Dan Weber PE.com
LOS ANGELES - A record low turnout (for this season) of one autograph-seeker showed up for no-longer No. 1 USC's practice Monday.
Maybe it was just as well for the ninth-ranked Trojans as they focus on their next Pac-10 challenge -- the 23rd-ranked Oregon Ducks, who visit the Coliseum on Saturday. It's as big a must-win game as USC has had in a long time.
The starting lineup USC will trot out might have more than a few changes from the one that lost 27-21 to Oregon State on Thursday in Corvallis.
Coach Pete Carroll's message to his team after its return Sunday to watch game film from the loss up north was simple: "There's nothing you can do about what's already happened."
The challenge now is to start over again with a good week of preparation for Oregon.
But didn't that happen last week with focused practices the same as for the first two games?
Carroll was asked if a lack of leadership led to a weaker performance on the field.
"A leadership issue?" Carroll said, repeating the question. "Yeah, me -- to put it frankly."
Possible USC Changes
Health issues are starting points for picking starters for Saturday.
If middle linebacker Rey Maualuga's sprained right knee doesn't come around, look for Brian Cushing, with a big new cast protecting a fractured right middle finger, to move there.
The results of Maualuga's MRI weren't known late Monday, but he's -- at best -- day-to-day after getting almost no work.
Also in the mix now that he's fully recovered from summer back surgery is redshirt freshman Chris Galippo, who was held back from the Oregon State game to be sure he was ready. If Cushing starts at middle, look for Mike Morgan to start on the outside.
Also pencil in Clay Matthews Jr. somewhere. Although Matthews worked mostly at defensive end Monday for sophomore Everson Griffen, Carroll said he wasn't ready to say where Matthews would start, just that he would.
"Clay's had three great games," Carroll said.
Junior nose tackle Averill Spicer drew two personal foul penalties before halftime and had trouble with the Beavers' double-team tackling. So freshman Jurrell Casey will get a long look this week.
At wide receiver, the lone bright spot, the three who figure to get most of the plays now are Damian Williams, Patrick Turner and Ronald Johnson, Carroll said.
As for the running backs, all Carroll said was, "We'll see."
But there will be almost certainly a change at right offensive guard where Carroll said Zack Heberer will be out a while with a sprained left big toe, an injury the coach described as "serious." Heberer wore a boot Monday. Backup Alex Parsons should get the start.
More USC Notes
Former heavyweight boxing champion Ken Norton Sr., father of linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr., visited practice.
Junior cornerback Shareece Wright was still in a neck brace a week after learning Sept. 22 that he had a hairline spinal fracture and will be out at least four weeks. "I'm a fast healer," Wright said, hoping he'll be medically cleared to discard the brace Wednesday. "But you have to realize it is your neck."
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
USC's Carroll sees change coming
The truth about . . . when USC loses in football
David Wharton Los Angeles Times
Family and friends call to talk about the game. On campus, classmates offer their congratulations.
USC players are accustomed to basking in the accolades after a win. But what happens when they lose?
In the wake of last week's upset defeat at Oregon State, they talk about all the text messages and phone calls, the questions from fellow students.
Receiver Patrick Turner: "Family will always be like, 'It's OK.' And your boys will ask what happened. It's almost embarrassing. You don't want to get text messages or phone calls. You don't want to talk to anybody."
Safety Kevin Ellison: "I just got people who said, 'Keep your head up' or, 'Good luck next game.' It wasn't so bad."
Offensive guard Jeff Byers: "There are guys in my MBA classes who are huge fans. You can't be surprised when people ask you. We're in the spotlight, we came here to be in the spotlight.
"When you lose games, you've got to expect to answer questions about it. You want to talk about it when you win, so you can't pick and choose."
Defensive end Kyle Moore, who is from Georgia: "I get a lot of text messages from my buddies on different teams. A lot of them say 'It's going to be all right.' A lot of them, it's trash talk. Especially the guys from Georgia. They said 'How can you all lose to Oregon State?' Then they turn around and lose at home."
For USC, a game with major bowl implications
For ninth-ranked USC, Saturday night's game against No. 23 Oregon holds ramifications arguably greater than any regular-season game in six seasons.
Forget the ones that kept alive winning streaks. Dismiss those that clinched conference titles or berths in the Bowl Championship Series title game.
