Carroll Gives Receiving Tips

Many USC practices end with Coach Pete Carroll staying late to toss a ball with a player. It’s no fun and games, not with Carroll usually teaching hand placement or some other technique.

Sunday, a special class was in session.

The student was tight end Kori Dickerson, who dropped several passes in Saturday’s scrimmage. Dickerson did not read the newspapers when he got up on Sunday morning, but he heard it wasn’t pretty.

“I’m motivated now,” he said. “I asked Coach Carroll to stay after and give me the help I need.”

They lingered on the field for about 20 minutes, Carroll flinging pass after pass. At times, he fell to his knees, demonstrating the proper way to cradle a low pass.

Dickerson, who switched from linebacker in spring, said it is an area of the game he has neglected. At 6 feet 4, he must work hard to scoop up anything close to the ground. “I have to realize as a receiver that not every ball is going to be chest high,” he said.

Given time to review film of Saturday’s scrimmage, Carroll saw good and bad.

The offensive line earned high marks for consistency, as did quarterback Carson Palmer, whose statistics would have been better if it weren’t for all those drops. Carroll was not as pleased with what he called “little mental errors” on both sides of the ball.

The defense stumbled with coverages and responsibilities, he said. On offense, some blocking assignments and calls at the line of scrimmage were missed.

This week, the coaching staff will back off on installing plays and work on polishing what the team has already been given. Time will be devoted to honing fundamentals such as stance and footwork.

With a solid performance in the scrimmage, Mike Pollard has given himself a lead in the competition at middle linebacker.

The fourth-year junior came into training camp atop the depth chart at weakside linebacker but that evaporated when safeties Matt Grootegoed and Frank Hill shifted forward.

“I was kind of mad at first,” Pollard said. “Then the coaches told me they wanted more competition at the middle linebacker spot and asked if I would mind moving.”

It wasn’t too much of an adjustment because Pollard played the middle at Long Beach Poly High. And he doesn’t begrudge the newcomers who took the spots on the outside.

“This defense is all speed,” he said. “So let those guys handle it. They’re smoking those positions.”

Grootegoed sat out much of Sunday’s practice because of a sore hamstring. Defensive lineman Ryan Nielsen rested because of nagging but minor injuries. . . . Sunny Byrd returned to action at fullback. . . . Walk-on kicker Anthony Boscarini has left the team.