Will Utah St. Score?

I I really do I I don't mean any disrespect to the Utah State agies football program but they're going to have a hard time scoring against USC on Saturday night you are locked on Trojans your daily podcast on the USC Trojans part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey fight on everyone I'm your host mark culon and thanks for making a lock on USC part of the lock on network your first listen every day whether you're watching the show on YouTube wherever you want to download your podcast this show is always free and you know I always appreciate your support and now through September 22nd FanDuel is going to appreciate you all FanDuel customers you can bet $5 and you can get a three- week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV visit fanduel.com check it out so we're just uh I don't know few nights away a few days away from USC opening up their season at home after their big old Victory against LSU in Las Vegas USC's 1 and0 they're going to take on the 1 and0 Utah State Aggies USC is a 28 and a half Point favorite okay over under 63 and a half uh USC went well under against LSU I'm think thinking this one's probably going to go over and USC might do that on their own I know I'm not showing any respect I think Utah state will score I just don't know how many points and let me tell you why here uh Utah state has never had a lot of success scoring points against USC USC is six and0 all time all the games have been in La at the Coliseum they first played back in 1928 uh just to give you a put this in context where I'm going with this Utah state has never scored more than 14 points against USC they did that back in 2013 game was close actually 17 to 14 USC won uh if you for those of you who remember the 2013 season that was the year laye keen and USC got throttled in temp Arizon tempy Arizona 62 to 41 yeah after that game tiin was uh waiting for his Uber or his lift ride over there on the tarmac when he got back to LA so again in the series 6 and0 USC's 40-2 65 to Z 42-7 66-10 the A4 mentioned 17 to 14 game and then 45 to7 back in 2016 USC War it's really weird you know that 2013 season USC actually finished 10 and four but that was again really weird year fire TI um anyways I digress so here's the thing with Utah State even though they're bringing in the pig farmer Bryson baren at quarterback and they've got some they got a few skill guys who can hurt USC they can they got some explosive play guys they're bringing in a team that is playing against a USC team that has a defense this year right so why would the Aggies all of a sudden put up more than 14 points when they haven't been able to do that throughout their history whenever they play us in La why is it going to happen now with a good USC defense we believe um sure look I get it Utah State you know they use the transfer portal they got some good players um but do they have enough depth and I think that's really what it comes down to bigger picture um to kind of get tell you why I think Utah State might not have a chance if you have if you don't follow the program you might not be aware that they actually fired their head coach back in July just weeks days before uh Utah state was open up fall Camp so uh they brought well they didn't bring in defensive coordinator date Nate drying is their interim head coach uh he was New Mexico state's defensive coordinator last year okay maybe Utah state has a chance New Mexico State went into Jordan hair Stadium Auburn Alabama they beat the Auburn Tigers so just say they might have a chance not a big one if if the agies are going to beat USC they have to be perfect bottom line no penalties uh USC has to commit a lot of penalties Utah State cannot have any turnovers they probably have to create a few on their own defensively and again possible USC almost turned it over a few times against the Tigers LSU I think it's going to be interesting to see how Utah State defends Zachariah Branch we saw what LSU tried to do um we'll see if Utah State can do the same thing keep the ball out of his hands especially when he's on special teams will they be able to run the ball offensively I'm speaking about the agies and keep USC's offense off the field look I'm not that well versed on their roster but I do know that Five Guys who played for Nate drying at New Mexico State followed him to Logan Utah so that's that's a good thing you know guys who he coached defensively over there that weren't intimidated going into going into Auburn and leaving with a victory I'm going to talk about some of those individual players in the next next segment and hopefully the the uh the audio and the video on this is coming out fine I see my little Wi-Fi signal strength there hopefully everything's working out okay now what Utah State likes to do on offense uh they like to go uptempo and they like to rotate guys in quickly and it that that philosophy works great if the offens stays on the field they if they're you know getting drives going flip side though you know Utah state if you're running that Up Tempo offense and you're and USC's defens is generating some three and outs guess whose defense is going to be on the field more than their offense yeah that's so again it's it's kind of a that's the that's the curse of running that uptempo type of offense you got to get first downs you got to stay on the field because if you're running Up Tempo and you have three and out you know your the offensive series could to be a minute minute 30 see we've seen that happen with USC quite a bit and we know the effects it can have on the defense so it's a balancing act for for Coach drying and Utah State uh last week in their season opener against Robert Morris the the mighty Colonials by the way uh that final score was 36 to4 in favor of Utah State I asked the the quiz question on yesterday's episode of lock on USC my everyday did you find out where Robert Morris was located you