With all the freshmen getting their shots and only six days of practice, some offensive impressions from Sunday’s scrimmage are to be expected, some are only to be anticipated :

1) USC will be able to run the football, especially when fullback Stanley Havili is a regular fixture in the backfield, as he was not in being used sparingly Sunday. With the improvement of Stafon Johnson and Chauncey Washington and the maturing of Emmanuel Moody, C.J. Gable and Allen Bradford, that’s not an issue. Freshman Broderick Green probably not ready at all yet even if he is really big at upwards of 240 pounds.

2) USC’s ability to throw the ball down the field and stretch defenses out, after a year or more of just tossing it to mid-range targets, needs lots of work. The receiver-quarterback confidence and timing has to be built up. Receivers have to make tough catches. More drops than catches in traffic Sunday. And they have to run routes with much more physical and mental toughness and attitude. Too much indecision at both ends thus far. Ronald Johnson is a real plus here. McKnight will help on the pass rush on the dump-off flare routes. But Patrick Turner and David Ausberry have to get physical and make those slant routes happen underneath so that someone (Johnson) and one of the second-year guys now hobbled (Patterson, Holland) can get deep.

Although throwing deep on the USC defense is going to be challenging to anyone this season.