USC coach Clay Helton knows what to expect from his veterans. So Helton rested his upperclassmen during the team’s scrimmage Saturday. It was time for the young Trojans to prove themselves — Helton’s last chance to study them before the upcoming week of practice, the team’s mock game week. “We really needed to see, OK, who can realistically contribute in that opening game,” Helton said. “And that’s what part of this scrimmage was about is to thrust those younger players to the forefront.” Several of those players emerged Saturday, and the team showed improvement, especially on defense. Here are five takeaways from USC’s second scrimmage. Advertisement Kicking battle arises Chase McGrath made the most of his time starting when Michael Brown tore his ACL last season. McGrath earned a scholarship and the presumed starting spot. That means this year, one scholarship kicker will watch from USC’s bench. But Brown resisted being relegated to a backup role. He and McGrath matched each other with down-the-middle makes at varying distances Saturday. Until the final attempt, that is. After Brown nailed his kick, McGrath booted the ball crooked and just short. “It was really neat to have Michael Brown back out here, get through a camp, look healthy,” Helton said. “And today was excellent, especially on some long field goals.” Explosive plays limited In the first scrimmage, it looked like the defense didn’t know what to make of JT Daniels. Explosive plays became a pattern. Advertisement Not this time. The defense clamped down Saturday, limiting the Trojans to a handful of damaging plays. Helton said the effort allowed the offense to practice time-consuming drives and develop the patience to accumulate yardage slowly against an unrelenting defense. Only Jack Sears found the end zone, with a short rushing touchdown. Helton wanted to see more explosiveness, but he didn’t name a fault in the offense. The defense was that stifling. “We made a point of emphasis, you saw that first scrimmage, that was something that really stood out,” Helton said. “That’s something that I think defensively they took to heart, and they did a nice job today.” Devon Williams impresses Helton Advertisement The offense struggled to string together explosive plays, but not Devon Williams. Early in Sears’ third drive, the freshman receiver completed a catch deep. A few plays later, he did it again, snagging a bullet from Sears and bolting within a few yards of the end zone, setting up Sears’ touchdown. The former four-star recruit was a bright spot to Helton. Now, Williams turns to the next step — mastering the playbook. “I know he made a mistake or two today, ‘cause I could hear Tee [Martin] over the headset,” Helton said, laughing. “But that’s the beauty of being out here … just to see the reality of where they’re at. And you could see his natural play ability.” Advertisement Trevon Sidney worth watching Trevon Sidney went down clutching the ball Matt Fink hurled his way, as he rolled onto the ground well past the first-down marker. He sprang back up with his arm stretched in triumph, gripping the ball as he ran back to the sideline. It was Sidney’s second big play of the scrimmage. The first he made for himself. After catching a short pass from Fink earlier in the drive, he wove around defenders untouched before being brought down around midfield. Advertisement The plays are a reason for optimism about Sidney, who contributed 35 yards on three catches last season. Improvements in open-field tackling Helton put the defense through a tackling-heavy training camp, and on Saturday, that work paid off. Even when the offense found space in the open field, the defenders shut them down with impressive open-field tackles. One highlight came when Levi Jones took down Stephen Carr in the open field. Twice. Advertisement “He’s been battling a little bit of an ankle, but really wanted to go today,” Helton said. “And, gosh, he showed it. He looked healthy, and he looked explosive.” Helton was excited at the thought of pairing Jones alongside speedy inside linebacker John Houston. blake.richarson@latimes.com Twitter: @rblakerich_<doc-sep>After USC's fourteenth day of fall camp, USCFootball.com beat writer and columnist Dan Weber and reporter Keely Eure have the news and notes from Howard Jones Field. The Trojans held their second scrimmage of the spring on Saturday. "We practiced a lot of young players today," head coach Clay Helton said in his post-practice media scrum. "[It was] kind of our last being able to take a look at [the young players] before we go into our mock game week. So we forced the issues there." After a lot of build up from Helton throughout the week, Saturday's scrimmage was lackluster. USC's quarterbacks had very few passing attempts and mostly handed the ball off to running backs low on the depth chart. Helton has explained earlier to reporters that these "preseason games" weigh more heavily in determining a starting quarterback. Given that context, Saturday was a strange outing for the Trojans because there was not much to evaluate. Defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast held out most of the veteran defenders including Marvell Tell, Iman Marshall, Malik Dorton, Christian Rector, John Houston, and Ajene Harris. Cam Smith, Porter Gustin, and Ykili Ross sat out due to injuries. That left mostly the second and third-team defense against the Trojans' first and second-team offense. On the injury front, Caleb Tremble has a minor left ankle sprain but was able to play through most of practice. Levi Jones left practice early due to a hand injury, Helton announced. Chuma Edoga was pulled halfway through practice due to his nagging hip injury. For a more detailed perspective of practice, make sure you check out Dan's Ghost Notes over on The Peristyle (VIP members only).