The six-time defending Pacific 10 Conference champion Trojans, reeling from an upset loss to Oregon State last Thursday, are in danger of not only falling out of the hunt for the national title, but also finding themselves way off the Pac-10 pace in early October.
"This one holds a lot of clout," senior defensive tackle Fili Moala said.
Oregon, leading the conference and an offensive juggernaut, comes to the Coliseum 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference.
Say what you will about Oregon's schedule -- its victories came against Washington, Utah State, Purdue and Washington State, which are a combined 4-13 -- but the team's spread attack is operating at full power despite an injury-fueled revolving door at quarterback, making the Ducks a threat for their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1995.
Previously top-ranked USC, meanwhile, still has its sights set on traveling to Florida for the BCS championship game. A third straight Rose Bowl appearance without a BCS title at stake would be regarded as a consolation prize.
But if Oregon knocks off USC, the Trojans could be contemplating a second-tier bowl game for the first time since their Christmas Day loss to Utah in the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl.
Holiday Bowl, anyone? How about New Year's Eve in El Paso at the Sun Bowl?
It could happen if the Trojans do not shore up the problems that plagued them in their loss to Oregon State, a 25 1/2 -point underdog.
"Just the taste of that loss hopefully fuels some things than can get guys going in the right direction," offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said.
USC's offensive and defensive lines traveled mostly backward against Oregon State, the Beavers pushing the Trojans off the line of scrimmage like no team since Texas in the 2006 BCS championship game.
A national television audience watched freshman Jacquizz Rodgers run and spin right through the middle of a USC defense that was ranked second nationally.
Coach Pete Carroll said the Trojans might have been "rusty" and victims of their own success. USC routed Virginia and Ohio State in its first two games and for the most part did not have to defend the run.
"We'd gotten away with some stuff in other games that didn't matter because the score was out of hand," he said. "We just didn't clean it up fast enough against a team that got it going and stayed with it."
Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti was among the interested observers who watched Oregon State mix quick passes with running plays that went straight ahead instead of laterally.
"The one thing Oregon State did was sustain blocks at the line of scrimmage," said Bellotti, whose team averages 47 points and 532 yards a game. "We're looking at that as a blueprint for success, but we don't do some of the blocking schemes and I'm not sure changing at this point is going to help us.
"But we're trying to figure out some ways to duplicate that."
A repeat performance by USC could leave the Trojans with consecutive regular-season losses for the first time since 2001, Carroll's first season.
Moala said the problems against Oregon State were "a matter of effort," while defensive coordinator Nick Holt cited breakdowns in tech- nique.
"We just have to get back to fundamentals," Holt said.
The offensive line is doing the same after allowing pressure on quarterback Mark Sanchez and creating lanes for only 86 yards rushing.
"On certain plays we were outmanned," sophomore tackle Butch Lewis said. "We got overpowered and they made us look like any other team."
Senior guard Jeff Byers said that younger linemates might have been lulled into a false sense of superiority after the easy victories against Virginia and Ohio State.
He also suggested an attitude adjustment might be in order.
"You have to know that teams are going to try to hit you in the mouth and you have to be ready to hit back," Byers said. "If Oregon does the same thing, it's going to be a great game."
Chris Galippo may end up in middle of it all for USC
Gary Klein Los Angeles Times
Chris Galippo envisioned a methodical path into the starting lineup when he arrived at USC in the fall of 2007:
Play as a reserve behind a Butkus Award candidate, then gradually take over the middle linebacker position.
A back injury, however, forced Galippo to have surgery and redshirt after three games last season. A second back surgery 13 weeks ago kept him out of practice and off the sideline for the first three games this season.
But when the ninth-ranked Trojans play No. 23 Oregon on Saturday, Galippo could be in the starting lineup. If senior Rey Maualuga remains sidelined because of a knee sprain, Galippo might be running the defense for a team looking to bounce back from an upset loss at Oregon State.
"Sometimes opportunity's just thrown at you and you just have to be ready for it," Galippo said Tuesday after his second full practice.
The 6-foot-2, 255-pound Galippo was regarded as the leader of the 2007 recruiting class, a player who made an early commitment to the Trojans out of Anaheim Servite High and then urged others to join him.
But Galippo's back problems, along with those of fourth-year junior LuthurBrown, left the Trojans thin in the middle.
