SB Nation - Jeff Byers

We're All Americans, But We're Not All All-Americans

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:51:28 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa's Pat Angerer (43) celebrates with teammates Allen Reisner and Dace Richardson, right, after Iowa blocked a Northern Iowa field goal on the final play. Iowa won 17-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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As is usually the case after a 10-win season, the accolades are beginning to pour in for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Everyone and their mom has an all-conference or All-American team, but the two that actually matter--Walter Camp and the AP--are now out. And for the 33th year in a row, the unanimous selection for player of the year is Frank Stallone*.

More importantly, the AP named three Hawkeyes to their All-American teams. While nobody made it onto the first team, thanks to Ricky Stanzi's ankle injury--come on, you know if he stays healthy and Iowa goes 11-1 and finishes at #5 or so, even the guys on defense get a little bit more of a bump--both Bryan Bulaga and Pat Angerer made it to the second team, while Tyler Sash made third-team AA as a sophomore. A fine moment for all three players (two of whom, as we insular and provincial types are quick to point out, are native Iowans).

Meanwhile, the Walter Camp Foundation agreed with the AP, naming Bulaga and Angerer to their second team as well and effectively establishing the two as the de facto MVPs of their respective sides of the ball. We have a little beef with each designation, but for wholly different reasons.

First, though Bulaga is by far the best pro prospect on the line as of right now and was utterly dominant in 2008, the reality is that even notwithstanding the 3-week absence as he recovered from thyroid issues, he struggled in 2009. Brandon Graham and O'Brien Schofield manhandled Bulaga. And while those are two very good defensive ends, so was Aaron Maybin, the 11th pick of the 2009 by the Buffalo Bills and Bryan Bulaga's personal prison bitch after Iowa-PSU 2008. There was a substantial dropoff in play by Bulaga in 2009, and voters just didn't notice it when it came time to hand out awards.

Meanwhile, Dace Richardson was actually very good in his return to the line, and he got a fair amount of media attention when mid-season awards were being handed out. Then his ankle was rolled up on against Michigan State, and he disappeared from both the depth chart and voters' attention. But why should he have been punished for an ankle injury while voters looked past Bulaga's absence of a similar length? It's all past reputation, and that's not really fair to guys who come from nowhere and work their butts off--especially in their senior year, where there's no chance for any payoff in the "rewarded in Year X for play in Year X-minus-1" system that's come to be when it comes to honoring offensive linemen.

What this comes down to is that if the AP were to select an Iowa lineman for All-American this season, we'd have preferred it be Dace--though we'll certainly "settle for" Bulaga instead. If both men are playing their last game for Iowa next month, as lots of speculation suggests, then they've both had stellar careers in the black and gold and we wish them well.

On defense, on the other hand, Pat Angerer didn't really establish himself as the most dominant player for that Iowa defense, but that's hardly through any fault of his own. After all, one usually does so by being simply better than his teammates, and the talent level on the Iowa defense this year was both so high and so consistent that it was hard to see Angerer as someone who was the best player on defense. After all, you could always come back with, "well why not Sash? Or Adrian Clayborn? Or Amari Spievey? Or A.J. Edds? Or, hell, Jeremiha Hunter?" We're not saying that Angerer was the 6th best player on the Iowa defense by any means--just that ranking the top 5 or 6 or so would be impossible, because the gaps would be so miniscule that personal preference could easily mean a 3- or 4-spot swing here or there and it wouldn't even be objectionable.

Angerer's accolades, then, come from two areas: 1) his name, which is everything you could ever hope for times infinity; 2) and his stats, which sort of sneak up on you for the same reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. As mentioned before, he was 5th in the nation in tackles at 11.3 a game. That's pretty outstanding, especially since--as TRE noticed during the season--Angerer's real strength might have been in pass coverage, not run support.

Still, absent game-changing plays, it's somewhat difficult to notice the overall impact a player has on a game. And all of those game-changing plays seemed to happen to other players--most notably Sash and Clayborn, and to a lesser extent Spievey.

Thus we have a weird ambiguity about how we look at Angerer's standing as the most highly-lauded member of the 2009 Iowa defense. It's not that he didn't deserve it--far from it--but with a defense like Iowa's, you could basically pick a name out of a hat and feel relatively confident that you made a good choice. It was that kind of year. Effectively singling out Angerer for praise, then, seems unusual and almost a little unfair. Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

Full AP All-American teams are after the break.

First team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Colt McCoy, senior, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Texas.
	   Running backs -- Toby Gerhart, senior, 6-1, 235, Stanford; Mark Ingram, sophomore, 5-10, 212, Alabama.
	   Tackles -- Russell Okung, senior, 6-5, 301, Oklahoma State; Trent Williams, senior, 6-5, 318, Oklahoma.
	   Guards -- Michael Johnson, senior, 6-6, 305, Alabama; Mike Iupati, senior, 6-6, 330, Idaho.
	   Center -- J.D. Walton, senior, 6-3, 305, Baylor.
	   Tight end -- Aaron Hernandez, junior, 6-2, 250, Florida.
	   Wide receivers -- Golden Tate, junior, 5-11, 195, Notre Dame; Jordan Shipley, senior, 6-0, 190, Texas.
	   All-purpose player -- C.J. Spiller, senior, 5-11, 195, Clemson.
	   Kicker -- Leigh Tiffin, senior, 6-2, 212, Alabama.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jerry Hughes, senior, 6-3, 257, TCU; Derrick Morgan, junior, 6-4, 272, Georgia Tech.
	   Tackles -- Ndamukong Suh, senior, 6-4, 300, Nebraska; Terrence Cody, senior, 6-5, 365, Alabama.
	   Linebackers -- Rolando McClain, junior, 6-4, 258, Alabama; Greg Jones, junior, 6-1, 228, Michigan State; Eric Norwood, senior, 6-1, 252, South Carolina.
	   Cornerbacks -- Joe Haden, junior, 5-11, 190, Florida; Javier Arenas, senior, 5-9, 198, Alabama.
	   Safeties -- Eric Berry, junior, 5-11, 203, Tennessee; Earl Thomas, sophomore, 5-10, 197, Texas.
	   Punter -- Drew Butler, sophomore, 6-2, 201, Georgia.
Second team
	   Quarterback -- Tim Tebow, senior, Florida.
	   Running backs -- Ryan Mathews, junior, Fresno State; Dion Lewis, freshman, Pittsburgh.
	   Tackles -- Bryan Bulaga, junior, Iowa; Chris Marinelli, senior, Stanford.
	   Guards -- Rodney Hudson, junior, Florida State; Mike Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Center -- Maurkice Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Tight end -- Dennis Pitta, senior, BYU.
	   Wide receivers -- Mardy Gilyard, senior, Cincinnati; Danario Alexander, senior, Missouri.
	   All-purpose player -- James Rodgers, junior, Oregon State.
	   Kicker -- Kai Forbath, junior, UCLA.
Defense
	   Ends -- Von Miller, junior, Texas A&M; Brandon Graham, senior, Michigan.
	   Tackles -- Gerald McCoy, junior, Oklahoma; Jared Odrick, senior, Penn State.
	   Linebackers -- Pat Angerer, senior, Iowa; Brandon Spikes, senior, Florida; Sean Weatherspoon, senior, Missouri.
	   Cornerbacks -- Perrish Cox, senior, Oklahoma State; Kyle Wilson, senior, Boise State.
	   Safeties -- Taylor Mays, senior, Southern California; Rahim Moore, sophomore, UCLA.
	   Punter -- Zoltan Mesko, senior, Michigan.
Third team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Kellen Moore, sophomore, Boise State
	   Running backs -- LaMichael James, redshirt freshman, Oregon; Jacquizz Rodgers, sophomore, Oregon State.
	   Tackles -- Dennis Landolt, senior, Penn State; Ciron Black, senior, LSU.
	   Guards -- Brandon Carter, senior, Texas Tech; Jeff Byers, senior, Southern California.
	   Center -- Chris Hall, senior, Texas.
	   Tight end -- Dorin Dickerson, senior, Pittsburgh.
	   Wide receivers -- Freddie Barnes, senior, Bowling Green; Demaryius Thomas, junior, Georgia Tech.
	   All-purpose player -- Dexter McCluster, senior, Mississippi.
	   Kicker -- Hunter Lawrence, senior, Texas.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jeremy Beal, junior, Oklahoma; Brandon Sharpe, senior, Texas Tech.
	   Tackles -- Brian Price, junior, UCLA; Dan Williams, senior, Tennessee.
	   Linebackers -- Sergio Kindle, senior, Texas; Cody Grimm, senior, Virginia Tech; Navorro Bowman, junior, Penn State.
	   Cornerbacks -- Brandon Harris, sophomore, Miami; Alterraun Verner, senior, UCLA.
	   Safeties -- Tyler Sash, sophomore, Iowa; Mark Barron, sophomore, Alabama.
	   Punter -- Matt Reagan, senior, Memphis.