<doc-sep>Two years ago, USC coach Clay Helton named Max Browne the starting quarterback over Sam Darnold on the third Saturday of fall camp, two weeks before the opener. Saturday marked the same day on the college football calendar, and the Trojans were staging their second scrimmage, or, as Helton likes to call it, “preseason game.” In last week’s scrimmage, true freshman quarterback JT Daniels didn’t just back up his five-star hype. He threw kerosene on it, tossing the ball all over the Coliseum for four touchdown passes. A light week of practice ensued, and Helton stuck with the public stance that there had been no separation between Daniels, Jack Sears and Matt Fink. Saturday’s scrimmage was a prime opportunity for Daniels to pull away, but due to a variety of factors, it didn’t work out that way. “My gut tells me it’s going to take one more week,” Helton said. Advertisement As it turned out, Saturday was never going to be a decision day. USC’s offensive coaches called a run-heavy set of plays that featured more work for walk-ons Quincy Jountti and Ben Easington than Stephen Carr and Aca’Cedric Ware. On both sides of the ball, the Trojans trotted out a lot of names that the casual fans likely won’t know for a few years. The pass plays were mostly quick reads and screens. Unlike last week, USC did not give the quarterbacks a two-minute drill to end the scrimmage because the Trojans ran out of healthy offensive tackles. There simply wasn’t much to see. Afterward, Helton credited the defense for doing a much better job than last week of limiting big plays. “You saw the first scrimmage,” Helton said. “That was something that really stood out, something that I think defensively they took to heart. I told the offense, some days you’re going to have to grind it out, sometimes the run game has go to go and you move the sticks. Sometimes it’s going to be three- to four-play drives, sometimes it’s got to be 14-play drives.” Daniels has been USC’s best quarterback in camp. He was the sharpest in the first scrimmage, going 10 of 12 with the four touchdowns, three of which went to high school teammate Amon-ra St. Brown. He did not do anything spectacular Saturday, but he completed seven of nine passes while Fink was three of nine. Sears only attempted two passes, both of which were completions to impressive true freshman Devon Williams on the day’s last series. Only Helton and his assistants know what he still needs to see from Daniels before USC’s opener against Nevada Las Vegas on Sept. 1. In three seasons as USC’s coach, Helton has had to navigate two quarterback battles. This is not a large sample size, and the 2016 version was a totally different scenario. Yet, it is the only point of comparison — and one that carries with it painful memories for Trojan fans, many of whom use it as a reason to question Helton’s “gut.” He chose Browne, and USC lost to Alabama in embarrassing fashion 52-6. They lost two weeks later at Stanford, 27-10. Helton made the switch to Darnold. Then, the Trojans lost a tough one to Utah and rattled off nine straight wins, finishing with a thrilling Rose Bowl victory over Penn State. Some USC fans can’t let go of the “what if?” Nobody thinks Darnold was worth 47 points against the Crimson Tide. But maybe the Trojans wouldn’t have lost to Stanford or Utah if Darnold had gotten the starting role out of camp? Maybe they would have won the Pac-12 South and gotten a chance at Washington in the league championship game for a spot in the College Football Playoff? Advertisement There are plenty of reasons, though, why this is not likely to be Max Browne 2.0. Helton chose Browne because he had the experience of three years in the program and much more of a pedigree as a prospect than Fink or Sears. Browne, like Daniels, came to USC the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year. He had put in his time and was the safer play to take on a dominant team like Alabama in the opener. This year, USC starts with an opener that seems suited for getting a young guy some confidence. Plus, none of the Trojans’ quarterbacks brings any meaningful game experience into September. And in this case, it is Daniels, the youngest of the three, that has the most pedigree. Helton has been clear about two things since camp started: Age will not be a factor, and he will likely make a decision in the week before the season starts. All he is doing by not naming a starter is keeping his word. But for USC fans hoping for Daniels to get the nod, it looks like another long week ahead. Advertisement Etc. Helton said USC’s punt-returner depth chart is currently Ajene Harris, St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns. … Injuries from Saturday: Caleb Tremblay (ankle), Levi Jones (hand) and Chuma Edoga (hip). brady.mccollough@latimes.com Twitter: @BradyMcCollough<doc-sep>
After the Trojans' eighth practice, USCFootball.com beat writer and columnist Dan Weber and reporter Keely Eure have the news and notes from Howard Jones Field. USC had its first official scrimmage of fall camp in the Coliseum on Saturday. "[It was] a good opening game. Some good things and some things we've got to fix," head coach Clay Helton said in his post-practice media scrum. Some of the "good things" Helton alluded to included freshman quarterback JT Daniels and freshman wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. Daniels had four touchdowns on the day, including a laser throw to St. Brown in double coverage. St. Brown had an equally impressive day with six catches for 160 yards and three touchdowns. Another bright spot of Saturday's scrimmage was the Trojans' defensive line. "Starting off, I thought the defense had a great attitude to start off this scrimmage and really put pressure on the quarterback early," Helton said. "I'm looking forward to looking at the tape to see the break down there." In the first six plays of the scrimmage, the Trojans' defensive front was able to force three sacks on the quarterback against the first-team offensive line. Redshirt freshman Jay Tufele didn't make it easy for USC's quarterbacks and forced multiple sacks. "Probably the guy that maybe is having the best camp of anybody is Jay Tufele," Helton said. "He was the on early who was supplying all the pressure on the quarterback. We actually pointed him out in our team meeting last night of what he's doing for this team. He's really stepped up his game." On the injury front, Josh Imatorbhebhe couldn't finish practice after spraining his ankle after a 70-yard touchdown. Caleb Tremblay did not participate in the scrimmage after suffering a stinger in warmups. Austin Jackson had a left leg injury towards the end of practice and did not finish practice. For a more detailed perspective of practice, make sure you check out Dan's Ghost Notes over on The Peristyle (VIP members only).