Wright. "They are going to come after us."
- Instead of waiting to be picked apart, the Trojans' plan is to go on the attack. "When you put your hands on receivers, it changes their whole game." said Wright, who prefers to jam receivers at the line. "It's easy to run routes when nobody's touching you."
- Wright would prefer to lock up with Arizona's top target, Juron Criner, on every play. He remembers Criner's catch over his buddy Josh Pinkard to win the game last year. "I didn't like the way the game ended with him scoring on Josh, so I'll make sure that doesn't happen this year."
- Watching tape, Wright noticed that Foles locks in on his big receiver. "They throw him the ball a lot. When they throw the ball to you that many times, you better have a lot of catches."
- The Wildcats hope to spread USC out and force the Trojans' secondary to make tackles in one-on-one situations. "We just have to make tackles after they catch the ball and deflect some of those short passes," Wright explained.
- Matt Barkley spent some time with Nick Foles before the season when the Pac-10's top quarterbacks took a trip to the East Coast. "He's a big kid, slings the rock out," said Barkley about Foles' reputation. "I heard they get it out quick. They are the #1 [pass] offense in the conference, so they must be doing something right."
- USC's QB believes turnover margin will be the key stat down the stretch this season. "One of my goals for finishing out this season is to not throw any picks," said Barkley, who contested the notion made by Kiffin that he lets his emotions lead him into errors. "I usually don't let emotion get into my play in games. It's one of the things that I pride myself on."
- Having spent time with Barkley after wins and losses, he is the type of quarterback that struggles to remember the touchdowns, but can explain every detail of his interceptions. When you ask him about picks, he gives specific answers and rarely speaks in generalities.
- A healthy Robert Woods would make Barkley's life easier. "He's getting there. I don't think he's 100% yet," Barkley reported. "You could definitely tell without his presence how much are offense was changing."
- While the Wildcats offensive stars get all the press, their pass rushers have caught Barkley's attention. "Nothing gives me nightmares, but they are a fast, up-field rush team with their ends. They are really good and probably the best we're going to see this year."
- Here is Lane Kiffin's post-practice media session...
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Note Barkley's comment about his goal not to throw another pick this season. When you try not to do something it usually ends up happening.
I hope he just trusts his instincts, check down the receivers and let it rip. Otherwise, we'll continue to see a whole bunch of picks the rest of the season.
Regarding Wright's plan to "put (his) hands on the receivers", hopefully he doesn't draw pass interference penalties. One thing the cornerbacks need to improve on is looking to see where the ball is going when defending a pass.
I think the offensive style I've been hoping to see from USC will show up this week against Arizona. They will lean heavily on the run game and throw some play action off of it. I also think we will see a lot more 2-man or man-free looks with Shareece Wright making himself very familiar with Juron Criner.
Check out my full preview of the game. link should be in my name.