LOS ANGELES — A bustling circle of players forms an arena – a turf-floored, designated battle space. They roar for those who play on their side of the ball, and taunt those who are opposite of them. Bodies collide.
This is Midnight Alley, and it’s become a signature part of USC football practices.
“Just physicality,” defensive end Zuriah Fisher said. “You gotta bring your A-game with that.”
Winning in the Big Ten Conference requires sheer physicality, and a lack of such might have held the Trojans’ defense back in previous seasons. Multiple videos of the Midnight Alley drill have appeared on social media during this fall camp as proof to the college football world that USC is willing to throw down.
Many one-on-one contact drills, like Oklahoma’s and Bull in the Ring, have been eliminated from college, professional and high school football due to safety concerns.
Midnight Alley, however, has been altered to remain part of the sport. Head coach Lincoln Riley began using the tackling drill roughly 2½ years ago.
“This drill works because it’s guys attacking from an angle and not just head-to-head,” he told reporters on a Zoom call, “which is one of the reasons they outlawed some of those other drills.”
The drill tests players in short-yardage situations and involves three defensive players and three offensive players, including one ball-carrier.
The defense tries to keep the offense from scoring a touchdown, and everyone’s intensity brings a game-like environment up close and personal.
“It just brings out the dog in you,” offensive lineman Elijah Paige said. “Obviously we’re teammates. We want to keep each other up, we want to stay healthy during practice. Midnight Alley – we want that too. Football is a very physical sport, so I think that just brings it out.”
Every player gets a round of Midnight Alley at least once, and the coaching staff works together to create what they feel will be interesting or competitive matchups. Once in a while, the pairings are used to resolve beef.
“I can’t say it has been prevalent – but if another player wants to kind of call another player out, and kind of create a matchup, it kind of gives us a vehicle to get that done,” Riley said.
“So, if something like that happens, or there’s a little scuffle or something like that in practice, then occasionally, we’ll just match those guys up in Midnight Alley and let them settle it the old-fashioned way.”
Fisher, a transfer from Penn State, said he’s noticed an uptick in physicality since fall training camp began. And that’s a strong compliment from a player who prepped at Aliquippa High School, one of the toughest prep teams in the Pittsburgh area.
Middle linebacker Desman Stephens, specifically, is someone who has taken strides in attacking on contact. He’s taken on more leadership responsibilities this season and could be an option to wear the green dot this season, which signifies an in-helmet communication system that links the player with defensive coordinator Gary Patterson.
“I feel like everybody just bought in and is physical,” Fisher said. “I feel like that’s one thing that everybody got better at. Everybody is being physical. Even the young guys are being physical. We’ve just got to keep that going.”
NFL PLAYERS IN THE PORTAL
A federal judge in Louisiana has granted multiple former college football players a temporary restraining order that allows them to enter the college transfer portal despite being on an NFL roster.
The NCAA enacted a “5 for 5” rule in August that grants college athletes five years of playing eligibility within a five-year window. A ruling by a Colorado judge gave Class of 2022 athletes a fifth season of eligibility, and some players are already taking advantage of it.
Former Florida and LSU defensive end Jack Pyburn, who currently plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as well as former SMU and UCLA running back TJ Harden, who was just cut by the Seattle Seahawks, have been reported to be entering the portal.
Riley didn’t rule out the possibility of bringing an NFL player to USC.
“If there’s a place to have an advantage for USC, we would always look at it,” he said. “Always, whether we agree with it or not.
“That is definitely something I wish wasn’t happening in college football right now, and not for any individual’s sake just, again, for maybe the overall good of the game – anyways, long story, right? I think, though, for us, it is something we’re looking at.”