Trojans Get Air Jordan 12s From Nike and More USC Football News

The entire USC football team received free Air Jordans from Nike on Wednesday ahead of their tilt with Alabama. Plus our round up of Trojans news from the web.

Can’t get enough USC football and basketball news? We’ve got your morning dose of all the best content from around the web concerning the men of Troy.

1st & 10:

First Word… USC football will be flying out to Texas on Thursday night for their clash with Alabama at AT&T Stadium with brand new shoes on their feet, courtesy of Nike.

The Trojan athletic sponsor gifted the entire team with cardinal Air Jordan 12s, which went on sale earlier this year.

USC athletics’ twitter account showed off a picture of player cubbies stacked with the new shoes.

USC’s equipment manager also tweeted a picture, as well as Gavin Morris, USC’s high school relations coordinator, who posted a video.

The gifting of the shoes prompted a host of reactions from the Trojan players, mostly praise for head coach Clay Helton.

Running back Justin Davis and cornerback Chris Hawkins showed their appreciation for the head coach.

Even former players chimed in on the new kicks, as emojis from former defensive lineman Kevin Greene seemed to indicate distress that he missed out on getting a pair.

Former cornerback Tony Burnett and safety Gerald Bowman also bemoaned not getting a pair themselves.

Of course, not everyone was celebrating the shoes. UCLA defensive end Takkarist McKinley threw out a salty subtweet in response.

The shoes won’t make the Trojans play better, but they’ll definitely feel confident as they step off the airplane in Dallas that they’ve got sweet new footwear.

And Ten USC Football and Basketball News Links…

1. “2016 USC Football Team Captains Announced” (Reign of Troy)Max Browne, Zach Banner, Adoree’ Jackson and Michael Hutchings were named team captains for the 2016 season on Wednesday.
2. “Football, the great American blast time, is finally back.” (LA Times)Chris Erskine shares some great anecdotes from legendary coaches and friends John McKay and Bear Bryant ahead of USC’s date with Alabama on Saturday.
3. “Separated from the myths, Sam Cunningham’s story remains an inspiration” (LA Times)Zach Helfand wades through the myth of the 1970 USC-Alabama game, getting Sam “Bam” Cunningham’s more grounded recounting of events, which are still undoubtedly inspirational.
4. “USC will be wary of a whistling Lane Kiffin against Alabama” (ESPN)“If you ever hear [Kiffin] whistle, he’s getting ready to change the play,” Clay Helton is quoted by Ted Miller, who looks at the the chess match between Kiffin and his former team.
5. “USC vs Alabama: 5 Keys to Victory for the Trojans” (Reign of Troy)Winning the turnover battle is an obvious key to any victory, but the other five things USC must do in order to beat Alabama include not getting overwhelmed by the moment, forcing the Tide to throw, live up to expectations on the offensive line, contain OJ Howard and score a special teams touchdown.
6. “USC’s Adoree Jackson set to face No. 1 Tide, Calvin Ridley” (AP)Jackson may face the most difficult test of all on Saturday, going up against Calvin Ridley with an offensive coordinator like Kiffin who knows how to get the most out of his No. 1 receiver.
7. “College Football’s 12 Best Position Battles to Watch in Week 1” (Athlon Sports)USC vs Alabama claims three of the 12 position battles to watch, including JuJu Smith-Schuster against the Tide corners, Zach Banner against Jonathan Allen and Jackson against Ridley.
8. “Saban: Smith-Schuster a ‘Dez Bryant type’; quick comparison” (FightOn247)Nick Saban compared JuJu Smith-Schuster to Dez Bryant on Wednesday, prompting Chris Trevino to take a closer look at the two dominant wide receivers.
9. “Over/Under Stat Predictions for 2016 USC Football Players” (Reign of Troy)The Reign of Troy staff predicts over/under stat totals for Max Browne, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ronald Jones, Justin Davis and Porter Gustin.
10. “18 college football teams that can win the national title in 2016” (CBS Sports)Dennis Dodd details how only a small pool of teams have even a chance of winning the College Football Playoff this year, and USC is among those 18 he singles out. Though to be fair, he’s not particularly confident in the Trojans or anyone from the Pac-12 for that matter.

Stat of the Day:

USC had six true freshmen score a touchdown in 2015 — Ronald Jones, Aca’Cedric Ware, Cameron Smith, Osa Masina, Tyler Petite and Rasheem Green.

Social Media Snapshot: