USC Trojans Football 2016: Clay Helton focuses on brutal schedule during Fall camp

After Wednesday’s practice Clay Helton addressed the media as he normally does. He started his remarks by stating that in practice he is going to have 1’s play the 1’s in practice instead of the starters competing against a practice squad. Helton is having the starters play against the starters specifically because of the brutal schedule. Helton cited Alabama, Notre Dame, and the difficulty of the Pac-12 conference as reasons he needed his players to get comfortable with playing against elite opponents.

Helton provided an the example of Juju Smith-Schuster running routes against Adoree’ Jackson in practice will help both of them be prepared for whatever Notre Dame or Alabama can throw at them.

Coach also made clear that he is using a variety of tempos in practice as well. A huge chunk of Pac-12 teams run no huddle offense and the defense has to be prepared for that style of play. Conversely Helton is also slowing the tempo down after he pointed out that both Stanford and Alabama run slower but more powerful offenses than many Pac-12 teams.

Quarterback Assessment:

Helton refused to answer which quarterback looked better in practice today. Helton said he intends to announce the starter on August 20th. He only stated he was unprepared to say who performed better in practice today without watching the tape first. Helton did say however that both Max Browne and Sam Darnold were far from perfect on Wednesday.

You can watch the full presser below:

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