USC Trojans defensemen Zion Branch, Bryson Shaw expand defense role without injuries

The USC Trojans entered Friday’s game short-handed in the defensive backfield with four starters out of the lineup: safety Kamari Ramsey and cornerbacks Jacobe Covington, Jaylin Smith and Greedy Vance. Covington missed his third straight game since limping off the field late in the fourth quarter Trojans loss to Minnesota on October 5.

The depth in the defensive backroom was a strength for the Trojans heading into the season. They added cornerbacks DeCarlos Nicholson and John Humphrey to the transfer portal, both of whom would eventually get the start against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. At safety, Akili Arnold was the only healthy starter in the secondary, while Zion Branch and Bryson Shaw played 61 and 54 snaps at the other safety spot and at nickel, respectively. Sophomore Christian Pierce earned the first significant playing time of his collegiate career, logging 35 snaps.

“We practiced with each other and tried to mix and match who was there at the same time, so it was kind of comfortable and felt just like practice,” Branch said. “I’ve seen a few guys play, CP (Christian Pierce), we all feel comfortable and have a kind of next man up mentality.

“Coach (D’Anton) Lynn and coach (Doug) Belk do a great job of preaching like anybody in the game, we have the same standard so just go out and play and we’re all just trying to go out and trust to play with.”

A number of players resigned, including Prophet Brown, who played his most important snaps since the Trojans’ win over Louisville in the Holiday Bowl last season.

“I see it in practice all the time,” Branch said. “He went out there and showed everything he could. Like I said, it’s the next man up, we feel like we have the deepest secondary in the country, so we can put anyone in the game and put someone like Prophet will just take it a step further what his name is, and I feel like everyone is like that.

The Trojan horses have been plagued by injuries this season, especially on the defensive side of the ball. In addition to the secondary, USC had a number of players emerge in their front seven. True freshman edge rusher Kameryn Fountain played 37 snaps, redshirt freshman edge rusher Sam Greene played 30 snaps and true freshman defensive lineman Jude Abasiri played 16 snaps, a career-high for all three players.

Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai entered the matchup ranked in the top 10 nationally in rushing yards per game and rushing touchdowns. The Trojans held him to 86 yards on 18 carries and zero touchdowns. Overall, USC limited the Scarlet Knights to just 2.9 yards per carry.

Performances like Friday’s are encouraging for the current state of the Trojans as it shows the depth of the roster and they are recruiting players under USC coach Lincoln Riley who are willing to contribute early, but also for the future as a number of young players gain valuable playing experience that can pay off in the coming years.

“Every team has their challenges and we know what our challenges are,” Riley said. “Again, our guys did their best and put in a winning performance defensively… there are several guys that will grow up and learn a lot from this win and the way we played tonight. We are a no-excuses program, we’ We have a ‘no excuses’ mentality right now, like everything is against us, like we really don’t care, like we’re just going to keep going.”

USC will do that travel to Seattle on Saturday, November 2 to take on the Washington Huskies. It will be the 83rd meeting between the two programs, but the first as members of the Big Ten Conference. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 PM PT and will air on the Big Ten Network.