Galippo was cleared for full contact last week.
"It's his moment so he needs to prepare as well as he can," Coach Pete Carroll said. "We need to figure out if it's fair to him with the amount of preparation he's had to put him out there."
Maualuga was examined by doctors Tuesday and will not require surgery, an athletic department official said. Maualuga said he would try to return for the game against the Ducks.
"I'm not counting Rey out," Carroll said.
But Galippo is preparing for his moment.
"I shook off a little more rust and I'm getting back into it," Galippo said. "My back feels great. It's just a matter of waking up with a little more of a football ache that I'm not really used to."
Hazelton to redshirt?
Junior Vidal Hazelton, who caught more passes than any USC wide receiver last season but has fallen behind sophomore transfer Damian Williams, said he had spoken to Carroll about the possibility of redshirting.
Hazelton started against Virginia and caught five passes for 33 yards but suffered a high ankle sprain. He did not catch a pass against Ohio State or Oregon State.
"I would take a redshirt year because a lot of things are going on right now," said Hazelton, who practiced Tuesday.
"I think it would be good for me to just grow up as a person too."
Carroll said he did not know whether Hazelton's ankle would preclude him from playing the rest of the season.
"He needs to battle his way back to get his plays," Carroll said.
Sanchez sore
As a freshman in 2005, Mark Sanchez watched quarterbacks Matt Leinart and John David Booty struggle through minor injuries each week and thought, "C'mon man. Playing quarterback is easy."
"I know exactly where they were coming from now," Sanchez said Tuesday.
Sanchez taped the right ankle he said he "tweaked" during the game against Oregon State and also wore a bandage on his left elbow for an abrasion suffered while diving out of bounds.
"It's just a long season," said Sanchez, who has passed for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns with three interceptions. "You're never really going to be 100% and those aches and pains are here."
Bradford, Carroll meet
Tailback Allen Bradford met with Carroll before practice. Bradford told The Times on Monday that he was frustrated because he did not carry the ball once against Oregon State.
"Really competitive people want to contribute," Carroll said. "I expect that attitude. Hopefully, guys get their chances."
Quick kicks
Kicker David Buehler suffered a sprained ligament in his right knee during practice but said he would be available Saturday. . . . Carroll on fired Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, formerly USC's co-offensive coordinator: "Would I have him back someday? Yeah, but we probably can't touch him. I think he's beyond that. He's going to be a head coach again real soon I would think."
USC's Carroll blasts Davis for firing of Kiffin
MICHAEL LEV OCRegister.com LOS ANGELES – USC coach Pete Carroll blasted Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, who on Tuesday fired former Carroll aide Lane Kiffin, accused him of lying and refused to pay him the remainder of his salary. "I couldn't really be more disappointed for the game of football. I thought today was really a dark moment," Carroll said. "To go to that level ... hurts football, the NFL and coaching. It wasn't necessary at all. "The owner gets to do what he wants. He made his choice, and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't fault anything there. But just the manner of all the finger pointing and the name calling. It was not informed, and it seemed out of touch. I thought it was unfortunate that it came down like that." Kiffin started at USC in 2001 as a position coach before becoming offensive coordinator in 2005. He got the job in '01 in part because of Carroll's relationship with Kiffin's father, Monte, the defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When Davis hired him in 2007, Lane Kiffin, at age 31, was the youngest head coach in NFL history. But Davis said Tuesday: "It was after a short period of time that I realized I didn't hire the person I thought I was hiring. ... I just couldn't go on much longer with the propaganda of lying that has been going on." Kiffin refuted Davis' claims. Carroll acknowledged Davis' place in NFL history but lamented the way he handled the firing. "Al Davis has been an iconic, tremendous figure in the history of professional football," Carroll said. "To come across like that, it's too bad." BRADFORD FRUSTRATED Junior running back Allen Bradford met for about 10 minutes with Carroll before practice. Bradford complained publicly Monday after getting zero carries in USC's 27-21 loss at Oregon State last week. "He understands my frustration," Bradford said. "I'm not sure if that's going to get me more carries. "I'm not a selfish player. I'm not going to just go up there and say give me the ball. I just told him what I felt and what was on my mind. After talking to him I felt a little better. We'll see how the game goes." USC coaches said they would reassess the four-tailback rotation heading into Saturday's game against Oregon. MEDICAL REPORT Middle linebacker Rey Maualuga did not practice for the second day in a row and remains day to day because of a sprained right knee. His status is uncertain for Saturday. ...
