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USC Football: In Search of Defensive Line Depth, Trojans Offer North Dakota State Lineman

USC is looking for a veteran to add to their defensive line rotation for 2024
Matt Solorio|
USC Football: In Search of Defensive Line Depth, Trojans Offer North Dakota State Lineman
USC Football: In Search of Defensive Line Depth, Trojans Offer North Dakota State Lineman

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USC must improve up front to compete for a Big Ten championship in 2024. As a unit , the defensive line performed well at the beginning of USC's 2023 campaign but faltered in the second half of the season. 

The Trojans' defense tallied 22 sacks in their first six contests but managed just eight sacks in their final seven games. They signed a couple of highly touted defensive line prospects in their 2024 recruiting class during the early signing period, but they also just extended an offer to a proven veteran out of North Dakota State. 

Defensive tackle Javier Derritt took to X to announce that USC offered him a scholarship. Derritt is also considering offers from Kansas, UTEP, Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State, Colorado State, Cal, and Minnesota. 

Measuring in at 6'2" and 280 pounds, Derritt isn't a huge lineman, but he moves well. Size has been one of the characteristics that new Trojan defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn has been looking to covet in his recruiting efforts. Former North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz is now the Trojan's linebackers coach. Given Entz has first-hand experiance coaching Derritt, it wouldn't be surprising if Entz's sign-off on Derritt as a talent played a factor in USC offering. 

Derritt spent five seasons at North Dakota State, tallying 90 tackles and 11 sacks during that span. The Missouri native has one season of eligibility left for whatever program he decides to transfer to. Given the familiarity with USC linebackers coach Matt Entz, USC might have the inside track in terms of Derritt's recruitment. 

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Matt Solorio
MATT SOLORIO

Matt Solorio is a USC Trojans On SI reporter/analyst covering football recruiting, NIL, and other topics. He is also a Recruiting Analyst for Sports Illustrated All-American and an editor at SugarAndSports.com. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, he brings a technical approach to his coverage of football recruits. He played defensive end at City College of San Francisco, coached at Archbishop Riordan HS (San Francisco, Calif) is committed to providing USC fans with interesting, informative, and engaging content. 

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