Matt Barkley isn't the most important player on USC's 2012 roster. In fact, five other players will be more important to the Trojans' potential national championship hopes than Barkley.We all know that Barkley is one of the nation's most talented ...
Watching #1 singles player Steven Johnson defeat Dukes Henrique Cunha (#5 ranked player) 6-4, 6-0, it was like he was just hanging around, then decided to run all over Cunda. This was only the sixth match of the year that Cunda has lost and was the ...
There is an old adage that says, "If you have two starting quarterbacks, you really have none."
That truism also applies to the backup quarterback position for the USC Trojans, which finds Cody Kessler and Max Wittek—both redshirt freshmen—neck and neck on the depth chart behind the legendary Matt Barkley.
Going into the fall practice session, both young gunslingers have played beyond expectations yet neither has distanced himself from the other.
Quite a conundrum for Coach Kiffin and quarterbacks Coach Clay Helton...but it's one that has to be figured out soon.
This slideshow will look at why nurturing the second-string quarterback is so critical to the Trojans' success both this year and beyond.
Although Trojan fans will pray for Matt Barkley to take every snap, the scary truth is that having a backup ready to take the field is critical.
The Women of Troy Moved past the Cardinal to the semi-finals with a 4-2 victory and will face #1 Ucla for the third time this season, they are 1-1 on the year. After pulling out the doubles with Lao/ Ramos clinching with a 8-6 win after being 6-6, the trojans handled the #4 seed stanford in singles taking 3 of 5 and leading in the remaining match. In singles the cardinal won the first match at #1 singles Nicole Gibbs over Zoe Scandalis 6-1,6-4, Gibbs dominated the first set only losing her serve and finished off Zoe with a tight second set. Gibbs is the #3 ranked player in the ncaa where Scandalis is only #14, plus stanfords #2 player Mallory Burdette is ranked #5.
Cal football's 2013 quarterback commit Jared Goff goes head-to-head with USC commit Max Browne, and takes home the Golden Gun accuracy crown at the Elite 11 Oakland Regional.
The Los Angeles Police Department arrested two men Friday afternoon believed to be responsible for the fatal shooting of two international graduate students in April, LAPD Detective David Garrido said. Garrido said the suspects, who are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, are Bryan Barnes, 20, and Javier Bolden, 19. While the suspects, who are being held [...]
USC baseball will honor the 1972 national champions at this Saturday's game. The Trojans finished off a three-peat that season shutting out Arizona 1-0 in the College World Series final.
The team was led by Fred Lynn, who would go on to become the first player ever to win the AL MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season, but it also featured famed Notre Dame killer Anthony Davis.
A.D. posed for this classic shot with head coach Rod Dedeaux...
Happy Friday.
This is where you follow me on Twitter.
To the notes.
Dave from Birmingham writes: Not sure I get you. Why would you not want the four best teams to play in a playoff? That's what a playoff is about. I know there's a subjective part to this but that's inevitable. Is everyone that afraid of a consensus favoring the SEC because the SEC is the best conference?
Ted Miller: In a word, yes. And no matter how you frame it, that so-called consensus remains subjective.
The road to an NCAA title can be lonely. Most USC teams are shipped away from the heart of the Trojan Family in Southern California to college locales across the map.
Luckily for men's and women's tennis, the teams have each other this year. Both NCAA Tournaments are being played simultaneously in Athens, GA, which allows the programs to support one and other on off days.
This morning, the Women of Troy were up bright and early to fire up the men. Saturday, the three-time defending champs will bring the emotion from the stands as the women's team plays for its first Final Four appearance since 2006.
(Photo by Bill Kallenberg)
To make the men feel at home, the women's team belted out a SoCal spell out this morning...
They may not have as many scholarships to offer as other schools but the University of Southern California Trojans are making the ones they have count. Last month, the nation's top high school quarterback made a commitment to the Trojans and now, in a matter of a couple days, USC has garnered two of the top running backs in the country heading into 2013.
