{"id":11634,"date":"2023-07-25T19:32:27","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T00:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=11634"},"modified":"2023-07-25T19:32:27","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T00:32:27","slug":"mason-cobb-is-a-good-bet-to-help-improve-the-usc-defense-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/mason-cobb-is-a-good-bet-to-help-improve-the-usc-defense-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Mason Cobb is a Good Bet to Help Improve the USC Defense in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last December, the USC Trojans arrived in Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Championship Game with an opportunity to play their way into the College Football Playoff. But the USC defense went bust. Roughly eight months later, USC\u2019s Mason Cobb<\/a><\/strong> arrived in Las Vegas for Pac-12 Media Day, representing the new hand this USC defense has an opportunity to play in 2023.<\/p>\n

Cobb wasn\u2019t on the USC roster last year. He didn\u2019t have to see the Allegiant Stadium turf strewn with missed tackles, discarded playoff hopes and piles of red and white confetti. But he\u2019s taking responsibility for it. And he\u2019s one piece among many newcomers and returners working to make sure this season ends differently. Cobb said the 2023 Trojans speak often of the 2022 Trojans, especially on the defensive side of the ball. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe talk about last year is we see what was left on the table,\u201d Cobb said. \u201cWe talk about our ranking on defense and all that stuff. It\u2019s a constant reminder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strength coach Bennie Wylie used last year\u2019s shortcomings as one way to bring the new transfers up to speed and bind them into the culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Wylie tells the transfers, \u2018Just because you weren\u2019t here doesn\u2019t mean it wasn\u2019t your fault. You should have been here.’\u201d Cobb said. \u201cJust so we all have something to work towards. I think that\u2019s something we can use for motivation for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cobb isn\u2019t a player who needs extra motivation to give his all both on and off the field. He was an Academic All-Big-12 selection and a Second-Team All-Big-12 performer last season. When he hit the transfers portal after a 96-tackle season in 2022, Texas A&M and USC were the two programs to reach out and pursue him with consistency. Wherever he wound up, Cobb had a feeling that it might not be a seamless transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t expect it to be all rainbows and everyone like,\u2019 Oh, what\u2019s up bro? Welcome,’\u201d Cobb said of being a transfer addition and potentially upsetting the locker room or position group dynamic. \u201cBut it was like that, which was very surprising to me. I always felt the love from the players and the coaches. I never felt like I was stepping on anybody\u2019s toes or vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cobb\u2019s Arrival at USC<\/h2>\n

Cobb got to USC one day before classes began for the spring semester. He said fellow linebackers Shane Lee<\/a><\/strong> and Eric Gentry<\/a><\/strong> took him under their wings and did everything they could to help him get acclimated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose guys were really welcoming,\u201d Cobb said.<\/p>\n

Cobb said he always took the academic side of college football seriously at Oklahoma State. But he realized the expectations of Lincoln Riley and USC were on a different level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been tested like this before,\u201d Cobb said of Riley\u2019s demands on the academic side. \u201cI think it\u2019s good to make me uncomfortable and kind of push me a little bit to put more effort into school\u2026Coach Riley likes us to do everything right.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the field and in the weight room, Cobb said he just put his head down and worked. He knew he\u2019d need to prove himself to this group.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just showed them who I was,\u201d Cobb said. \u201cIn the weight room, on the field, running, doing drills, giving my everything, leading by example.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time spring ball started, it was clear what USC had added to the position. Cobb slotted in as the first-team middle linebacker and stayed there the entire time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy started trusting me, so I started speaking up a little more and it kind of took off from there,\u201d Cobb said. \u201cEnd of spring, they wanted me to be a little more vocal, so I started doing that. The guys really trust me, so I think that\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second year in a row a transfer linebacker has come in and made that kind of impact. Lee did it last season after coming to USC from Alabama<\/a>. The more players USC can add to the defensive side of the ball with those qualities, the better the results should be.<\/p>\n

Asserting Himself as a Trojan<\/h2>\n

It said plenty that Cobb was chosen as the USC defensive representative at Pac-12 Media Day last week. Riley clearly trusts him as a leader on that side of the ball. And quarterback Caleb Williams<\/a><\/strong> was impressed with his play on the field this spring.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that Williams likes to do a little chirping on the field. He said Cobb is the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe not only talks a lot of trash, but he backs it up,\u201d Williams said. \u201cHe\u2019s made a bunch of good plays. Sometimes you just look at him and you go, that was a good play. That\u2019s the type of player you want on your side of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cobb was outstanding last season when it came to run stops and tackles for loss. He tallied as many tackles behind the line of scrimmage by himself as the entire position group for USC in 2022. That ability to play aggressively and downhill will serve himself and the USC defense well this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got some fire,\u201d Cobb said of this USC defense. \u201cI think we have the right guys and the mentality is changing where, this needs to be strictly dominance\u2026That\u2019s going to be a big thing for us this year is being aggressive and physical and just dominating on defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cobb strictly played MIKE linebacker during the spring but expects to potentially work at middle and weakside linebacker during camp. The versatility of all the inside linebackers to play both spots could help with rotations and keeping them fresh. That\u2019s a spot that needs to show up in a big way in 2023. But progress is expected from all 11 positions. This is a USC defense that could pretty easily see nine or 10 starters come from the 2022 and 2023 transfer portal classes. There were questions last year about how quickly that big group of transfer additions could coalesce. Cobb said he understands how they did it last year and expects the same this year. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone knows what\u2019s going on,\u201d Cobb said. \u201cI think everyone knows we all want the big trophy at the end of the year. And I think that\u2019s where the camaraderie comes from. We all have the same goal. Coach preaches about it. Our one goal is to win it all. If you\u2019re not here for that, maybe you should pick somewhere else. Everyone falls in line and everyone watnts the same thing. I think that\u2019s where it\u2019s easy to click.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The post Mason Cobb is a Good Bet to Help Improve the USC Defense in 2023<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last December, the USC Trojans arrived in Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Championship Game with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11634\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}