LOS ANGELES — The mask of steel D’Anton Lynn wears pregame never wavers, a constant emotional barometer through the tumult of USC’s 2024 season, and yet the situation he faced on Friday night at the Coliseum was particularly daunting.
On Thursday, head coach Lincoln Riley told media on a Zoom that USC was “hopeful” to have starting cornerbacks Jacobe Covington and Jaylin Smith, and safety Kamari Ramsey, all of whom were dinged up. But a short week posed a challenge with USC faced with one less day of preparation and one fewer set of reps with Rutgers looming on Friday. And when players trotted out in pads for warm-ups a couple hours pregame, Covington and Smith and Ramsey were absent.
What’s more: starting nickel Greedy Vance Jr. was in sweats. What’s more: true-freshman corner Marcelles Williams, a standout buried on the depth chart, was in sweats. Suddenly, USC was down four — four — starting members of its secondary against Rutgers, and a key depth piece.
“Occasionally, you get the rare seasons where it feels like your lineup stays the same the whole way through, and you’re able to develop a lot of continuity and build,” Riley said on Thursday. “That happens some years, and it doesn’t some years.”
“It hasn’t really happened for us, and that’s OK. You gotta be able to adjust. You gotta be able to adapt.”
They were in better position to adapt, on Friday night, than at any other spot on the roster. On paper, USC’s secondary came into this fall as its deepest position group, pushing transfers like John Humphrey and DeCarlos Nicholson to inconsistent roles behind a bevy of entrenched starters.
Humphrey and Nicholson were sorely needed against Rutgers, though, as was veteran backup cornerback Prophet Brown. Redshirt-freshman Zion Branch, too, received another opportunity for increased snaps in Ramsey’s absence, continuing a recent few-game stretch of momentum for Branch in USC’s rotation.
“I feel like, I can be versatile, play at all five spots on the field, so,” Branch said in early October. “Wherever they need me, I’m gonna go play.”
If there was any silver lining, Rutgers’ passing attack didn’t exactly come into Friday as the program’s strong point. Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis entered with just a 53% completion percentage and averaging 191 yards through the air through seven games, the latter figure marking Rutgers 104th out of 133 FBS teams in yardage per game.
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