Pyle of List

It is three weeks and one day until USC’s football season begins. I am pumped! The only slightly disappointing thing about the upcoming season is USC’s turdfest that is being passed as a home schedule this year. Every good game is on the road this year. Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, and Cal are all road games. The only home game of note this year is UCLA which won’t be much of a contest because of the revenge-game factor. That being said, I am still excited about the games I have tickets to…it’s just that I could be more excited. As of right now, I have tickets to see USC play the Idaho Vandals, the Washington State Huskies, and the Oregon State Beavers or as I call them, “The Pacific Northwest Pu Pu Platter”.

I know our wide receivers are the biggest question mark going into the season. But they’re pretty much the only question mark right? Let’s go down the list:

• Quarterback: Booty is legit. It’s quite possible that he’ll get an invitation to New York at the end of the season.
• Running Backs: I’m sure you’ve heard that there are 10 guys at the RB position that were Parade All-American’s in high school. So we’ve got a lot of good options. I’m hoping a couple of them distance themselves from the rest and create a two headed monster, ala Bush-White Lite. If that doesn’t happen, and the team has to rotate to whichever back is hot I can live with that. There’s plenty of talent there.
• Tight End: Fred Davis started at USC as a wide receiver. He’s just a bit bigger now, that’s all. He’s going to be a favorite target of Booty.
• O-line: The Trojans lost Ryan Kalil, the real leader on the field of last year’s offense. He’s going to be tough to replace. I see Booty taking the leadership role this year though. Sam Baker and Co. should be able to do a fine job of blocking for the run which will set up the play action and passing game.
• D-Line: Lo-Jack and Sed Ellis are all you need to know.
• Linebackers: It’s a toss up between this position and the running back position about which is deeper. My vote goes to the linebackers. Keith Rivers, Rey Maualuga, Brian Cushing, super-frosh Chris Galippo…it goes on and on.
• Secondary: The corners are in good hands with Harris and Thomas. The safety position is a huge asset too with Ellison and Superman Mays returning as starters. Josh Pinkard is healthy again, and hopefully not driving drunk. So he should be able to help in nickel situations.
• Special Teams: I’ll call this group the team’s second biggest question mark. After the tragic passing of Mario Danelo last spring, the Trojans kicker will be David Buehler. He made the longest field goal of the season last year for the team though, so I have high hopes for him.
• And now the Wide Receivers:Patrick Turner is the most experienced receiver we have on the team this year. He’s a 6′5″ 220 lb junior from Tennessee. During the off-season practices, he’s taken a leadership role amongst the younger players at his position. Hopefully, he’ll be remind USC fans of Mike Williams and Dwayne Jarrett in no time. Vidal Hazelton and Travon Patterson should start seeing plenty of action as well. If the Trojans can focus on their running game and the short passing game to start the season, it should give the receivers time to develop.

Next week, I’ll come at you with some predictions for the upcoming college football season.

If you want more daily info on the Trojan football team, check this out: Ben Malcomson, who is a walk-on wide receiver for the team, is writing a daily blog of updates on what is happening during the Trojans preseason camp. I don’t know if he writes all the updates, or if someone in the Sports Information office gives him a little help. However, any extra little bits of info about the team, no matter who they come from, are alright with me. I also don’t know if the blog is just for the preseason or will last through the regular season as well. I’m hoping for the latter. Give it a read though. Ben is a good guy. He was a writer for the Daily Trojan as an undergrad and tried out as a walk-on for a story he was working on. Well, he made the team and decided to stick around for his Masters degree while playing football. And now he’s feeding us inane info that I can’t get enough of. On an unrelated note, he also worked with me as a valet attendant from time to time.

Lastly, I leave you with a look at the 2007 USC Song Girls. Fight On!