Wednesday, October 04, 2006

USC Tidbits

Here are a few good articles on USC by the people that know them best, the Los Angeles media. One thing seems evident and that is the Trojans are not as healthy as Washington. The Trojans could have such studs as DT Ellis, WR Mc Foy, WR Jarrett, OL Rachal, S Pinkard, and LB Brown missing the game on Saturday. USC has a lot of talent, but as injuries add up, the experience level goes down. USC is playing more than a dozen true frosh this year.

The Daily Trojan has a nice report on the current health of the team and the upcoming game with UW.

"Washington quarterback Isaiah Stanback's ability to both run and throw the football effectively are causes of concern for USC this weekend. Stanback ranks No. 20 in the NCAA in total offense, accounting for 251.4 yards a game. It will challenge a defense that has struggled with dual-threat quarterbacks in the past. And Stanback's elusiveness will make it difficult for the Trojans to get to him. But redshirt junior defensive lineman Lawrence Jackson said the key is to keep him in the pocket "It's really not that big a deal," Jackson said. "He's a good runner, but you got to trust the guys next to you, and if we do our job we can keep in him in the pocket."

From the LA Times

"USC is hoping that split end Dwayne Jarrett will be able to play this week against Washington, but nose tackle Sedrick Ellis' availability is perhaps even more pressing for the Trojans. "It was not nearly the pass rush we were hoping for," Coach Pete Carroll said Sunday. "We didn't get close to the quarterback much."

From the Daily News

"USC's defense ranks second in the Pacific-10 Conference in yards allowed, but if the Trojans lack anything, it might be a leader. "

The Gay USC Football Blog who would ever think there could be such a thing, not like there is anything wrong with that, but it's pretty unique.

"It's practically the only game this year featuring a Division 1-AA team that we're going to feature in the Gay Viewers' Guide Game of the Week. Why....Texas vs Sam Houston St? Well former Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar is playing for SHSU. It's fitting that Sam Houston is located in Huntsville, as is the State Prison, as run in's with the NCAA forced Bomar to leave Oklahoma this summer."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not sure how much pressure to put on my fellow Garfield alum, but iS is the key to this game. If he comes out too amped or too relaxed, we will see a repeat of Ok 2nd half and UCLa 1st half. If he is in the zone, then we get Fr st and AZ in that wonderful 5:45 minutes. I know its a team game so I hope that the team helps out here so IS doesn't feel he must do it himself. Punting, field position, make the FGs if we have to settle for that, give IS time to throw and room to run , and no mistakes. And if we do make a mistake, have the short term memory of a CB or us aging fans. A continuing creative game plan like recent weeks from our DC and OC will also help to keep USC honest and not cheat with their 3000 high school all americans. John, you are absolutely correct, this is the most vulnerable USC team we have seen in 4 years,and certainly our best in 4 years, whether that will be enough for 4 hours on saturday, we will see. I have lived in So Cal since 1985 and we are 4-14 against the LA schools in that time frame, interestingly enough 2-7 against each. The problem is the recent blowouts we have suffered,as it hurts us in recruits perceptions. We need to win or at the least be competitive which this team will be.

John Berkowitz said...

Funny, I just finished another post on why I think SC is vulnerable.

This is a good year to catch up with them. They are always going to have great talent, but they aren't always going to have 4-6 superstars on the field either. This is one of those years.

On paper SC is a much better team, in fact they are everything we want to be. DJ had young teams like this that he nursed along till Novemeber, and that is what Carroll is doing vey well right now.

This is the last time SC has a reasonable chance to lose till November.

Win, or at the very least be respectable, then follow with winning the games we should, then go to a bowl game, and we will have an exceptional recruiting year.