*Did you know he was in Tombstone, a.k.a. the SINGLE GREATEST MOVIE IN HISTORY? And in a phenomenal scene, to boot.

USC Football News and Notes 12/14 - Emerald Bowl Prep, Team Banquet and C.J. Gable News

Paragon SC — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:00:59 -0000

So, the team is back at it this week as they go into bowl prep.

A couple of interesting story lines are taking shape as the season comes to a close.

I noted yesterday that Safety Josh Pinkard is out for the Emerald Bowl because of a knee injury. That makes things very interesting as Pete Carroll will now be giving us a small glimpse into the future as to what players may have a role in 2010.

With Pinkard out, sophomore T.J. Bryant, who has been the nickel back, probably will start. But redshirt junior Shareece Wright and redshirt freshman Brian Baucham also are in the mix.

Wright, a projected starter, is expected to be available for the game after sitting out the regular season because he was academically ineligible.

Baucham, who was ahead of Bryant coming out of training camp, returned to practice Sunday after missing several weeks because of a foot injury related to a September motorcycle accident.

I am not really sure as to just how effective Wright will be after not playing for almost four months. His loss really became apparent in the second half of the season when SC's defense started to struggle. I was not pleased that Wright did not take his classwork seriously...his not being on the team really changed the dynamic of the defense.

The question I have for everyone is academically eligible does Wright deserve to play or should he wait for spring ball? Wright definitely should not start but should he see some playing time? Playing in a bowl game to me is privilege not a given. I know he is talented but is missing the regular season enough of a punishment? It is a fine line but what is the message that needs to be sent?

T.J. Bryant already has some playing time under his belt but we really have not seen anything of Baucham after his motorcycle accident...will he be game ready?

- - -

Last night USC held their Team Banquet and handed out a number of awards...

Sixth-year senior Jeff Byers was named offensive lineman of the year, while Christian Tupou and Jurrell Casey shared defensive linemen of the year honors. Senior quarterback/wideout Garrett Green was recognized as special teams player of the year. And, for the third consecutive year, Green also won the Howard Jones/Football Alumni Club Academic Award for having the highest GPA on the team.

The night wasn't lacking thrills. Cedric the Entertainer performed standup comedy and linebacker Marquis Simmons led a rendition of "Lean on Me" -- along with the tear-jerking presentation of Johnson's award by Jake Olson.

Here's a look at the full list of winners from the 2009 USC football awards ceremony on Sunday night:

Most Valuable Player: Wideout/punt returner Damian Williams

Most Inspirational Player: Tailback Stafon Johnson

Linemen of the year: Center/guard Jeff Byers (offense); defensive tackles Christian Tupou and Jurrell Casey (defense)

Special teams player of the year: Quarterback/wideout Garrett Green

Service team players of the year: Center Michael Reardon (offense); linebacker Marquis Simmons (defense)

Player of the game versus Notre Dame: Tight end Anthony McCoy

Player of the game versus UCLA: Tailback Allen Bradford

Jack Oakie "Rise and Shine" Award (year's biggest hit): Safety Taylor Mays

Howard Jones/Football Alumni Club Academic Award: Quarterback/wideout Garrett Green

Bob Chandler Award (underclassman with outstanding athletic ability, academic achievement and character): Defensive tackle Christian Tupou

John McKay Award (underclassman with the most competitive spirit): Linebacker Devon Kennard

Courage Award: Cornerback Josh Pinkard

Co-Lifters Award: Offensive lineman Jeff Byers, safety Will Harris, safety Taylor Mays

Recognition of the 22 graduating seniors

The awards for Stafon Johnson, Garrett Green and Damian Williams are no surprise.

Speaking of Garrett Green...

Garrett Green has been cleared to hold on placements despite a torn ACL in his right knee.

How cool is that! He definitely deserves it. He has probably been the most under the radar player on this team over the past few seasons. It sucks that he won't have a bigger role on kick returns like he has had but at least he will get a chance to have a hand in his final game as a Trojan.

- - -

So, what about C.J. Gable?

No player has been as much as an enigma as Gable has during his time at USC.

He had the hot hand before going out with an abdominal injury and he had a pretty good season in 2008 until he saw the bench after putting the ball on the turf against ucla and Penn St. At times his attitude has been questioned in the press but that is hard to really know. He made some statements in the past that probably put him in the doghouse but this season he has been completely off the radar.

Last season there were some rumblings that he might go pro but he stuck it out...

But with the season almost over the questions are now being asked...will he stay or will he go?

Gable is one of several draft-eligible Trojans underclassmen who must decide by Jan. 15 whether to go pro or return to school. Unlike many of the others, Gable has played only a bit role this season after being a major contributor a year ago.

Gable started all but one game last season and tied for the team lead with 10 touchdowns. This season the redshirt junior has no starts and just 21 carries as Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford have shared most of the workload.

"It’s been frustrating," Gable said Sunday after USC’s second practice in preparation for the Dec. 26 Emerald Bowl. "Anybody would be frustrated. … Why would you play if you don’t care whether you get in or not?

"I care because I want to play. But I can’t do anything about it but keep on doing what I’m doing, which is work hard and let everybody see what I can do."

Gable made quite an impression Sunday, when, according to USC coach Pete Carroll, "he was the best guy on the field." But being a good practice player — and a good soldier after complaining about playing time last season - hasn’t translated into a greater role during games.

We have heard how great players have performed in practice only to see them disappear when game time comes around so I am not taking Gables strong performance as nothing more than just a snapshot in time.

Personally, I think he goes pro. SC will still have a glut of running backs, four off the top of my head, and that is before LOI Day where SC is in the mix for a couple of more top RB's

Here is a little more for the DN...

After rushing for 617 yards on 107 carries with eight touchdowns last year, Gable has been buried behind Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford in the running back rotation during his redshirt junior season, causing him to contemplate whether he'll return to play for the Trojans in 2010 or explore his value in the NFL draft in April.

"(In the past) I've always been basing my decisions off anger, but now I'm thinking clearly," said Gable, who has seen action in 11 of 12 games, but has rushed for only 98 yards on 12 carries with no scores.

"The most important thing is graduating. I've learned that football isn't everything. There is life after football. It's been difficult, but I just get in a rhythm in practice and I forget that I'm not playing anymore. I don't talk about it unless somebody brings it up."

Gable needs three more classes to graduate, but intends to sit down and talk with coach Pete Carroll following the Dec. 26 Emerald Bowl against Boston College in San Francisco about his future prospects.

"Allen is coming back too, but it also depends on who they might bring in," Gable said. "The only thing I know I'll benefit from by coming back is that I'll graduate. But (this year) they were better than me. The best man won the position."

Gable's mature approach hasn't been lost on Carroll, especially following the Trojans' second practice in as many days since a 21-17 loss to Arizona on Dec. 5.

You know Carroll is going to try and get him stay...but he may be in the same as Mark Sanchez. He can take those three classes and be done next semester so his commitment in my eyes is fulfilled...he has no obligation to stay once he has his degree...

It should be interesting.

USC Football News and Notes 11/6

Paragon SC — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:30:54 -0000

Apologies for a lack of posting yesterday, today looks to be busy as well.

Quickly...

Frankie Telfort wants to play football again!

Not surprising that he has the itch to play so he is going to consult some cardiologists about getting back on the field...

Frankie Telfort, a USC freshman linebacker barred from playing because of a heart condition, said he will see cardiologists in December with the hopes of convincing the Trojans' medical staff he can resume his football career.

Telfort was diagnosed last summer with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that hardens the heart muscle and forces the heart to work harder to pump blood. He said his doctors did not prevent him from playing football but USC's medical staff restricted him because there is a 33 percent chance he could die playing the sport.

"I'll get examined in December and ask the doctors all kinds of questions and get information to relay to USC to try and play and bring the risk (of sudden death) down," Telfort said. "I always want to get back on the field."

