LOS ANGELES --- Hayes Pullard comes from a very successful home. He’s one of the leaders of his house. Not the one he grew up in, but where he currently resides with his USC teammates.
There were five touchdowns scored last Saturday between Pullard and his roommates.
Marqise Lee caught a touchdown pass and also returned a kickoff for a touchdown, Robert Woods caught two touchdown passes and Pullard returned an interception for a touchdown.
While Lee and Woods are touchdown machines, a touchdown by Pullard comes as a surprise.
Pullard, normally the Trojans’ starting WILL linebacker, made his first career start at MIKE in place of the injured Lamar Dawson. Dion Bailey switched sides from SAM to WILL in nickel coverage for the first time and despite the shifting, USC’s defense picked up where it left off in 2011.
Pullard is no stranger to middle linebacker. It’s where he made a name for himself coming out of Crenshaw High School in 2010, but it wasn’t until midway through fall camp that he lined up there for the Trojans for the first time.
USC head coach Lane Kiffin was very complimentary of Pullard after the move and even said middle linebacker will probably be his long term position at the next level.
It’s not a position everyone can play, because it comes with a lot of responsibility. As the quarterback of the defense, the middle linebacker is typically responsible for making sure the other 10 guys are lined up properly.
“He’s just a gifted linebacker that understands the game so well,” said USC linebackers coach Scottie Hazelton. “He’s a guy that runs (to) the football and makes plays.”
Pullard says he received a boost from his teammates last Saturday.
“I just went out there and felt encouraged by the defensive line and defensive backs just encouraging me and believing in me in the middle,” Pullard said.
How long the redshirt sophomore continues to help the team at MIKE remains to be seen. Projected starter Lamar Dawson says he will play on Saturday when No. 2 USC (1-0) takes on Syracuse (0-1) at MetLife Stadium. Dawson also said he would play in the opener against Hawaii but was on the sidelines in street clothes.
Kiffin hasn’t confirmed nor denied if Dawson will be in the lineup because of USC’s newly adopted policy on injuries.
No matter where he plays, the coaches know, with his high football IQ, Pullard will be able to make the proper adjustments.
“He’s a good football player that understands the game of football,” Hazelton said. “He’s a very good linebacker that you can put out on the field and even if he’s not exactly right, he makes it usually right because he just kinda feels and understands where he supposed to end up.”
That’s exactly what happened when Pullard made his first career interception and returned it for a touchdown last Saturday. He acknowledged it came on one of the rare instances he was caught out of position.
"I was supposed to be in the backfield blitzing," he said.
Like the rest of his roommates, he turn a bad play into a good one.
