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As the college football season continues to heat up, redshirt season does as well. USC defensive tackle Bear Alexander intends to preserve his year of eligibility and sit out the remainder of the season, per Connor Morrissette of 247 Sports.
“USC defensive lineman Bear Alexander is planning to redshirt, according to his guardian Tony Jones,” Morrissette reported. “‘He's taking the shirt,' Jones said in a text. Alexander was not at practice Wednesday after practicing Tuesday. Alexander informed Lincoln Riley of his intention to redshirt Wednesday.”
The move comes after Alexander played just 21 out of USC's 58 snaps on defense during Saturday's 27-24 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor. On Tuesday, Lincoln Riley said that Alexander was “getting settled in” with defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn's defense after missing most of spring ball. Riley also downplayed that Alexander's low snap count was a big deal after Tuesday's practice.
“He played over a third of the game,” Riley said on Tuesday. “So people want to act like the guy’s not playing snaps. He’s doing a good job for us out here. He’s getting better. There’s no story there. I know you guys are looking for one, there’s no story there. The guy's out here working hard. He's improving.”
Alexander was one of the top recruits in the class of 2022 and originally committed to Georgia, where he played his true freshman season. However, he transferred to USC after the 2022 season. He has just five tackles in three games this season. Alexander has not officially announced his intentions to transfer, but it seems likely that that will be the final outcome.
USC showed that they can compete for a Big Ten title in loss to Michigan
USC may have lost a heartbreaker to Michigan in The Big House on Saturday, but they showed that they have a different makeup than they have over the past few seasons in the process.
The Trojans completely shut down the Michigan passing game (which isn't very threatening), and played pretty well on a down-to-down basis against the run. Michigan popped a few explosive runs that decided the game, but they were bottled up for a large part of the game.
Despite the loss, it was an encouraging sign for a USC defense that was a major weakness in recent years and has looked much better in 2024 under new defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn. They have an uphill battle in front of them after dropping their first Big Ten game, but their schedule should allow them to be in the mix down the stretch of this season.
The Trojans play just two more games against ranked opponents this season (Penn State and Notre Dame), and they get both of them at home in Los Angeles. If USC is able to continue to play stout defense and Lincoln Riley and Miller Moss can lead an explosive offense, a 10-win regular season and a playoff bid is definitely on the table.