Telfort, who played football since age 7, said his parents are "all for it" when asked if they would allow him to resume his career.

"I would have played this year (if allowed by USC)," Telfort said. "I've been a ballplayer my whole life."

If Telfort was cleared medically, he might be starting because weakside linebacker Malcolm Smith is doubtful this week with a shoulder injury. USC coach Pete Carroll said Telfort learned the defensive schemes faster than any recruit in the past nine years.

I have a hard time believing that Telfort will ever make it back on the field. USC is not going to sign off Telfort playing no matter how many cardiac docs clear him. The public an private liability is just too great...remember Hank Geathers??

- - -

While a lot of attention was focused on the defense after last weekends loss to Oregon some of the issues on offnece were overlooked...

I was impressed with Matt Barkley's poise but he did not look as crisp as we saw weeks before. That was not all on him though, PC and Jeremy Bates didn't exactly put him in the best position...(emphasis added)

Given the USC defense’s recent struggles, you might assume the offense would alter its game plan to emphasize time of possession.

When the reverse was true a year ago and the defense was consistently dominant, the coaches went to a more conservative offensive approach, knowing the Trojans likely would win if they simply didn’t turn the ball over.

But first-year play-caller Jeremy Bates (pictured) doesn’t plan to take his foot off the accelerator.
"It’s definitely a team sport, but as an offense, we’re always going to go into a game attacking," Bates said. "Our mission is to score seven on every drive. We’re not going to change our philosophy."

That being said, Bates thought he might have taken it too far once USC fell behind at Oregon.

"We got too aggressive too early," he said. "We were just trying to make a big play and change the momentum."

Not sure I completely agree with this...I guess it depends on what you consider "attacking". Yes, you can put up an all out assault but it better put up points (it didn't against Oregon) or you can attack using the death of a thousand paper cuts method, read run the ball down their throats.

Bates expounds on the above...

"In the second half we just got off schedule," play-caller Jeremy Bates said. "And they made us one-dimensional."

Bates blamed himself for "pressing too early."

"We just have to fight the urge and that's on me," he said. "We tried to open it up a little bit more in the third quarter, where if we would have just stuck with the first-half game plan. . . . I think we would have been better off."

That is because they wanted to get into a shootout with the Ducks offense instead of just playing their game and keeping the Ducks offense off the field. Look, it happens...sometimes the coaching staff has brain freeze. When coupled with Pete Carroll's comments about the defensive game plan it just shows me that SC completely miscalculated that game. I consider it an outlier while on the message boards will use it to continue to hammer PC for the various ills they want to blame him for. It doesn't matter what excuses some will use because it doesn't change a thing. The Oregon game is a teachable event, not the norm. It was the perfect storm of events that I hope we don't see again for a very long time. The team has moved on...so should others.

- - -

A number of us wondered why we didn't run the ball more (not that it probably would have made a big difference) but the offense last Saturday really looked disjointed. But this weekend SC looks to get back to basics with the running game, but it won't be easy ...

"We want to run the ball on these guys and our challenge this week is to be able to run the ball and run the ball effectively, and they're going to give us a great game and that's what we want," Trojans center Jeff Byers said.

ASU is allowing just 80.1 yards on the ground, a 26.5-yard improvement over 2008. The difference is not so much schematic as it is a change of attitude.

"They've really just focused on attacking the line of scrimmage and hitting the running game with really great energy," Carroll said. "They've just been very physical.

"They haven't changed their scheme much but they just hit the line of scrimmage and they keep attacking and attacking and causing things to happen and it's helped them in a lot of ways."

Well, its the old adage...establish the run to set up the pass.

And the offense gets to show just how much they have moved on. They will need to focus because former USC recruit Vontaze Burfict leads ASU's feisty defense...

USC's offense will go against an aggressive Sun Devil front seven that has helped make Arizona State the Pacific 10 Conference's top-ranked defense.

Freshman Vontaze Burfict, who originally committed to USC, starts at middle linebacker for a unit that gives up only 296 yards a game.

The Sun Devils, however, also lead the conference in penalties and penalty yardage. They average 9.2 infractions and 89.2 penalty yards a game.

"They're trying to set an attitude and they do a good job at it," USC center Jeff Byers said Thursday. "They're feisty, they're mean, they're nasty -- that's a good thing to have on defense."

The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Burfict starred at Corona Centennial High.

He is the Sun Devils' second-leading tackler and has two sacks. Burfict also has forced a fumble, recovered two fumbles and broken up four passes for a unit that has a conference-best 13 interceptions.

"He's a young guy that is really trying to make an impression," USC Coach Pete Carroll said this week. "It looks like he's effected a very aggressive attitude."

There is no question that Burfict is a stud but he comes with some baggage both on and off the field. On the field he is big hitter who picked up 3 personal fouls in one game so SC needs to keep an eye on him. He will make some plays but SC needs to minimize the damage he can cause.

This is not a great ASU team, they have good defense but the offense is inconsistent. Of course, SC has its own issues but they should be ready to take it to ASU to wash out the taste of last weeks loss to Oregon.

- - -

One guy looking to make some noise is Devon Kennard...

Freshman USC defensive end Devon Kennard, who is from Phoenix, could get his first start Saturday in nearby Tempe against Arizona State.

Regular starter Everson Griffen (turf toe) hasn't practice all week but could play in the game.

"After missing last year with a knee injury and all the odds that were against me, it will be a humbling experience (to play in Sun Devil Stadium)," Kennard said. "I went to every home game my junior and senior years and live 10 minutes away.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of hostile ASU fans but there will be a lot of supporters and family, too."

Kennard said Arizona State was only his fourth college choice as a senior at Desert Vista High in Phoenix.

"A lot of people said stay in town and represent ASU," Kennard said. "But I wanted to go to the best place for me for academics and football."

Kennard is going to be a beast!

He has all the right tools and he has a great attitude!!

- - -

Here are some links...

Preview | No. 12 USC at Arizona State " The Trojan Empire

Arizona State Preview - College Football - Rivals.com

Renderings of an LA Coliseum Upgrade - TrojanWire
In our wildest dreams!!

USC football: Everson Griffen will play. Or won’t he? - USC - OCRegister.com

Cautionary tales of social media stardom -- latimes.com
An interesting take...

USC trying to not overanalyze lopsided loss at Oregon - LA Daily News

Oregon St. Notes, Byers starts over O'Dowd, RoJo will start on Sat. as well

Paragon SC — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:13:49 -0000

There was some interesting news from the coaching staff yesterday...

Jeff Byers will start at center over Kristofer O'Dowd. This might be a shock to some but the running game doesn't seem to be where many of us think it should be.

The season has not gone as planned for the 6-foot-5, 300-pound O'Dowd, who had off-season shoulder surgery that caused him to miss spring practice and then suffered a dislocated kneecap for the second time in three seasons.

O'Dowd sat out the opener against San Jose State but returned to play against Ohio State.

"I tried to fight back and got back as quickly as I could, but it still wasn't necessarily 100%," he said. "I was hoping that by going out there and working on it, I would build it up to where it would get back to normal, but it just hasn't been the case."

Byers, who came to USC as a center in 2004, took the majority of snaps with the first-team offense during practice this week. He will start for the second time this season at center.

I am not surprised that he was not 100%. A dislocated patella is a tricky injury to recover from, especially if you re-injure it. O'Dowd is looking at some off-season knee surgery to fix the damaged structures.

The great thing in this article is that O'Dowd plans on returning for his senior season.

Opposing defenses have been able to get penetration on our running game this season. We have seen it in a number of different games. With Marc Tyler out of the season and C.J. Gable inexplicably still in the doghouse it all falls on Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford. It is possible that we could see Curtis McNeal in the game but with Stanley Havili pretty much questionable that opens up the door for D.J. Shoemate at the FB spot. Regardless of who is on the field the O line needs to blow some holes open to get these guys some room to operate.

From what I have seen it would appear that McKnight actually does pretty well when runs between the tackles. When he jukes and moves trying to get to the outside is when he seems to not be less effective...this is particularly true (obviously) when the defense can beat him to the outside.

The offense is really close to busting out...If the running game gets rolling we could see some some really interesting games in the second half of the season.

