USC Football Mailbag: Transfer Eligibility and Offensive Line Improvement

Is Stevie Tu’ikolovatu eligible immediately? Should offensive line improvement be expected?…Our weekly USC football mailbag seeks the answers.

Welcome to the Reign of Troy mailbag. This mailbag is a weekly feature, where we will answer your questions related to USC football.

If you have a question for the mailbag, send it in to @ReignOfTroy on Twitter or via email to reignoftroy@fansided.com.

Let’s get started:

Is the transfer from Utah eligible to play this year? — Lee Walker @SoCalGael

Yes, Stevie Tu’ikolovatu is a graduate transfer so he can play right away but he has only one year of eligibility remaining.

At 6-foot-1, 320 pounds, he will play the nose tackle spot in Clancy Pendergast’s 5-2 scheme, which will now be three deep with the aforementioned Tu’ikolovatu, sophomore Jacob Daniel, and JC transfer Josh Fatu.

Alabama was after him, so he can be a quality player for the Trojans, who at this point need both talent and depth. This could be a momentum swinging transfer.

Why is USC not recruiting Tyjon Lindsey as hard anymore? He’s such an explosive player and would really help the slot WR spot.— Rechan18 @rechanrp

I would not argue against the statement that Lindsey is an explosive player who would contribute to USC, but keep in mind that USC took five receivers in the 2016 class and they only want to take two in the 2017 class.

Marlon Williams and Randal Grimes currently hold those two spots, although Grimes could grow into a flex-style tight end and open one spot up.

But USC is also very high on Joseph Lewis also, so he would be the first option if one of the spots comes open.

Another point to keep in mind is that USC wants to go after the bigger wide receivers, which may leave guys like Lindsey on the backburner.

Also, Lindsey, wants to play with Tate Martell, so it is highly likely that he ends up at Ohio St. At least USC won’t have to play him on a regular basis, which they would if he were to commit to a place like Oregon.

I’ve seen great o-lines make a vanilla offensive coordinator look like a genius, and a bad o-line make Norm Chow look like Paul Hackett. So, doesn’t the hire of Callaway improve this offense drastically from last year, despite the usual issues that come with a new QB and offensive coordinator? — Tokyo Trojan

More from Reign of Troy

• Markese Stepp enters transfer portal intending to leave USC football
• USC football’s Alijah Vera-Tucker declares for NFL Draft
• USC football adds Xavion Alford as transfer from Texas
• USC Podcast: RoT Radio Ep. 396 on the Football Season’s Fallout
• Talanoa Hufanga named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, USC football with five first-teamers

The game is won and lost at the line of scrimmage. A look at recent champions such as Alabama, Ohio St., and Florida St. show that the game is won and lost there.

Clay Helton, son of offensive line coach Kim Helton, knows this and for that reason is recruiting the offensive line heavily in this cycle and will more than likely continue to do so.

While it is true that having a good offensive line is a good start, in the end it will not be enough. You still have to have an identity (which USC currently doesn’t), you have to be consistent, and you have to be multiple.

USC is going in the right direction with the offensive line, but new offensive coordinator Tee Martin will need more than that to be successful. He has the tools around him to be great, however.