Quarterback Mark Sanchez had his left ankle taped and had a bandage on his left elbow but practiced without any restrictions. ...
Right guard Zack Heberer shed the boot he wore Monday but didn't practice and won't play against Oregon because of turf toe in the big toe of his left foot. He said his goal is to return to practice next week. ...
Kicker David Buehler has a first-degree MCL sprain in his right knee but said he will play Saturday. Buehler suffered the injury while practicing onside kicks Monday. He wore a sleeve during practice Tuesday.
USC ready to make lineup changes
MICHAEL LEV OCRegister.com
LOS ANGELES – One defeat was enough to prompt lineup changes for USC.
Senior Clay Matthews, a standout sub in the first three games, will start Saturday against Oregon. The exact position he plays is still to be determined.
Matthews worked with the first team at defensive end during Monday's practice, replacing sophomore Everson Griffen. Griffen was part of a defensive line that failed to hold the point of attack during USC's 27-21 loss to Oregon State.
The defense yielded 186 rushing yards to freshman tailback Jacquizz Rodgers. Griffen was credited with three assisted tackles.
"He can play better," USC defensive coordinator Nick Holt said. "He knows it. He didn't play as well as he needs to."
Although he worked at Griffen's spot Monday, Matthews might not remain there. He is one of the primary options at linebacker, where further changes could be afoot, in this case because of injuries.
Middle linebacker Rey Maualuga was limited to side work Monday after suffering a sprained MCL in his right knee against Oregon State.
Coach Pete Carroll and Maualuga termed him "day to day." Maualuga is wearing a brace on his knee but has no swelling.
If Maualuga can't play, Carroll might move Brian Cushing to the middle, opening the strong-side spot for sophomore Michael Morgan or Matthews. Another option is to start redshirt freshman Chris Galippo at middle linebacker, although Galippo is just returning from a back injury and hasn't played in a game in more than a year.
"The first thought is Cush goes there," Carroll said of the middle linebacker spot, "but I want to see how Galippo looks. I'd like to make fewer moves if we could."
The coaches also worked freshman Jurrell Casey into the nose tackle rotation with Christian Tupou, dropping Averell Spicer to the second unit.
Now is not the time for uncertainty. Oregon has what Carroll called "the biggest offense we've seen in a long time."
MORE CHANGES?
Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said the coaching staff will "assess" the four-man tailback rotation during practice this week.
USC continues to list Joe McKnight, C.J. Gable, Stafon Johnson and Allen Bradford as "co-starters," but Bradford barely played against the Beavers (zero touches) and McKnight didn't play effectively.
Monday, September 29, 2008
USC QB Sanchez: Trojans can't just rely on reputation alone
Scott Wolf LA Daily News
USC quarterback Mark Sanchez came to a harsh conclusion Sunday while pondering the Trojans' still-bitter loss to Oregon State.
"The 'SC interlock logo doesn't win games," Sanchez said.
Former USC coach Larry Smith was fired when he made a similar comment in 1992, but Sanchez should be able to get away with it - as long as the Trojans don't lose too many more games.
"The coaches always say you just can't show up in cardinal and gold," he said. "It's good for our team, I guess. I don't know what it teaches us but it teaches us something.
"There's plenty of mistakes we need to clean up and I'm as guilty as the next guy. We just didn't play like us and it really showed."
USC watched film of its 27-21loss to Oregon State on Sunday night, the team' s first gathering since the loss that caused the Trojans to tumble to ninth in The Associated Press and coaches' top 25 polls.
Sanchez said it was still too early to render a judgment on whether USC could play in the BCS title game.
"We're still in good shape big-picture wise," he said. "Team morale is fine. You lay an egg on Thursday and come back and play on Saturday."
Sanchez remained convinced USC did not overlook Oregon State or become a victim of its own hype as a consensus No. 1 team.
"Coach (Pete Carroll) talked about it after the game. He didn't see it. There were no signs (of arrogance)," Sanchez said.
"The little mistakes we got away with in the first two games, Oregon State made us pay for. They were the better team and deserved it.