USC closed the first half of '09 with its strongest offensive performance since the season opener (which was against 1-5 San Jose State, so please feel free to affix an asterisk). The Trojans scored 34 points at Notre Dame – after scoring 30 at Cal, 27 against Washington State and 13 at Washington.

Barkley missed the Washington game – the lone loss on 5-1 USC's ledger – because of a shoulder injury. In his four games since the opener, he has mirrored the offense's ascent.

Barkley passed for 195 yards Sept. 12 at Ohio State. He nearly doubled that total – 380 – at Notre Dame.

Barkley completed 48.4 percent of his passes against the Buckeyes. He hit on 65.5 percent – again, the best since San Jose State – against the Fighting Irish.

Yet in a sign of how driven he is to succeed – and how he is raising the standard for every freshman quarterback to follow him – Barkley was far from satisfied with his performance.

"I've got more potential in me," Barkley said. "After watching tape on Saturday's game, it was a lot more scrappy than I thought it was, not as pristine. There's always stuff to improve on. ... There are some little things we need to work on in order to get better."

I don't think there is any question that Barkley has some growing to do.

He has come a long way for a true freshman...just going on the road and getting the win at Ohio St. and Notre Dame with minimal mistakes shows his maturity.

And Barkley learns fast as well...

USC twice ran play-action passes on third-and-1. The first time, tight end Anthony McCoy was open – but Barkley didn't set his feet and underthrew the pass. McCoy gained 23 yards, but it could have been a lot more.

The next time, McCoy again was open – and Barkley delivered a strike. McCoy rumbled downfield for 60 yards. It took all of a quarter for Barkley to learn his lesson and make the proper adjustment.

"The kid is doing great," senior guard Jeff Byers said. "He impresses me every day. He's a really special guy back there. He's playing his butt off."

That Barkley has won over his veteran teammates isn't insignificant. USC returned nine starters on offense, and the unit had great expectations despite one of the losses being All-Pac-10 quarterback Mark Sanchez, whom the New York Jets took with the fifth pick in the NFL draft.

When Carroll elevated Barkley over redshirt sophomore Aaron Corp – who won the job in spring but lost it in fall after breaking his leg – there were hints of skepticism inside the locker room and heaps of it outside. The Trojans entered 2009 with seven consecutive conference crowns, BCS bowl berths and 11-plus-victory seasons, and now they were entrusting a freshman to help make it eight?

I don't think anyone is questioning PC's move now are they? Barkley has done good enough to shut the mouths of clowns like the insufferable Matt Hayes who constantly tried to say that Barkley's inexperience would hurt SC. So far that hasn't been the case and while I am not ready to say that he is not susceptible to a rookie mistake Barkley has done a remarkable job at leading the offense.

SC needs to put some points up on the board early to force The Beavers to have to play catch up and the running game is key to putting points up on the board. More on why later...

USC also gets RoJo back in the starting line up on Saturday.

Receiver Ronald Johnson struggled to regain game speed against Notre Dame and acknowledged continued soreness early this week.

The junior, however, will start against Oregon State, Carroll said.

Johnson, who suffered a broken collarbone before the season, had one reception against Notre Dame.

Johnson replaces David Ausberry in the starting lineup. Ausberry, who has 10 receptions, has been slowed this week by a calf strain.

I think that is a big deal.

RoJo clearly was not himself against ND, nor did I expect him to be. I think he needed a little more time to get back into the groove in regards to his timing and route running. You just don't come back after being out six weeks and hope to perform at the same level that you were out prior to your injury, especially in a big game like Notre Dame at South Bend. We all know RoJo is our speedster and if he is on that will keep the OSU defense honest. If RoJo gets behind their DB's it could spell trouble for Oregon St. especially with Barkley getting better and better each week.

On the defensive side of the ball this weeks game is a big test for the USC defense.

Last year the D line was embarrassed by Jacquizz Rodgers. Averill SPicer and Christian Tupou both had bad games last year, they had no answer for him in the first half, though SC made some adjustments in the second half to contain 'Quizz better. They moved Casey to the NT spot and moved Ellison up into the box. I could go on...

This is a very stout D line that SC has coming into this game. With Casey at NT and Armond Armstead (probably right nest to Casey) back in the groove from his injury I think that 'Quizz will have a tougher time than he did last year. It will be more difficult than last year to get the type of yardage that he had last year. I also want to see how Everson Griffen plays in this game. Last season he was continually motion-blocked by James Rodgers and taken out of the play. Hopefully Jethro Franklin has brought Griffen along to be able to handle that wrinkle in the OSU offense.

I think 'Quizz will get some yards and he won't put the ball on the turf, but I think this is a better front seven for this game than what we had last year by just putting in Casey and Armstead over Tupou and Spicer (no offense gents). The speed of this years D line is just insane. We already have seen their speed but I think the LB's are less susceptible to over running the play like we say Rey do last season in Corvallis. The OSU O line lost three players to the NFL last season, not that it matters, so while they still have some talent it is not quite as experienced as last season if SC gets some points on the board early it could force OSU to use 'Quizz less if they have to play catch up by airing it out.

Lets talk a little bit about some players on Oregon St.

There is an interesting article up at the Oregonian discussing Oregon St. players who feel they were snubbed by not being recruited by USC.

I found these comments by Beavers OL Gregg Peat...(emphasis added)

"Not even a second glance," Peat said. "Pete Carroll was there and I'm sure (he watched me) and was like, 'Ah, um, no.' They recruit the best of the best and none of us are usually their caliber of player.

"Or so they think."

Peat's recruiting anecdote is common among Oregon State players who played high school ball in the Southern California area. A handful of them, like senior corner Tim Clark, who is from Compton, and safety Lance Mitchell, who is from Pasadena, grew up in USC's backyard -- but they didn't get a sniff from the Trojans.

"I think not being recruited by your hometown team is a little bit of a slap in the face," Mitchell said.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Blah, Blah, Blah.

Please...

Peat has turned into a fine player, no question. Some players need a few years at the college level to really blossom and Peat looks to be one of those. Look, I get it that these guys will try to use what they feel is "snub" as some motivation for this game but SC can't recruit them all. Pete Carroll and his staff can't look into the crystal ball and see how every player out there will turn out.

More interesting is this...

Peat originally committed to Nevada before accepting an offer from the Beavers without ever taking a visit. Nevada? Really? That is a real power house of football...I guess SC really missed out when the kid committed up there, I am sure they scrambled to steal him from Nevada.

</sarcasm>

So, yeah PC may "have seen him" when he was recruiting Mark Sanchez but does anyone think that Peat would be on the field now with all the other talent SC has on the O line? There are only 85 schollies so I am not sure who SC should have NOT recruited on the OL in place of Peat. Point being is simple...everyone gets up to play USC. If these guys want use a supposed "snub" about not being recruited then so be it. I wish them luck...

I think this will be a great game and if all the mini drama's help to make it a better game than that is fine with me.

Trojans 30, Golden Bears 3: More Quarterback Blues

Avinash — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:06:32 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Kevin Riley had a lot of awkward-looking throws like this in the Bears 30-3 loss against the Trojans.

Browse more photos »

For the fifth straight matchup in the series, a Golden Bear quarterback could not beat the Trojan defense.

Kevin Riley spread his first quarter inaccuracy woes (three TDs and a low completion percentage thrown careerwise in the first quarter) through the entire game. The result was a stagnant Cal offense that couldn't pass the ball for more than a few spurts, and by extension couldn't run the ball. You can blame it partly on the 20 mph wind gusts which might've put extra air on the balls, on receivers missing their cuts or stopping on routes, on the offensive line occasionally blowing their matchups and forcing the pressure (albeit they only allowed 2 outright sacks).

But most of the execution failures, for better or for worse, fall on Riley; there were too many throws that just weren't even close to the target. He held onto the ball for too long, his throwing motion just didn't look right, and he hesitated after making his drops in the pocket, whether due to good downfield coverage or...hell if I know, what else can make you hesitate in the pocket?

Neverthless, the opportunities were there; his accuracy wasn't. His completion percentage, one of the best in the country through three weeks, is now hovering at a horrifingly Ayoobian 50% on the season. I sincerely apologize to everyone for claiming Kevin Riley is no Joe Ayoob. He sure looked like it tonight.

It got so bad that Andy Ludwig ran the Wildcat with Best and Sofele in motion, down 23-0 for an entire drive. That's a damning indictment of our passing game--down three scores in the second half, our quarterback was set out wide to block for 30-40% of the offensive snaps.

