LOS ANGELES — Week 6 marks Trojan Family Weekend at USC, but will that spirit of reunion apply to friendships among opposing players?
Receiver Dorian Singer was asked following USC practice at Howard Jones Field on Wednesday about a comment an Arizona player made earlier in the week that said, “We ain’t got friends this week.”
Singer’s response: “They said it first, so we’ll treat it like such.”
The comment came from Wildcats running back Jonah Coleman during Tuesday’s media availability, though Coleman prefaced his remark saying, “Those are my boys.”
Coleman’s friends to whom he referred are the former Wildcats who transferred to USC last offseason. And, coincidentally, Singer on Wednesday mentioned Coleman specifically as an ex-UA teammate with whom he remains in regular contact since moving to Los Angeles.
“Sunday I talked to Jonah Coleman and wished him luck this week,” Singer said. “We just tell each other keep going, never give up. We’re proud of each other.”
Then-Arizona wide receiver Dorian Singer (5) hauls in a catch during the first half of the Wildcats’ loss to USC in Tucson last season.
So friendships are in fact welcome at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for Saturday’s Pac-12 Conference contest — the final league pairing of the Wildcats (3-2, 1-1) and Trojans (5-0, 3-0) before their respective departures for the Big 12 and Big Ten.
They’ll just take a roughly three-hour pause with each side in pursuit of a Pac-12 win.
In that regard — and validating Singer’s insistence he will “take it as we do a regular game” — UA’s visit is like any other league matchup for both teams. Business comes first.
What’s more, the Trojans trio of former Wildcats Singer, defensive lineman Kyon Barrs and Christian Roland-Wallace are hardly the first to switch from one side of the other in the UA-USC divide.
It’s happened at least as long ago as 1987 when the late Larry Smith, fresh off leading UA to a 9-3 mark and final Associated Press ranking of a program-best No. 11, accepted the head-coaching vacancy at USC.
The interstate between Tucson and Los Angeles goes in both directions, too: The Wildcats’ leader in sacks and tackles for loss a season ago, Hunter Echols, spent five seasons at USC.
Current UA defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen roamed Heritage Hall for six seasons, first as a running backs and special teams coach under Steve Sarkisian; then overseeing linebackers during Clay Helton’s tenure.
Lincoln Riley is now in charge at USC, and the intermingling of Wildcats and Trojans this time feels different. Riley reestablished USC as a conference championship contender and national title hopeful in short order, thanks in no small part to his staff’s success with the transfer portal.
His 11-win team of a season ago featured Jordan Addison, the prior year’s Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation’s best wide receiver during Pitt’s run to the 2021 ACC championship.
Addison led USC in receiving last year with 59 catches for 875 yards and eight touchdowns — all team-highs, and all despite missing three games; one of those was USC’s 45-37 win over the Wildcats at Arizona Stadium.
With Singer coming off a 2022 of 1,105 yards on 66 receptions and six touchdowns, initial consensus suggested Riley and Co. scored a transfer win akin to Addison’s addition. And Singer’s play a year ago donning navy-and-red looms large this week when he puts on USC cardinal-and-gold.
USC wide receiver Dorian Singer (15) takes a minute on the Trojans’ sideline during their eventual 42-28 win over Arizona State on Sept. 23 in Tempe.
Other than Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams — who passed for 411 yards and five touchdowns in a performance that filled his Heisman Trophy reel — Singer delivered the most impressive showing in last year’s UA-USC shootout.
He caught seven passes for 141 yards, an average of 20.1 a reception, with three touchdowns against the Trojans.
Through five games at USC, Singer has 12 total receptions for 157 yards — a 13.1-yard per grab average — and three scores. His season-high four catches came in the team’s opener against San Jose State, and he matched the single-game high of 41 yards he set vs. the Spartans in Week 2 vs. Stanford.
“I haven’t had to encourage him,” Williams, the reigning Heisman winner, said of Singer. “As a player, as a competitor [who] wants to be the best, you go out there and work hard to do so no matter how many catches or reps you’re getting.
“As a QB, you have to spread the ball around,” Williams added regarding Singer’s limited statistical production so far in 2023. “And I think I’ve done that pretty well this season so far.”
Indeed, Singer is one of six Trojans with at least 11 receptions — and none with more than 18 — with Williams doing the bulk of the passing.
Nine Trojans have touchdown catches, and Singer is one of four with multiple scoring grabs.
“If you do your job, if you’re on time, run the right routes, have the right depths and things like that depending on the defense, there’s a high likelihood you’ll get the ball,” Williams said. “A lot of times, you’ll get the ball in the space with how coach Riley sets up the offense and how we go out there and execute.”
Tahj Washington and Brenden Rice have been particularly dynamic with 18 and 17 catches for 395 and 338 yards. Washington has five scores in five games, and Rice’s seven tie Oregon’s Troy Franklin for most in the conference.
Washington and Rice boast numbers comparable to UA’s duo of Tetairoa McMillan and Jacob Cowing. McMillan has 27 grabs for 386 and five touchdowns, while Cowing has 37 receptions for 308 yards and four scores.
When asked how he would compare the wide-receivers room at USC with its playmakers and UA with his former running mates McMillan and Cowing, Singer took a long pause before saying, “I really couldn’t tell you.”
A diplomatic answer, perhaps, but the UA passing game does have some differences compared to when Singer was in it. Cowing remains a reliable possession target, but McMillan’s growth has him on pace to catch about 25 more targets than last year.
Tight end Tanner McLachlan is on pace to surpass his production of 456 yards on 34 receptions Commensurate with his increased role in the run game, Singer’s friend Coleman has already well-exceeded his 2022 receiving numbers with 12 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown, up from eight for 24 yards.
Should Coleman continue on that track, or Week 6 mark Singer’s breakout as a Trojan, it stands to reason they might share words of friendly encouragement. Just maybe not until Sunday.