"There were a lot of mistakes we can clean up with one practice."
Sanchez said he did not feel any better because top-five teams Georgia and Florida also lost over the weekend.
"It just happens," he said. "You can't win them all. It's just the way it is.'
Instead, he credited Oregon State, which placed far more pressure on him than Virginia or Ohio State.
"They had a good game plan up front," he said. "They were physical and made their assignments. They were lights out."
Carroll admitted USC was less successful keeping pressure off Sanchez, which is surprising only because of the kudos piled on the offensive line the first two games.
"They got more penetration than we've been allowing," Carroll said. "We picked things up better the first two weeks. We missed picking up some stunts that we had handled much cleaner the first two games."
Also ...
Safety Taylor Mays said he is scheduled to get another X-ray for his bruised chest but feels fine.
"I'm straight. I got hit in the chest and coughed up blood," Mays said.
"I'm all right. I can breathe now." ...
Cornerback Shareece Wright wore a neck brace and said he did not know how long he would be sidelined. Wright has a hairline fracture in a vertebra in his neck.
"I don't know how long it will take," Wright said.
Carroll said it would probably be about six weeks. ...
Linebacker Rey Maualuga is scheduled to get an MRI on his sprained knee today.
This just in at USC: Going undefeated is difficult
Los Angeles Times
The more time passes since USC's 2004 national championship season, the more the difficulty of finishing unbeaten can be appreciated.
The Trojans were reminded of that over the weekend after their defeat at Oregon State and the subsequent fall of other top-five teams.
Four years ago, the Trojans never stumbled en route to 13-0 record, finishing the season with a rout of Oklahoma in the Bowl Championship Series title game.
"We were so dynamic offensively it made up for problems," Coach Pete Carroll said Sunday night. "And in hard games and difficult games something would happen.
"A lot of it was Reggie."
Reggie, of course, was tailback Reggie Bush, who laid the groundwork for his 2005 Heisman Trophy season with game-saving plays or otherwise prolific efforts in 2004 against Virginia Tech, Stanford, Oregon State and UCLA to name a few.
The Trojans played three ranked teams that season, staging a dramatic defensive stand to hold off No. 7 California, 23-17, wallop No. 15 Arizona State, 45-7, and dismantle No. 2 Oklahoma, 55-19.
On Saturday, the ninth-ranked Trojans play a ranked opponent for possibly the final time this regular season.
Oregon is ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll after improving to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference with an easy win over Washington State.
Carroll reiterated that he is not concerned about rankings or climbing back into the hunt for the national title.
"I'm just trying to win a game this week," he said.
Schedule updates
Saturday's game, which starts at 5 p.m., will be televised on Channel 7 and also will be available for viewing on ESPN360.com.
USC's Oct. 11 home game against Arizona State will start at 12:30 p.m. and also will be televised on Channel 7.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
String of other upsets could help Trojans in college football poll
Gary Klein Los Angeles Times
Well, they're not dead yet.
Far from it, apparently.
The state of USC football will be determined to a degree when the first Harris Interactive poll is released today, but the still-reeling Trojans could not have hoped for a more fortuitous weekend in college football following their debacle in Corvallis, Ore.
Fourth-ranked Florida's home loss to Mississippi on Saturday deflected some of the embarrassing national attention that had been heaped upon USC since the then-No. 1 Trojans lost to Oregon State on Thursday night.
Third-ranked Georgia's loss to eighth-ranked Alabama and ninth-ranked Wisconsin's loss to Michigan is expected to cushion the Trojans' fall in the polls.
Then there's the matter of the Trojans' next opponent.
Oregon, which visits the Coliseum next Saturday, is expected to move into the top 25 after improving to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference with a lopsided victory over Washington State.
A win over a ranked Ducks team would help USC begin to repair its image after a 27-21 loss to a 25 1/2 -point underdog.
But USC Coach Pete Carroll is not too concerned about rankings.
"We're in a recovery mode for conference," Carroll said Friday.
USC players were off Saturday and will not practice again until Monday, but they will no doubt return with a renewed sense of hope as it relates to the national championship picture.
Carroll does not plan to spend a lot of time looking back at Oregon State.
"We won't dwell on it," he said. "We'll make the corrections and move on. The game is gone and behind us. We'll take a step ahead instead of taking a step back."