The Oregon game was a much more complex failure. The USC game is a simpler one to figure out. The Trojans stacked the box on Best early on and dared Riley to beat them in the air. After the first drive, he couldn't. We can guess what the formula will be from here on out to beat the Bears.

Do I think Riley should be benched? Not in the slightest, and it's not just because Tedford's saying so. It's just too early in the season to mark this as a trend, and he did just face one of the best defenses in the country. Let's see if he can settle himself down and work his way into the system against the rest of the Pac-10. If the struggles persist deep into play and jeopardize Big Game or bowl hopes, then I might be persuaded to go the other way. But for now, I'm far from that jumping point.

Playcalling bad? I dunno. I know a lot of people are going to be mad at the run/pass disparity when we have #4 back there, but USC was selling out to stop him all day, and they have the talent and athletes to do so. And that first drive was going well there until the end. After that, it's hard to tell how much of that is on the players not running the plays right, or Ludwig calling in plays the defense can anticipate.

What does annoy me is that I'm beginning to predict what Cal will run on every play based on formation and snap motion, and I'm still fairly novice on the subject. Two tight end set to the left? Best running to the left. Riley in the shotgun is almost always an automatic pass downfield. Put Holley back there and it's almost always an inside run. Lord knows what other defensive coordinators are brewing together in the upcoming weeks.

We have a new tight end for the future. Anthony Miller was our offense for much of the game. The Trojans pretty much blanketed Verran Tucker and Marvin Jones, so that left the middle open, and Riley hooked up with Miller on some big catch-and-gains. At 6'3 258, we might've found someone who combines the blocking of Stevens and the pass-catching abilities of Morrah. In a game full of negatives, this is a pretty enticing development.

Bob Gregory's defense did their part. While the Cal defensive scheme bended plenty in this one, putting the Trojans in the red zone a lot, the final result was 16 offensive points going into the third quarter, with three impressive goal-line stands by an outmanned and outgunned defensive front. There were no big offensive plays other than the first McKnight touchdown. Add in the three points the defense helped cause from the turnover, and that's only a differential of 13 points. If you'd told me Cal's defense had held USC to 16 points going into the 4th, I'd have been strutting like Usain Bolt.

Yes, I'm frustrated by the zone coverage holes too, but give credit to the other team's quarterbacks. Masoli and Barkley made some huge completions that most college quarterbacks probably wouldn't have handled. That zone defense should do its job in future weeks in keeping Pac-10 quarterbacks from hitting their spots. For right now it looks bad, even though it was far from the reason for our loss.

Our linebackers are in serious learning mode. These guys are struggling. First they had to deal with the spread, than the best talent in the country in back-to-back weeks. Bad pursuit angles, dominated by blockers, no pass rush, nothing. I can't even talk in complete sentences about these guys, because it's frustrating to watch them struggle like that. They did hustle in there and help make some nice goal-line stops, so that's encouraging for upcoming road tests in Pasadena and Tempe.

You know how Mike Mohamed looked like the best linebacker last season? I'm starting to think that's because he was the fourth linebacker opposing offenses worried about. They should get better as the season goes along, but the growing pains hurt on our defense for now. The secondary and defensive line have been carrying too much of the weight. It's got to start evening out.

Two mistakes made a big difference in this game's outcome. The first mistake was the Riley interception (the worst of many bad throws), which turned a promising Cal start into a deflating Trojan bite-back touchdown drive. The second was the straight-on punt by Anger to Damian Williams right for the touchdown. Although I knew we'd get an Alamar special one of these days, these are the sort of things you throw out over the long run as anomalies rather than trends. Those two mistakes comprise a 15-21 point swing right there, which could've turned a 23 point margin into a field goal/touchdown margin going into the 4th.

Cal fans are being too critical of Jahvid Best's weak performances in big games. People need to get over how Jahvid is no longer a viable Heisman candidate. A Heisman Trophy almost always rewards the best QB/RB on one of the top two regular season teams; seven of the last ten seasons that's been the case. The odds were stacked against the Jet from the start, and it was impossible to live up to the hype in the long run without additional help from his offense.

Jahvid has his weaknesses, there's no doubt--his pass protection and blitz pickup abilities need plenty of work. However, in terms of running ability, he needs his blockers to open gaps for him and a stable passing game that plays in tandem with his abilities. He got neither in Oregon and only average run blocking against the Trojans. And even if he had Alex Mack and Will Ta'ufo'ou, they too would have had their difficulties against eight to nine Trojans in the box in that first quarter when it was a relatively close one.

Besides, how can Best step up if his counterpart in the backfield steps down?

USC brought their A-game. While it's always fun to blame the Bears for our woes, let's not forget the other team on the sideline is the six-time defending Pac-10 champs. I always worried in the back of my mind the Husky upset would awaken the sleeping giant, and...yeeeeap. They're back alright.

Matt Barkley only completed 57% of his passes, but converted several huge passes for crucial 1st downs. Joe McKnight stepped up big in the absence of Stafon. And God, those offensive linemen--I know it'll sicken you to hear me gush over USC linemen, but they dominated this game. Barkley had plenty of time to make his throws, and they were much of the difference between 3 and 4 yard runs and 6 to 8 yard runs. The most important part of this game that no one will notice was how well the Trojans blocked, from the tackles and guards and center to the fullback and the receivers and tight end.

Of course all that and we still held them to 16 points on offense going into the 4th quarter. I dream longingly of the day we'll hit 16 points on offense again.

We might have played the two best teams in the Pac-10 in back-to-back weeks. So let's keep that in perspective. Both our opponents came out with a specific strategy on offense and defense, executed it to a pinch, and watched while we bungled our opportunities. Yeah, it sucks to deal with the bad execution stuff, but it can happen with 19-23 year olds.

Yes, our expectations are smashed, but we have two weeks to refocus and retool for the rest of the season. I never really saw quit in our players, even late in the games, so you have to feel that the Bears will be ready to bring it the rest of the year. As much as we'd like to think it's the end of the world, there are other things our football players are willing to play for other than a Pac-10 title.

If our coaches are able to make the right adjustments in the upcoming weeks against formidable but equally flawed Pac-10 opponents, we should be able to right the ship and win five or six games in the conference. There are plenty of good but fairly winnable games coming up for the Bears in the upcoming weeks, we just need to focus on executing above all else.

And let's hope that Kevin Riley's arm can start throwing footballs like a regular quarterback again. Because I miss seeing regular quarterback play for the Golden Bears.

Cal Game Day Notes

Paragon SC — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:00:27 -0000

Apologies for the lack of posting the last couple of days. I have been getting hammered at work with little time to do any significant posting. Unfortunately next week is not going to be any better...

Where to begin...

I have not had the opportunity to look at this game like I had hoped but it is summed up in one short sentence...forget the BCS, the loser of this game is out of the Rose Bowl. The conference has gotten stronger just enough this season so that NO 2-loss team can with the Pac-10. That is not necessarily a bad thing but it is reality. SC is struggling just enough while other teams are finally putting their big boy pants on to try and make a run at USC's incredible run.

Cal has some issues. I am not ready to throw out their loss to Oregon as some road fluke...no way, not a 42-3 loss. They have gone on the road this season and had some nice wins so they are capable of firing on all cylinders. Of course, you could also point to the fact that this is the Pac-10 and no one is able to duck anyone...everyone knows each others tendencies and how to scheme against them. Sometimes it takes talent.

Cal has had trouble getting that big win against USC and Cal fans are itching for a fight to knock USC off.

"We've had some great games with them over the years," Carroll said. "I think it is a good rivalry, and with me being from Northern California as well as some of our players, that certainly lends something special to it."

With both teams ranked for the fifth time in the schools' last six meetings, Cal (3-1, 0-1) will take one more crack at the task of getting back on the winning side of these annual events. Yet the Trojans also have high stakes, with their streak of seven straight Pac-10 titles falling into serious jeopardy with one more conference loss.

"We've only won one game against them, so obviously they've got the better of our matchup," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "But it has been competitive, and they're well-thought games, but we have a lot of respect for what they do in all things. It's a struggle to be successful against them because they are so good on defense, and have so much good play potential on offense. They're a tough group, no question about it."

USC needs to play to their potential.

With Matt Barkley looking better this week since his injury against Ohio St. could this be the week that the sputtering USC offense is about to take off?

