LOS ANGELES — The USC defense has finally found consistency at cornerback, and it’s paying off for the entire team.
DeCarlos Nicholson and Marcelles Williams – who have solidified starting positions – have had some of the highest coverage grades from Pro Football Focus in the last two games, with Nicholson earning a team-best 85.4 against Northwestern and Williams recording a season-high 71.5 at Nebraska, which ranked third on the team.
It’s not perfect yet, and there will likely be more opportunities to learn as defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn continues to expand the playbook with more certainty at the position.
“It’s helped a lot,” Lynn told reporters after practice on Wednesday. “It gives us more confidence to mix up our coverages, to get in different looks. There’s times where you need to protect those guys, but then there’s times where we can be in a little bit more of an attack mode because those guys are holding up on the outside.”
Redshirt freshman Braylon Conley played an impactful 26 snaps in the 38-17 victory over Northwestern on Friday night and made a season-high five tackles.
“That was an incredible moment, coming off like four or five weeks and not seeing any action,” Nicholson told reporters on Wednesday. “And never getting down on himself. Just continued to go to work, continued to find things to get better at, and when his number was called, he was ready. Just goes to show what kind of person he is.”
The Trojans (7-2 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) might not have too many opportunities to flaunt their secondary in Saturday’s game against Iowa, a team that likes to wear down defenses and run the clock with its gritty rushing attack.
The Hawkeyes run the ball the third-most out of all Big Ten Conference teams, with roughly 39 rushing attempts per game, and they have a conference-low 206 passing attempts all season.
“It’s a complete team effort,” Nicholson said. “It starts on that field over there with the scout team just giving us great looks every day of the week, challenging us, where we’re getting game-like reps Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Thursday, we start slowing things down. It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re up for the challenge.”
CELEBRATING PAT CASHMAN
Former USC and Long Beach City College football star Pat Cashman died on Nov. 5 at age 79 after battling dementia for several years.
Cashman, a defensive back, made a pivotal play in the 1967 game against UCLA when he intercepted Maxwell and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Gary Beban and returned the ball 55 yards for a touchdown.
O.J. Simpson broke off a 67-yard touchdown run to win the game, 21-20, and the Trojans moved on to beat Indiana, 14-3, in the Rose Bowl game for the national championship.
“Pat knew everybody,” Tommy Gorrell, a former USC golfer and friend of Cashman, said. “He was like Mr. Long Beach. Everybody loved him.”
Cashman’s son, Tyler, was a standout receiver at Los Alamitos High School and played tight end at USC. He had three receptions for 19 yards in a 41-32 victory over Northwestern in the 1996 Rose Bowl game.
Pat Cashman is survived by Tyler and his daughter, Summer.