LOS ANGELES — The whispers have swirled around his 6-foot-6 frame ever since Eric Gentry flew west from Arizona, the linebacker’s wiry build ever the subject of scrutiny, the sentiment persisting for years.
He needs to gain more weight.
He’d packed on a few pounds of muscle since 2022. If there were a time to really do it, it would’ve been this offseason, as players devoured five-egg scrambles and grunted missed-weight plate pushes under the direction of strength trainer Bennie Wylie and nutritionist Rachel Suba. But as an entire roster beefed up, senior Gentry entered 2024 listed at the exact-same weight – 215 pounds – as he did in 2023.
It didn’t matter. Maybe the weight never mattered, at least to the degree it was made. Against arguably the most physical SEC-level threat USC had played in Gentry’s years with the program, he flew around the turf like a Slenderman in a china shop against LSU on Sunday, bursting off the edge for run-stuffs and making plays at the second level.
“I didn’t really, wasn’t paying attention, to me,” Gentry said Wednesday, when asked when he noticed the program’s offseason strength work paying off Sunday. “I’m just playing (ticked) off. So that’s how we gotta play.”
The emotion was present in Gentry’s every fiber Sunday, popping up and roaring after hits, jawing at opposing Tigers every chance he got. This came after some not-so-subtle hints in the spring and fall as to how the new defensive staff’s scheme enabled him to play faster, defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn throwing him in a variety of different alignments to maximize his versatility.
“About time,” veteran defensive end Jamil Muhammad said Wednesday, “that the world is able to see what Eric Gentry is all about.”
The world will get another chance Saturday against Utah State, in a slightly easier matchup still brimming with intrigue for USC’s new-look run defense. Mason Cobb, one of USC’s Week 1 starters at inside linebacker, wasn’t seen at practice Wednesday and was confirmed as questionable for Saturday by head coach Lincoln Riley.
If Cobb can’t go – very possible, as Riley said he’d been limited throughout the week – it’ll mean more opportunity for Gentry in a traditional inside-backer role, as he only received 29 snaps compared to Cobb’s 55 against LSU. And the senior will play a crucial role in any event against Utah State, USC’s defense breaking into positional work in Wednesday’s practice and preparing for the return of the pig farmer.
Utah State starter Spencer Petras went down with an ankle sprain in the second quarter of the Aggies’ season-opening win over Robert Morris last week, meaning USC could see a familiar face Saturday at the Coliseum: dual-threat transfer quarterback Bryson Barnes, a kid who grew up working on his parents’ pig farm in Milford, Utah and totaled four touchdowns in leading Utah to a 34-32 win over the Trojans last season.
“We’re going to see him play well,” Riley said of Barnes on Thursday. “Have a lot of respect for him as a player.”
Barnes is in a remarkably different scheme at Utah State, as Riley pointed out, than at Utah last season. The Utes ran the ball 47 times against USC and threw it 23 times in 2023. Utah State has a couple receivers, in star Jalen Royals and blooming senior Kyrese White, who’ll command more consistent touches through the air. But USC still made a concerted effort Wednesday to prepare for Barnes’ dual-threat potential with Utah State, with defensive ends coach Shaun Nua’s group noticeably running through a drill that involved edge rushers reading run-pass-option looks.
And without Cobb, USC’s linebacker group will be key in containing Barnes on scrambles, as the Trojans missed 12 tackles against Utah’s run-heavy attack in 2023. The program is high on true freshman Desman Stephens II, a Michigan native who played a mix of cornerback and receiver in high school and could see some snaps against Utah State.
“He’s kind of felt like he’s belonged the entire time,” Riley said Thursday of Stephens. “He doesn’t look like a true freshman, in terms of the way he competes. He’s learned our defense fast, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”
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The key, though, is Gentry, ever the X-factor and looking to prove he’s truly taken a leap in a scheme ideal for his strengths.
“I know he’s going to have an amazing season,” Trojans linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold said of Gentry, after the win over LSU. “This is just, not even close to what he’s capable of.”
No. 13 USC vs. Utah State
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
TV/radio: Big Ten Network/710 AM
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