USC Trojans

Head Coach

Pete Carroll	8th year
07-08	11-2
PAC-10	6-2
FCR	2

Previous Season Wins

USC Preview by Chris Farrelly

Head Coach - Entering his 8th season Pete Carroll’s USC teams have won at least 11 wins in the last 6 seasons, pretty impressive. He’s an intelligent coach and is going to need to pull out all of his tricks this season as this team doesn’t appear to be as dominant as in past years.

Quarterback - At quarterback junior Mark Sanchez has some big shoes to fill at USC quarterbacks win Heisman’s and National Championships and the faithful expect nothing less. Sanchez won the job from sophomore Mitch Mustain, the heralded Arkansas transfer this spring but will need to perform to keep it as Carroll won’t hesitate to go with Mustain if necessary.

Running Backs - Tailback Joe McKnight hopes to carry over his impressive Rose Bowl performance into the 2008 season. The sophomore will need to get his academics in order to be on the field this fall but is the frontrunner to start and has the skill set to be the next “Reggie Bush”. The Trojans are extremely deep in the backfield and have last year’s leading rusher in junior Stafon Johnson returning as well as speedy sophomore C.J. Gable who hopes to keep his injuries on the sidelines this season. At fullback sophomore Stanley Havili is an excellent blocker an incoming freshman Broderick is another big back with great between the tackles running skills.

Receivers - On the outside they return three players who started at times last season in senior Patrick Turner, junior Vidal Hazelton and sophomore David Auberry, although none of the three had a particularly good year. Someone will need to step up to take some of the pressure of Sanchez, Arkansas transfer Damien Williams has outstanding speed and could be the best of the bunch. At tight end junior Anthony McCoy will get the starting assignment and will be asked to block and contribute in the short passing game.

Offensive Line - Only one starter returns and that is senior Jeff Byers at left guard, the rest of the unit will be underclassmen but this is USC and they’re all skilled. Look for a pair of juniors at the tackles with Charles Brown on the left and at right tackle will be Alex Parsons. On the inside will be sophomores Zach Heberer at right guard and at center Kristofer O’Dowd, who played well last season in a reserve role. With the backs that USC possesses they only need a small crack to exploit but the line will need to provide Sanchez adequate time to look downfield.

Defensive Line - Upfront the Trojans return but one starter but in senior Fili Moala at defensive tackle they have a solid contributor, next to him on the inside will be either junior Averell Spicer or sophomore Christian Tupou. At defensive end sophomore Everson Griffen has speed and size and will be given the chance to show the skills that made him one of the top recruits two seasons ago, at the other end look for senior Kyle Moore who had a good year in spot duty last season.

Linebackers - One of the best units in the nation lead by senior Rey Maualuga in the middle and on the strongside senior Brian Cushing, Maualuga led the Trojans in tackles with 79 and in sacks with six. Senior Kaluka Maiava stepped in last season on the weakside and played well when given the opportunity.

Defensive Backs - Great unit led by returning All-American junior Taylor Mays at free safety and at strong safety is senior Kevin Ellison who was an All-PAC 10 selection, they’re dominant run stoppers and will also close in the middle quickly on opposing receivers. At the corners senior Cary Harris returns on one side and he’ll be joined by junior Shareece Wright who started once last year and earned the starting spot with his spring performance.

Schedule - The Trojans return both kickers in seniors David Buehler who’ll handle the placekicking an Greg Woidneck who’ll do the punting. The returns are in excellent hands with sophomores Joe McKnight, C.J. Gable and Ronald Johnson.

Schedule - We’ll all get the chance to see what they’ve got when they play powerhouse Ohio State on September 13th. They get Arizona St, Oregon and Cal at home and that’s a plus but they’ll need for both lines to come together quickly as they must replace 7 starters upfront. USC is not going to quite be USC this year, of course they’ll get double digit wins and a BCS bid but no National Championship as the Trojans win only 10+ games this season.