didn't Pittsburgh Pennsylvania so there you go uh also I mentioned on yesterday's episode of Lockton UFC that Utah state they're balanced on offense uh they had 646 total yards 343 through the air 303 on the ground and coach drling said this about his offense look uh they should be able to score anytime they touch the ball with all the weapons we have and how much speed uh we can break a play but we have to be on point so again going back to what I was mentioning uh they have to be perfect and they have to stay on the field they can't you know they they can't hop scop around they can't go three and out and you know then come back on the field and maybe go seven plays and they gotta be good now uh they do have a veteran offensive line um all five starters have started at least six seven games last year so they'll have some familiarity at that on there and check it out they play in Utah Utah State Logan Utah uh they like to use their tight ends shocker what School in Utah doesn't use their tight ends the youth BYU we'll see how good Utah states are defensively on the other side of the ball um they weren't very good last year H new coaching staff new defensive coaching staff sh on that side of the ball in 2024 they brought over a bunch of transfers experienced transfers in the transfer portal so we'll see and like USC last year the Aggies were terrible against the Run no bueno not good at all against Robert Morris um believe it or not the Colonials they had 103 yards in the first half by halftime Utah State essentially shut them down in the second half only gave up 34 rushing yards now there does appear to be some depth I mentioned um they hit the transfer portal and in that game they they used 11 different defensive linemen and eight different linebackers so that that works against Robert Morris are they gonna use that many against USC we'll find out I think they're going to get better this year um stopping the run you know it's a good that they were able to make an adjustment in the second half holding the opponent to 34 yards but USC needs to force that issue let's see how good Utah state run defense actually is make them get better make them stop the run Lincoln Riley one thing Utah state has working in their favor this is one of those intangibles uh their locker room a lot of camaraderie teammates love each other you know how I know that when their head coach was fired in July only two guys jumped into that uh 30-day transfer portal window it says a lot that says a lot about the locker room and it also says a lot about uh the you know the respect they have for Nate dryy they their interim head coach here I just don't know if um bottom line I don't know if they have enough depth to play 60 minutes with USC they have enough depth play against Robert Morris but again they're stepping up they're stepping up time and I they do have Bryson Barnes the pig farmer he killed USC last year he gets to wear that label you can wear it proud so we we'll see if he's going to be starting or if he's coming off the bench we're not going to know until Saturday right now their quarterback situation is day-to-day I'm going to talk about individual players at us and the fans should be focused on when that game kicks off Saturday night 8:00 pm in the Coliseum you heard us talk about FanDuel a lot okay they're America's number one sports book well we've have something a little different for you now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers you can bet $5 you can get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV with a a YouTube TV Bas plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game that's good for you and all you need is a Google account and a current form of payment and you can cancel any time so go check it out visit fanduel.com locked on to download America's number one sports book so who is playing quarterback for the Aggies on Saturday uh head coach Nate drying referred to their starter Spencer petris uh he was right now his status is dayto day um he he talked about that earlier in the week during I believe it was their Monday press conference he's a graduate transfer from Iowa so you know he's good that's sarcasm Iowa was Iowa was just a Bastion of offense right coach Kirk F fence right right here's the thing I I think Bryon Barn's going to start um and I I reminded my everyday on yesterday's episode about about the pig farmer Bryson Barnes he's good well he was good last year against USC that's all I know it's all I remember it's all I need to know what Bryson does differently than Spencer is he is a well USC fans you know he's a dual threat quarterback right Spencer likes to stay in the pocket I prefer going against a quarterback that likes to stay in the pocket well I don't have a say in the matter coach drying is going to make that decision and I the reason why I think they're going with Bryson Barnes uh last week in their opener their starter um he threw a couple interceptions twice that's not good now according to the coach according to their teammates it wasn't Spencer's fault somebody didn't know the right play the wide receivers are running the wrong rounds whatever those stats show up under Spencer's stat line uh what else can I tell you about them oh um so I I needed to find out a little bit about who Utah state is so I hit up uh his name is Jason Walker I'm gonna in fact I'm gonna be on the uh their radio station today you're listening to this episode 104.5 FM in Logan Utah again I'll be on with Jason Walker so he gave me a little bit of a Scouting Report play to focus on he said the the player that's the biggest concern for USC after Bryson Barnes is wide receiver Jaylen Royals uh Speedster um but he's also not just fast apparently he's been working on jump balls and he's been winning these jump balls so it's GNA make things it's a he's it adds another Dynamic it makes the job a little bit easier for the quarterback when you know you have a