Now Barkley is feeling good, and Trojans coach Pete Carroll believes his freshman quarterback might be on the verge of taking off in a major way — even in another difficult environment (Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium) against another stingy defense (Cal).

"This’ll be a great challenge for him," Carroll said. "It’s an exciting opportunity. He’s feeling the best he’s felt in weeks. Obviously last week he was able to play, so we know he’s able to go. But being on the road again, this is where he hopefully can start to get a foothold on the season and really start contributing in a consistent way. I know he’s really up for doing that, and I’m excited to see him play."

The loss of Stafon Johnson hurts but USC has depth at running back so now it is time to see some new faces on the field. They need to step up and produce in the way we have expected them to. I don't see a lot of situational running plya in this game. I expect Carroll and Bates to Power football. There will never be another Thunder and Lightning but I see no reason not to have some combination of Bradford, McKnight and Havili on the field. Bradford is more than ready, he sounds like he is on a mission and Gable is going to get some touches as well.

The passing game is still a concern...not because of Barkley's shoulder but because until someone other than Damian Williams steps up and makes some plays SC will have to rely on the run. Ausberry needs hang onto the ball better and while I liked the pitch and catch to Carswell last week, until that is a more consistent hook-up I am not sold that passing game is better at least not until RoJo gets back in the line up. That also means that the O line needs to live up to the hype as well! That means consistently opening up some holes for the running backs. That means giving Barkley time to to what he needs to make the right play.

They know they have not lived up to their billing...that has to change today!

USC knew it would rely on a first-year starting quarterback this season, but that was supposed to be offset by an experienced offensive line and a corps of veteran tailbacks.

So it was surprising this week when USC coach Pete Carroll thought about what ailed the offense and said, "we haven't gotten comfortable."

It would be an understandable issue for freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, but as Carroll noted, "it's not about Matt, it's about the rest of the offense."

That is a troublesome statement because the No. 7 Trojans play road games at California, Notre Dame and Oregon this month and if something does not change quickly, the season could fall apart in the next few weeks.

Go figure...who knew that BArkley would be less of a question then a very experienced O line.

But that does not explain the offensive line being part of the problem. It was supposed to be the strength of the team with its top eight linemen returning from last season including all five starters.

"We've got a lot to get better at," offensive guard Jeff Byers said. "We've left a lot of yards on the field in the running game. It's a consistency issue. You forget it takes all five guys."
Perhaps one reason for discontent is that the line's expectations were so high, that if one play goes awry, it surprises people.

Disagree...

It isn't about one play, it has been a sense of overall under achievement. Most rational fans can accept a missed block or assignment here or there but it seem that they O line just hasn't been all they can be. That has to change today.

I would expect Cal to try and stack the box and challenge the USC O line like UW did and try to use the crowd to intimidate Barkley. But like I said earlier in the week Memorial Stadium is not the Shoe and Barkley handled that pretty well on that last drive when the fans we the loudest. If Barkley is feeling better Cal cannot afford to stack the box as Barkley is a lot more confident back there than Corp is.

The Key to SC winning this game on defense is of course minimizing Jahvid Best. He won't be 100% contained but as we saw last week he can be minimized...

The Trojans did it a year ago, limiting Best to 30 yards on 13 carries, and the Bears had no counterpunch. Quarterbacks Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley combined for 138 yards and an interception in USC’s 17-3 victory. And Riley didn’t exactly look like the second coming of Aaron Rodgers in last week’s 42-3 loss at Oregon.

"We had success against them last year," safety Taylor Mays said. "There’s no reason we shouldn’t have success against them again. We just have to do what we do in big games."

Best has nine touchdowns in four games and averages 6.8 yards per carry. He reminds Harris of USC’s Joe McKnight. Harris doesn’t buy the Reggie Bush comparisons.

"He ain’t Reggie," Harris said. "Not yet."

Things are a little different on this defense then when SC played Cal in L.A. last year. They are a little thin in the secondary and at the LB spot. That is not saying that the defense is not up to the task but they are different. Best has some moves no question...

- - -

Thoughts on today's game...

Jeff Tedford on the Dan Patrick Show...

Cal vs. USC: It comes down to this … | College Sports Hotline
Wilner

No longer glamorous, USC-Cal is about desperation - Pac-10 - ESPN
Miller

College Football's Bad News Bears - WSJ.com

- - -

Other items...

Here are a couple of great articles on the Horton brother starting together for the first time today...

Horton gets big shot at new spot - OCRegister.com

Horton brothers will start together for USC -- latimes.com

Armond Armstead could be back in time for Notre Dame...

USC defensive lineman Armstead could make his return against Notre Dame - LA Daily News

Here is PC's meeting with the press up in Berkley...

PC meets the press in Berkley

For USC, it's third and a long way to go - OCRegister.com
Hopefully this changes today!

- - -

Game Previews...

Defense 101: How to build a Bear trap " The Trojan Empire

Preview: No. 7 USC at No. 24 Cal " The Trojan Empire

Spotlight game: No. 7 USC (3-1) at No. 24 Cal (3-1) - Sporting News
from your friend an mine

Barkley holds his own, the defense neutralizes Pryor but some questions emerge...

Paragon SC — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:53:10 -0000

More photos » by Jay LaPrete - AP

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Where to start...

While we are all giddy about last night's win in Columbus we did see some things last night that should cause some concern. Now, I am not saying we need to light our hair on fire over some of these things but we do need to keep an even keel as we head up to Seattle to take on the Huskies.

As I said last night in the post game thread I saw three things that stood out that made SC's night difficult last night...

First...Special Teams was absolutely atrocious. For all the pissing and moaning we have heard about not having a special teams coach having one didn't seem to help with the poor punting and missed field goal.

Second...It didn't matter how many running backs we had in The Stable never was able to get up a lather to really be effective because the Offensive line was getting pushed around by their D line. But Props to Joe McKnight for stepping it up at the right time!!

Third...The defense did a great good job against Pryor, he made some plays...a few nice throws and some key runs but lets not get crazy he was not Vince Young tonight...At least not yet.

Lets talk about the defense first...They were the ones that kept us in the game last night with some key stops in the second half. Griffen's sack that took Ohio State out of field goal range was the biggest play of the game in my opinion. In the first quarter the secondary showed some disorganization with being out of position on a few big plays. Pryor made some sweet throws that just had the right touch that gained some big yards but he he wasn't as effective on the run...he made some plays for good yardage and some first downs but he did not control the game like a Vince Young.

As an aside, for the life of me I can't understand why Jim Tressel is trying to show the world that Terrelle Pryor can throw the ball...that is the last thing that should have been on his mind last night. He should have used Pryor's speed and agility to eat up chunks of yards.

Our "young" defensive front got some penetration and the linebackers made some great plays but the secondary got caught flat-footed early in the game for some big plays but once they adjusted Pryor was not as effective in the air. The OSU running game was average last night as Boom Herron gained only 44 yards. Pryor only had 36...that is telling to me. The SC defense did their job...

Chris Galippo made an interesting observation...

"I wouldn't say there was a doubt but it was more like the defense coming together and saying, 'The offense isn't really doing it, so we'll do it,'" Galippo said. "If we hadn't had a goal-line stand, the game would be over."

Safety Taylor Mays said the defense expects to carry the burden with a true freshman at quarterback.

"We know sometimes they will struggle, especially with Matty at quarterback," Mays said.

That is exactly how it should be...sometimes one unit has to pick the other up, that is the definition of team work...these guys are in it together.

Special teams was just awful...SC never got a chance to return a single punt as the OSU put coverage was superb pinning SC back deep in their territory on just about every kick. When we punted the ball the kicks were not as effective as we have been used to the past few years and always seemed to give OSU decent field position. The high snap for a safety was a complete mental breakdown as the snap should have been lower and the punter should have caught it. SC also doged a bullet on a punt later in the game when the OSU punt rush over flew the punter for what seemed to be a sure block deep in SC territory. The kick-offs were average with OSU getting a chance to get some decent returns. The short field goal that hit the cros bar was embarrassing too.

I realize that we now have a special teams coach but I don't care how well you coach them if the players don't have the talent coaching will only get you so far...

As for the running game...I was surprised that C.J. Gable did not get any touches. It was obviously the Joe McKnight show especially on that last drive but because the OSU defense was getting some great push against the SC O line the running game looked anemic for much of the game. We really should not be surprised as the OSU D line has a number of futre NFL draft picks that pinned their ears back and played lights out for most of the game until that final drive.

