Young USC tight ends play catch-up in big win over Colorado

For six games, USC’s tight ends were searching for some measure of trust, a little bit of rhythm to start contributing to the offense.

In Steve Sarkisian’s offense, the tight end is normally a staple, but over the first half of the season, the position had almost disappeared from the passing game. Part of the problem, freshman tight end Bryce Dixon said, was that they hadn’t yet earned Sarkisian’s confidence.

Dixon traced it back to the loss to Boston College on Sept. 13. He dropped a touchdown pass that would have put USC ahead,14-0, and could have swung the game.

After that, Dixon said, “I don’t think he fully trusted tight ends.”

Except for Nelson Agholor, the best receiving options are mostly young and inexperienced, so quarterback Cody Kessler has leaned heavily on Agholor.

This week, coaches challenged Kessler to create bigger plays, and again Agholor was the favorite target. But this time, as Kessler shredded the Colorado secondary for 319 yards and seven touchdowns, he revealed a young receiving corps that, perhaps, is maturing into a more complete unit.

“Cody was spinning the ball around all day getting it to the older guys and to us too as the freshmen,” said JuJu Smith, who caught four passes for 104 yards and a touchdown, including a highlight-reel catch near the Trojans’ sideline.

Redshirt freshman Steven Mitchell had a late score, and Dixon added two straight USC touchdown receptions in the 56-28 USC win.

Sarkisian has a history of developing tight ends and making them a major part of the passing game. When Sarkisian was USC’s offensive coordinator, Fred Davis won the Mackey Award, given to the nation’s top tight end. Last year at Washington, he coached another Mackey Award winner, Austin Seferian-Jenkins.

Sarkisian inherited two veteran tight ends when he arrived at USC, but Xavier Grimble left for the NFL and Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick was declared academically ineligible. Without them, Dixon and Randall Telfer combined for 13 catches, 188 yards and one touchdown until Saturday.

“But now that [Sarkisian] sees that once we get the ball and we can do stuff with it, get yards after our catch, he trusted us a lot,” Dixon said. “He’s starting to really feel us now, he’s starting to really look at us, he’s starting to put more plays in for the tight ends.”

On Saturday, the two tight ends had a total of six catches for 43 yards and two scores. That helped diversify a passing game that at times veers toward one-dimensional. Until Saturday, USC hadn’t had two 100-yard receiving games since November 2012.

Agholor and Smith both had more than 100 yards against Colorado.

Smith sprained his left thumb last week against Arizona and wore a soft cast during the game, but on his first reception, he made a diving, one-handed grab with the injured left hand.

Later, he followed a 45-yard completion with a short touchdown reception, the first of his career. He jumped up and hugged anyone near him. In the second quarter, he faked a block on a tunnel screen and fooled both cornerbacks for another 40-yard completion.

In his first collegiate game on Aug. 30, Smith went off for 123 yards, but he needed the next five games to match that total. In that span, the second leading pass-catcher, after Agholor, wasn’t Smith but Javorius Allen, the running back.

When Kessler showed a willingness to throw downfield, he reignited Smith.

“That’s why we recruit guys here,” Kessler said. “We trust that if I am going to put it up, they are going to make that play.”

Kessler is still without an abundance of options, and the receiver depth is still thin. But each week, as they gain more experience, the young pass catchers are commanding more looks and taking more pressure off Agholor.

“I have the rhythm, I was waiting for Cody to trust me,” Dixon said. “I’m here all the way with Cody. Now that he catches the rhythm, we’re going to have a great future.”