guy who can run and jump you can kind of let the just throw it out there let the guy make a play for you last year pretty good in fact he had I believe he had an All-American season uh 15 touchdowns which set a Utah State single season record and he also led the country um in touchdown receptions of 50 yards or more he had seven of those I mean that that's good I don't care where you play you got seven receptions of 50 yards or more that's explosive USC has to be careful about that now you're shutting him down it's gonna be a task they also have a couple other uh wide receivers that to to focus on one is kyrese white he's a senior this year last week three catches 131 yards two touchdowns uh two of those touchdowns again he only got three catches so two of those were for 57 and 53 yards short passes he put the yak on there took it to the house so you got two really Speedy guys on the outside you've got Royals and white both of them can can scoot and then at running back you also have his name is rashu fasen fison last year rushed for 736 yards he averaged 6.2 per carry that's pretty good and then last week against Robert mois 78 yards 12 attempts again not bad right I mentioned tight ends uh two names Brock Lane sounds like a wrestler and Josh sturer keep those names in the in the back of your head defensively guys to uh to kind of focus on uh they're not sure who they are as a team defensively yet but again a few guys to to kind of key in on they have a two-time All Conference safety his name is Ike Larson he's he's a ball Hawk he's a he's kind of a smaller guy 5'1 60 pounds but he Al They also like to use him the same way USC uses uh Zachariah branch on special teams he's also their Punt and kick return guy so keep an eye on this I hate these small little Shifty guys gota keep an eye on those guys they have an edge rusher his name is Blaine spes who is apparently coming into his own 6'3 220 pounds he's a transfer he's originally um he committed and played at Bowling Green he's from the state of Ohio football hotbed the Cradle of football Ohio and then another guy another name on defense they keep an eye on safety Jordan Vincent 5 fo 10 195 pounds good size he was a three-time All Conference performer at New Mexico state so he's one of those guys that followed coach drying over um and Vincent was also I mean remember he came over and he quickly earned uh his the Locker Room's respect the locker rooms trust he is one of five um all one of the five season long team captains so that you know he's not only good on the field but he's also a high quality High character guy that his teammates were willing to sayy let's make this guy one of our team captains I mentioned they brought in a a bunch of Venter and transfers out of the transfer portal but can they develop into a cohesive unit that's what they they're trying to work on right now doesn't happen overnight USC's trying to do the same thing now La the actually the last two seasons apparently the stats show that you know Utah State they've struggled penalties turnovers if they struggle against USC committing penalties turning the ball over it's gonna be a long night hopefully it's not a long night game kicks off at 800m let's see let's see if we can get out of there by uh see if that game can be over by 11 I already know it's gonna be a long day long night whatever um against Robert Morris yeah Utah State I think they threw uh three interceptions in total they committed 10 penalties again they do that against USC USC's leing they're they're going to cover that 28 and a half point spread they're going to go over us he could put up 60 we'll see we'll see what happens when you're hiring for your small business you want to have as many top tier candidates as possible that when you go to that interview process that's why you have to go check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help you find the right Professionals for your team and they're going to do it faster and they're going to do it for free LinkedIn isn't just another job board LinkedIn has a vast network of more than a billion with a B professionals with a p which makes it the best place to go hire somebody and hiring is really super easy when you have that many quality candidates so easy in back to 86% of small businesses they get a qualified candidate within 24 hours and Linkedin knows small businesses you don't have a lot of time you're wearing a lot of hats you want to make things easy LinkedIn has made the process very intuitive very quick and very easy they even just launched a feature that helps you write job descriptions make the process even easier and quicker post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon colge that's linkedin.com loock on College to Post your job for free terms and conditions are going to apply all right so I talked about Utah State the first two segments let's talk about USC I was at practice Wednesday that's G to be the last one that the media attends this week we go Tuesdays and Wednesdays um I need to get this out of the way for you because you're looking at to rundown going what is Mark talking about m injury a linebacker well no idea where Mason Cobb was today I'm very confident that when we uh talk to Coach Riley tomorrow at 11: a on Zoom Thursday like we do every week during the season uh first question is where was Mason cop we spoke with Coach Lynn after practice and he was asked about where was Mason he wasn't spotted at practice today and he said Coach Riley would be the person to talk to about injuries so apparently he's injured I don't know the extent I know that he made the game-winning interception against LSU he looked to be okay so little knock on wood that it's nothing serious he's just trying to get himself healthy enough for Saturday's game against the AES we'll find out I'll let you know now coach Lynn also talked about what made the defense stand out you know what was so good Saturday said