So lets talk about Barkley...

It was definitely a growing experience for the kid last night and he seemed unfazed by the whole experience...

The questions that had dogged the USC football program for several weeks were stunningly answered Saturday night with two words.

Matt. Barkley.

"He's no longer that young freshman quarterback," said Jeremy Bates, USC's quarterbacks coach. "He's now the starting quarterback at USC."

Period. End of story. Beginning of stardom.

Those who questioned Coach Pete Carroll's sanity, those who thought a true freshman should never be the starting quarterback for a championship-contending team . . . were you watching? Were you listening?

Easy there Bill..Barkley is not the second coming. He still has a long way to go but Barkley did not have a meltdown like Matt Hayes predicted earlier in the week...

It is fair to say that Barkley had some pedestrian type numbers last night going 15 of 31 for 195 yards with 1 INT, but the key throws were on that final drive where Barkley was 3-5.

The cliche' we will hear and read about over the next few weeks was that we watched Barkley grow up last night...Maybe. It is obvious that the final drive will become part of USC Football lore. It was a gutty performance against worn OSU defense who was simply asked to do too much last night. Barkley's one pick was similar to Pryor's but there was little damage to the overall outcome of the game. He go it out of his system and he settled in...

SC did do something that they haven't had to do many time before...come from behind to win.

In the previous four seasons, USC was 7-6 in games decided by seven or fewer points. That's with Heisman Trophy winners and first-round draft picks under center.

Here, the Trojans trailed Ohio State 15-10, completely on merit. Their gains were incremental. Their poise was teetering. Their eardrums throbbed. And their quarterback never had played a collegiate game in front of dissenting strangers.

The final: USC 18, Ohio State 15, with Matt Barkley getting the ball on his 14 with 7:15 to go, retreating to the five, and then leading his elders downfield to Stafon Johnson's run with 1:05 left.

"There are no words to describe Matt Barkley," guard Jeff Byers said. "He goes to the loudest stadium I've ever been in. He gets the ball on the 14 and then we go backwards. And then he takes us down for the win. As a freshman. I mean, come on. He's remarkable."

That is a character builder...

I was a little surprised at some of the comments I saw on Facebook from Jay Christensen (aka the Wiz of Odds) and Chris Huston (aka Heismanpundit) about Barkley's performance...Christensen felt that if Aaron Corp had started, SC would have beat OSU by two touchdowns, Huston agreed becasue he felt Corp would have made plays with his feet. I have great respect for both The Wiz and HP but I think that is flawed thinking...the OSU defense was flying towards the ball last night, they put 8 guys in the box and dared Barkley to throw, thus the running game never really got going until the end when they wore down the OSU defense and while I would agree that Corp is more of mobile threat the OSU defense would have tracked him down too...there is simply no guarantee that corp would have done better.

To me it was all about penetration and the OSU defense was getting plenty of it all night...

Gary Klein pretty much sums it up...

The Trojans overcame special teams miscues, poor field position and Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor to improve to 2-0 heading into their Pacific 10 Conference opener at Washington.

Tailback Stafon Johnson's second short touchdown run with 1:05 left put the Trojans ahead to stay.

"This program is all about finishing," wide receiver Damian Williams said. "We finish blocks, we finish runs and we finish games.

"Tonight we showed the world how we finish."

Barkley, running backs Joe McKnight and Johnson, the Trojans' offensive line and the defense showed a record Ohio Stadium crowd of 106,033 that they would not be intimidated, even after going into halftime tied 10-10 and trailing by five points midway through the final period.

Agreed...

It may not have pretty and SC may have been shown some flaws in their game but you always need a little luck on your side and SC got just enough on the backs of a great defense, the tenaciousness of a great offensive line and the patience of a kid who just goes out and haves fun...

This is Pete Carroll's type of team!

FIGHT ON!

Football News and Notes...Corp looks steady, O'Dowd looks to return by the opener

Paragon SC — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:00:16 -0000

The conventional wisdom is that Pete Carroll is going to name Aaron Corp the starter for the September 5th opener against San Jose St.

By not revealing his quarterback decision, USC coach Pete Carroll is telling us everything.

He is waiting to see how Aaron Corp’s leg holds up this week because he wants Corp to be the Trojans’ starter this season.

If he believes freshman Matt Barkley is the right choice — the guy who, in the coaching parlance, "gives the team the best chance to win" — Carroll would have made the call already.

Instead, he waits.

As he should.

Of course Pete Carroll holding back on a formal announcement is to see if Corp is healed enough to play at the level that Pete Carroll wants see.

So, the big question everyone wants to know is can Aaron Corp run? Can he be as mobile as we had seen before his injury?

Corp has looked steady since he returned to practice on Tuesday but he hasn't had to really scramble out of the pocket and that is a pretty important test in the eyes of Pete Carroll...

Corp has not missed a beat in terms of passing efficiency since returning from a leg injury. But Carroll is waiting for the third-year sophomore to prove he can sprint and elude pressure without fear.

"That's one part of it I want to see -- that he's confident in his ability to run and escape and all that," Carroll said Wednesday after practice. "He's never played when he wasn't like that."

Corp's speed and elusiveness, coupled with his passing, made him a nearly unstoppable dual threat at Orange Lutheran High.

During spring practice, he frustrated the Trojans' defense by converting multiple third-down situations with his legs, a factor that helped him win the starting job heading into the summer.

On Wednesday, Carroll thought Corp missed an opportunity to show he was completely confident in the stability of his left leg. On one play, according to Carroll, Corp got past the line of scrimmage but did not weave or improvise through the secondary as he would have done before suffering a cracked fibula on Aug. 10.

The problem Corp is having is proprioception, defined as the unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself. I know its a mouthful...

Basically his mind is compensating his performance by protecting him from further injury. His body knows his still recovering and when you stress the body that way this is the body response especially if you have not fully rehabbed.

This not uncommon and you see it lot on ACL injuries.

Speed an mobility has been one of Corps strongest assets...his ability to get on the move if has to was something that we haven't in a QB at SC in quite a while and based on what I am reading he is not quite ready to turn on the jets yet.

I also think we are starting to see some cracks as to why this is an urgent issue...

There are different reasons for a healthy Corp to be the selection, but Carroll often refers to the most important factor after USC practices.

"It's not easy to learn to play the position here," he said. "It usually takes guys a couple years."

In practical terms, Carroll said he prefers other teams to go through "growing pains" at the position instead of USC. That explains why recent quarterback battles saw John David Booty beat out Mark Sanchez and Sanchez easily win the job over Mitch Mustain.

But this time its different when your two most promising QB's on the team are still very new to the system.

Carroll's first quarterback derby pitted sophomore Matt Leinart against junior Matt Cassel, but they essentially were even in experience because each spent two years learning Carroll and Norm Chow's system.

The wild card in this year's race is 18-year-old freshman Matt Barkley's ability to pick up the offense.

"We've never had a guy this young do it at this pace," Carroll said. "He's well ahead of all the other guys at the same stage, John David or Mark or Matt."

It may be impressive but Barkley is still the "rookie" here and he is making rookie mistakes.

More intriguing is that Corp is taking snaps with the second unit not the first unit. It might not be a big deal to some as there is not a huge drop off in talent but it is also telling.

If Barkley was less interception prone than we have seen I can pretty much say with confidence that this would have been a done deal. But Corp has been relatively turnover free while Barkley is probably still adjusting to a play book that is a little more complicated than his high school days and a defense that faster and more tenacious than he has ever seen.

When you look at it more closely I think it is safe to say that SC really hasn't been in this type of position before. It is unfortunate that Mitch Mustain hasn't picked the offense up as fast as we had hoped but we are where we are. I do not get the sense that Pete Carroll is going to cut any corners here. He wants to see Corp more mobile than he is currently seeing. If he can't be then Barkley will probably get the start.

Corp knows what is on the line...

"I have to prove myself all over again," Corp said. "But I don't think the doctors would have me out here if I couldn't handle contact."

Yeap...that's the way it goes!

It will be a nail biter no question...

- - -

O'Dowd looks to return...

One player that can help calm our nerves is center Kristofer O'Dowd. His maturity and leadership on the line will go a long way to instilling a sense of calm and focus on the offensive line and O'Dowd is looking to return for the opener against San Jose St.

