Players Hear It Loudly From Disappointed Coaches

On Tuesday, USC met as a team for the first time since Sunday’s disappointing 24-7 loss to Penn State and it wasn’t pretty.

“We met and got chewed out pretty good by the coaches,” offensive tackle Rome Douglas said. “We really didn’t make too many mental errors, but we just didn’t get the job done.”

With a bye this weekend, USC’s next game will not be until Sept. 7 when the Trojans play at Illinois.

“[Losing to Penn State] was tough because we worked so hard for something and then came out and had it taken away from us,” Douglas said. “It is not like the defensive line we went up against was so great. They were nowhere near as good as the guys we go up against in practice. We can’t say we’re young and inexperienced anymore. We took 70 snaps against Penn State. We’re veterans now and we have to show what we can do in our next game.”

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Coach John Robinson canceled Tuesday’s light practice because at least 15 players were sick with flu. With the fall academic semester starting today, USC will begin its daily 3 p.m. practices.