USC Football News: Kevon Seymour Stars and More Notes from Spring Practice

Senior cornerback Kevon Seymour was the star of USC football’s third practice of the spring Saturday, intercepting a pass and earning praise from Steve Sarkisian.

Seymour, who returns for a final year as the Trojans top cornerback, may have been lost in the intrigue surrounding Adoree’ Jackson and the second cornerback spot for 2015.

Saturday he put himself back into the limelight with a standout performance.

CB Kevon Seymour was the star of practice today with an interception and at least three pass breakups. I'll have more on him later.
— Michael Lev (@MichaelJLev) March 7, 2015

Matched up with JuJu Smith for much of the practice, Sarkisian said the coaches challenged Seymour after the first practice of the spring to maintain his edge and intensity. There was a question about the level of Seymour’s competitiveness in practice on day one and the senior answered with a big time showing on day three.

Open Kicking Competition

Sarkisian confirmed that there is an open kicking competition between junior walk-on Alex Wood and redshirt sophomore Mat Boermeester this spring.

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Still, the head coach was still undecided on whether the superior range of both players would have an effect on USC’s strategy or philosophy in the redzone.

Last year, USC kicked the ball the least of all the teams in the Pac-12. They attempted field goals just 11 times with Andre Heidari, whose range was not quite as long as the two kickers the Trojans will choose between for this season.

Sarkisian maintained that his Trojans would continue to be aggressive once they crossed the 50-yard line this season, but acknowledged that Boermeester and Woods might give him something to think about if they could prove reliable from distance.

Cravens Wants to Be Bigger

Su’a Cravens told Keely Eure of USCFootball.com that he wants to continue to bulk up this spring, mainly because he unexpected lost weight during the offseason.

Su'a Cravens said he got sick during the offseason and lost ten pounds so he's not at the weight he wants to be. #USC
— Keely Eure (@keelyismyname) March 7, 2015

Listed at 225 pounds on USC’s spring roster, Cravens already looks every bit the linebacker he aspires to be. Gaining even more weight up should make him that much more imposing to opposing offenses.

Other Notes:

Adoree’ Jackson missed practice to attend a funeral.
Without Jackson, who was scheduled to return to defense this weekend, Chris Hawkins and Jonathan Lockett shared reps at cornerback, according to Michael Lev.
Walk on safety Matt Lopes could become a major asset for USC if he continues to perform as he did during week one. Lopes nabbed an interception to continue his strong start.
The emphasis on Saturday was redzone efficiency. Sarkisian came away impressed with his defense’s ability to force redzone turnovers.
Kenny Bigelow will not be expected to make a big impact this spring as he continues to be slowed by recovery from last year’s knee injury.
Delvon Simmons had offseason thumb surgery, according to Jacob Freeman.
Putting on shoulder pads for the first time this spring Saturday, the Trojans will likely be in full pads on Tuesday for the first time as well.