Center Kris O'Dowd, who dislocated his kneecap last week, said he wants to try to return for the San Jose State game on Sept. 5.

"I'm trying to come back by Wednesday; I think it's a reality," O'Dowd said.

O'Dowd is waiting for some torn ligaments around the kneecap to heal and form scar tissue so that he can come back.

If not, Jeff Byers will start at center against San Jose State, with Alex Parsons and Butch Lewis starting at guard, while Tyron Smith and Charles Brown start at tackle.

O'Dowd has really been the anchor on the line for such a young player.

- - -

WIlliams Getting back into a groove...

Of course one other player who will play a significant role is Damian Williams...here is a little more on his return.

Damian Williams, USC's leading receiver last season, returned Tuesday after missing more than a week because of a bruised quadriceps. He said Wednesday he's still "working through it."

"Once you miss a week of practice, it just takes a minute to get going," Williams said. "I missed a week, plus the two days that we all had off. I stayed (in) training, but regardless of what you do in terms of trying to keep your wind up, it's still nothing compared to the actual, real thing.

"I'm basically just trying to make sure I stay sharp in my technique and detail, and I'll be all right."

Williams will be an important cog in the machine no question.

- - -

Here are some other links of interest...

Maintaining connections: From high school to USC

Ranking the Pac-10 running backs - Pac-10 - ESPN

Pac-10 football: Projections for ‘09 (final version, I swear) | Wilner

In the heat of USC, UCLA scrimmages, he's seeing things -- latimes.com

Previewing the season: USC Trojans

jtlight — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:42:25 -0000

More photos » AP

Matt Barkley is a microcosm of this USC football team. Incredibly talented but inexperienced. Will this team have the consistency to go undefeated? (AP Photo/University of Southern California)

Browse more photos »

Another season, and USC starts right where they left off, at the top of the conference. As vulnerable as they may be this year, they are still the favorite to win the conference, and rightly so. The coaching staff has proven year after year that they can develop talent and they will no doubt contend nationally again this year.

This year, USC is coming to Autzen on Halloween night, which is sure to be quite the experience, especially if both teams live up to expectations up to that point in the season.

Oregon Offense vs. USC Defense

The last few seasons, the Oregon offense has struggled against USC. Even the prolific 2007 offense scored only 24 points and were actually outgained in the game. While some have attributed that to some sort of deficiency with the spread offense, the real culprit is the fact that over the past few years the USC defense has been sickeningly loaded with talent and experience. As Matt Hinton pointed out earlier this week, excluding Taylor Mays and Josh Pinkard as they are still playing at USC, every regular starter USC's defense over the past two years has been drafted, and nine of those players in the first two rounds.

The simply fact is, this type of talent will not be easy to replace, even for USC. And the across the board theme is inexperience. On the defensive line, they return tackle Christian Tupou, while having extremely talented ends in Nick Perry and Everson Griffen, though the knock on Griffen up this point in his career is that this talent has never been realized. At the linebacker spot, it's more of the same. The 2-deep has 8 "very highly touted" players, and the USC defensive coordinator has claimed this new unit is faster than last years dominant group. The only experienced unit is the USC secondary, which is led by Taylor Mays at safety and Josh Pinkard at cornerback. Mays is simply a physical freak that makes the entire unit better. Not only can he hit like TJ Ward, but has the speed to cover the entire field, which has helped makes USCs pass defense the best in the nation.

This will be a very good test for both the Oregon offense and the USC defense. Oregon's offensive line will hopefully have all its kinks worked out by the 8th game of the season, while USC will have to play very disciplined football to stop the Oregon offense. If Oregon's line does not get manhandled like it did in last year's game, then Oregon has a great shot to move the ball well.

Oregon Defense vs. USC Offense:

With all the hubbub over Aaron Corp vs. Matt Barkley, many seem to be forgetting the the strength of the USC offense is their offensive line, which is the best in the nation, and led by preseason all-americans Kristofer O'Dowd and Jeff Byers. The should be paving the way for the USC stable of running backs, which include Stafon Johnson, C.J. Gable, Joe McKnight, and fullback Stanly Havili. Meanwhile, whoever ends up under center will have a large amount of targets to pick from, including All Pac 10 WR Damian Williams.

At the QB position, my feeling is that Aaron Corp will end up taking the position. Matt Barkley has not seized his chance with Corp injured, and when he was around, Corp did not make mistakes, and with the talent on the line and at the skill positions, that could be all that USC will need.

The real question is, how will this unit respond in pressure situations? The knock on USC the past year years is that they never came through in those games they probably should have won. With some key inexperience as well as new coaches on offense, USC may struggle, but will like be just fine as they overcome their opponents with sheer talent.

Special Teams:

I really feel that this will be a wash. Both teams have talented returners, but at this point, the kicking games are solid but at this point, neither have reached that upper level. If Jackson Rice continues to impress, that could be a key advantage in this game

Conclusion:

USC is as vulnerable this year as they ever will be, and I think that Oregon and Cal will have a great chance to challenge them for the conference title. I believe USC will falter this year. I don't believe that they will be consistent enough on either side of the ball to get through it's schedule without a loss. And Oregon and Cal could be the teams to beat them. Let's not forget, the last team to beat USC when favored was Oregon in 2007.

But, USC is the favorite for a reason, and until either team can consistently challenge the Trojans, before the season, the chances are better for a loss than a win.

The Defense Dominates...

Paragon SC — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:35:14 -0000

Or did the offense just struggle?

I guess it depends on what you wanted to see...

USC defense was the only unit that scored yesterday when it concluded yesterdays scrimmage with a safety when Shane Horton tackled Curtis McNeil in the end zone.

Of course what everyone wants to know is how did Matt Barkley perform?

Barkley went into Saturday's scrimmage hoping to bounce back from last Monday's five-for-18 passing performance at the Coliseum.

Focusing mostly on shorter routes, the freshman was seven of 13 for 56 yards in five series against the first-team defense. Receivers, however, dropped several passes that would have kept drives going, and penalties stifled others.

Barkley, though, was responsible for throwing a long pass into the end zone that safety Josh Pinkard intercepted.

Nevertheless, Barkley said he was pleased with his progress since the last scrimmage.

"I felt really calm out there and confident," he said. "There were just a couple plays, a couple third downs that would have made a big change. . . . I really think we're just an inch away from being great."

Well, it is really hard to know when he didn't have Damian Williams on the field, but the next two weeks are really going to tell us a lot. I am not surprised that the defense went after it yesterday. They always have and they always will.

Barkley seemed happy with his performance but I would expect a competitor like him to not see the glass half full...

Barkley likes where he is positioned.

"I feel confident in where I am and feel like I did what I had to do to please the coaches and see what they wanted to see in a starting quarterback," he said.

Corp is now on the clock to return by Tuesday.

After running five plays in a full-team setting during Saturday's morning practice, he said his mobility was still somewhat limited. But Corp will spend the next two-plus days continuing to heal and rehabilitate his cracked left fibula.

"I'll be ready to go by Tuesday," he said.

It will interesting to see just how well Corp performs.

Pete Carroll seemed happy with Barkley's performance...

USC coach Pete Carroll said the defense was the main reason for the offense's woes.
"The hitting was game-like and the pursuit was excellent," he said. "I'd like to see (the offense) be sharp and clean. (The defense) kept covering us. There aren't a lot of guys getting open. It is what it is."

Carroll said he was pleased with Barkley's day and considered it a step forward from Monday night's scrimmage.

"He did what he could," Carroll said. "The one mistake he made he got a little frustrated. He played good solid football."

I really don't have much to offer on this...it will really come down to the next two weeks. I think Corp is the guy but Barkley looks like he could step in if Corp can't go and then there is of course Mitch Mustain. He has to have place in this somewhere.

- - -

Captains Named

From Ben's Blog...

Following this afternoon's players-only vote, the 2009 team captains were determined and announced tonight. They are:

Offensive lineman Jeff Byers

Safety Taylor Mays

Safety Josh Pinkard

Wideout Damian Williams

I am not surprised at all. All four of these guys have earned the right to represent the team.

- - -

Hear some other things of interest...

2009 SI Conference Report: Pac-10 - SI.com

Trojans have plenty of tailbacks to go around -- latimes.com

Pete Carroll gets his revenge
This is a great video...

Magic Johnson speaks to the team

USC-Texas national title rematch at Rose Bowl?
Doubt it...