2010 NCAA Football Preview: USC
Typically whenever the USC Trojan football team enters into discussions of national importance, it is because they are one of the best teams in the nation. In recent years the team could always be found in and around the top five in the nation.
However, that trend has come to a stop. In Pete Carrol’s final season the team had consistency issues at quarterback with young Matt Barkley as the first true freshman to start for the Trojans (and for a preseason top 5 team). They were still able to finish with a 9-4 record, a trip to the Emerald Bowl, and a top 25 finish (#20 in the Coaches Poll and #22 in the AP Poll).
Then the bottom fell out of the program. Longtime coach Carrol, surprisingly departed for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. Shortly after news of Carrol’s departure came out, stories began to appear in the media about possible violations. In the end, the football program (along with the basketball program)was hit with a number of sanctions including vacating all of the victories that Reggie Bush played in, 30 scholarships over the next three years, and a two-year ban from the postseason.
What that means for the 2010 season is that the Trojans will not be playing for a national championship anytime soon; however, they will have every chance to finish in the top 25.
Offence
The good thing about starting a freshman quarterback is that he will be so much better in his sophomore year. While Barkley did have his growing pains in 2009 he still did pretty good; he completed just fewer than 60% of his passes (211 of 352) for 2735 yards and 15 touchdowns. His interception total will go down (14) as he gets more experience.
Last season running back Allen Bradford had to share the job with the now departed Joe McKnight (now with the New York Jets). McKnight carried the bulk of the load in ’09, but Bradford proved capable with the performance that he turned in; on his 115 carries he gained 668 yards and eight touchdowns. He may end up sharing time with Stafon Johnson who scored five touchdowns in just 32 carries last season.
Gone will be his favorite target from last season in Damian Williams (70 catches for 1010 yards). Good thing for Barkley that a school like USC tends to attract a lot of talent. Brice Butler will be one of the guys that will be looked upon to step up. As a freshman in limited time he caught 20 balls for 292 yards; in his last year in high school he accumulated 1186 yards receiving and 15 touchdowns.
The team is talented; Carrol would not have recruited anything else. However, the question remains as to whether new head coach Lane Kiffin will be able to take over and lead effectively.
Defence
With the talent that teams in the PAC-10 have, the defense of the Trojans will have their hands full. Last season they were not bad at anything, but pretty much okay across the board. Overall the defence ranked 40th in the nation giving up 340 yards a game.
The pride of the defense will be in the front seven. Of the group, all are returning starters except one on the front four. Christian Tupou returns to anchor the group at nose tackle; the 6’2” 285 pounder has been a steady player in the middle for a couple seasons now. Michael Morgan and Malcolm Smith return for their senior seasons to anchor the linebackers. This group of talented starters have talented players backing them up; they should easily improve off their 18th ranking in sack production and 39th in rush defense.
Where this team will hurt is in pass defense. They lost three of the four starters in the secondary, all three being all-conference players as well. With that much talent gone, they're bound to be weaker this year. That in turn could negate some of the talent the team has up front with teams likely to throw early and often against the Trojans.
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