consistency is what stood out about the interior um of the defensive line specifically and when they're consistent that allows the linebackers to make plays and boy did both units make plays against llu um I also asked him um was there one play that specifically maybe stood out to you after watching the film and he kind of paused briefly and you know it's kind of hard just to pick one mark in reality here's what I think I think he I kind of caught him by surprise this is my personal observation about Coach Lynn uh just the way he answers questions he is in the moment laser focused he's not thinking about what had happened five minutes ago or you know on the the game last Saturday Sunday excuse me he's not thinking ahead or backward he's like thinking right now so I think maybe that's why the question maybe caught him off guard I'm sure play stood out to him but he's just like I'm not into this right now um oh by the way I gotta get this out of the way all Kiron Hudson does is catch one handed passes the most freaky thing so after practice you know we're media standing around waiting to talk to coach ly and different selected players you've got a Killy Arnold playing wide receiver yeah he's getting some wide receiver route running work in Kyle Ford is playing quarterback meanwhile Kyon Hudson he is standing on the goal line Kyle for I what 25 yards away Achilles running we call it a wheel route and Kyle for threw a really nice Ball but I'm not kidding this is not hyperbole Tyron Hudson did not move did not move his feet all he did would stick his arm up like this like he was going to grab an apple off a tree the ball found his hand like velcro he didn't move his arm in any not laterally to the right or the left it's almost like Ford was aiming kind was like dude you've used up your quot of one-handed passes enough it was effortless it was fun it was fun to watch but you're like what happened first of all why is ailly Arnold running a wheel out why is why is Kyle Ford playing quarterback and why is Kyon Hudson just standing there like that's mine snatch take it Killy Arnold's like I give up I quit I'm out all of a sudden Kyle for's like hey you wouldn't do that if you were at Mission beo Kyle Ford played at Orange Lutheran ailly Arnold Mission beo they know each other those two schools uh they're familiar with each other is all I have to say High School if in Southern California those two schools know each other well practice was supposed to start at 3:10 according to the memo meanwhile when I see Lincoln Riley showing up at 3:30 I'm thinking okay PR this isn't starting at 3:10 it was hot it was really hot and I'm almost appreciative now that knowing Saturday during the day it's supposed to reach triple digits I'm kind of happy sort of that the game isn't kicking off till 8:00 p.m. never the it's going to be a long day long night so everyone show up enjoy the home opener what else can I tell oh you know what I noticed at practice so the first two years with Lincoln Riley during fall Camp guys had to earn their gold plates the Trojan emblem that you put on the helmet what I noticed today was some of the freshmen Walk-Ons freshman and Walk-Ons they don't have them I'm not going to point out who does and who doesn't among those two groups it's not necessary but something I did notice was an observation uh the Tennessee Titans Houston Texans they sent a each sent a scout to watch practice on Wednesday as you know first thing we see when they let us in special teams action Jay far Woody marks Zachariah Branch they were working on their receiving skills coach Anthony Jones Jr he's throwing big yellow blocking pads trying to distract him Riders are about to catch the ball uh coach dh's reminding Jay fair hey keep your elbows in once you got the ball don't let it get away from you interesting jayen Dro one but it's like oops Zachariah did but again he was focused on the coach trying to distract him and not focused on the ball it happens long as it happens in practice and not in the game we'll be good I got to watch Coach Doug Bel and Taylor Mays doing their thing the reason being is right after the skiping stretch they went right into some Scout teamw work and Katie Ryan sports information director like hey why doesn't everybody just kind of turn that way and watch the DBS do their work on Brian Kennedy field that's what we did um you know does everyone remember what kayin Bullock's nickname was still is sticks because he's so thin I'm not kidding if kin Bullock's nickname is sticks Carlos Nicholson got to call him Twigs his legs are skinnier than kin's not exaggerating not joking I mean it almost like I would hate to see him get hit on his shin lower legs because to me it looked like they were crack in half he hasn't Haven for that happen but my I'm just trying to emphasize how thin his legs are caught me by surprise a little bit today I don't know why I've never noticed that before uh someone who's the opposite of Twigs we spoke to him after practice defensive lineman Devin Tomkins got a lot of playing time against LSU and he was able to talk about that very softs spoken guy but he's got a real aggressive attitude and he's got massive arms so um I think you're G to continue to see Devon Tomkins get pling time especially against Utah State uh I asked coach Lynn why Elijah Hughes didn't get in the get in the action and they said it was just kind of a feel you know the the guys who were you know in the game they were productive there's no reason to kind of change that coach Lynn said they plan to rotate more guys into this game so we'll see what happens not a lot to report from pra again you know how it is we don't see a whole bunch biggest news is where's Mason cob we'll find out when we talk to Coach Riley Thursday via zoom and then when I find out you'll find out on the next episode of Locked on USC I'll be back with you again tomorrow so until then everyone you know what to do