USC men's volleyball head coach Bill Ferguson and his staff are hosting
an advanced skill volleyball camp designed for boys between the ages of
14 to 18 seeking to maximize their potential in all areas of the game on
July 16-18 at USC's Galen Center. Click here to register.
This is an advanced skill camp designed for
boys between the ages of 14-18 seeking to maximize their potential in all
areas of the game. While the camp is open to everyone, one year of club
volleyball experience is preferred.
The campers will receive the highest level of instruction working with National Coach of the Year Bill Ferguson and his staff, including two-time National Player of the Year Jeff Nygaard.
Lindsay Crouch/USCTrojans.com
The 16 members of the USC football team -- and Matt Barkley's brother, Sam, at the bottom left -- who made the trip to Haiti pose during a day of a work. They built four houses in four days.
As soon as the rain started pouring and the winds started spiraling a few hours after he and 16 members of the USC football team arrived in Haiti last Saturday, Les Barkley knew his guests were in for the experience of their lives.
Greg Katz writes : Any sort of May malaise USC fans might have been in was eradicated with two four-star RB commits, a Hall of Fame inductee, a goodwill mission and long-awaited control of their home stadium.
WeAreSC Mailbag : In this weekly feature, Erik McKinney answers reader questions on the strength of Kenny Bigelow's recruitment, out-of-state recruits and the presence of negative recruiting in sales pitches.
Happy Friday.
My take-away from this interesting column from George Schroeder about Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez is how good a dude Mike Stoops is.
Former Arizona State QB Brock Osweiler knows he's made it now.
Checking in with California RB Brendan Bigelow.
Some Colorado hand-wringing, but guys did you see this! A 4-0 start is possible.
Oregon's athletic department revenue is good, but not as good as some numbers suggest.
A look at BYU, a team Oregon State, Utah and Washington State play this fall.
No. 1 USC men's tennis swept away Illinois this morning before the Pacific sun had a chance to settle in the sky. The three-time-defending champion Trojans know they are the marked men coming into the NCAA Tournament, so they avoided a sleepy start despite the 9 a.m. eastern (6 a.m. body time) first serve.
"The other teams are out to get us, so we just kind of stay under the radar as much as we can and go out there and just try and beat people," said senior captain Steve Johnson (pictured below).
Next up: USC will battle Duke in the national quarterfinals on Sunday. The Trojans defeated the Blue Devils earlier this season.
The inaugural season of USC sand volleyball came and went in the span of less than two months. The Women of Troy finished the year 7-4 in dual matches, while the top pairs of Geena Urango/Sara Shaw and Kirby Burnham/Kelly Irvin advance to the national quarterfinals.
At the season-ending banquet, head coach Anna Biller Collier named captain Geena Urango the team MVP.
Mark Schlabach has published another iteration of his way-too-early power rankings, that now no longer seem that way too early.
You can see them here.
LSU is No. 1, which makes perfect sense to me. USC is No. 2. Ditto on that. Oregon is No. 4. Alabama is No. 3. That means we could end up with the SEC and Pac-12 giving us a pair of national semifinals in the BCS's penultimate season.
Schlabach on the Trojans:
With 19 starters coming back from a 10-2 team in 2011, including star quarterback Matt Barkley, USC seems armed to return to national prominence.
It was a huge week for the future of USC football. USCFootball.com Senior Analyst Gerard Martinez breaks down the Trojans latest commitments in Stockton (Calif.) four-star running back Justin Davis and Joliet (Ill.) four-star running back Ty Isaac.
SEC and Big 12 folks been tweaking the Big Ten and Pac-12's love of the Rose Bowl of late. That made me grin because the primary motivation for those tweaks was jealousy.
Don't buy that assessment? Well, then what do you make of this? The SEC and Big 12 champions, starting in 2014 after the current BCS contract expires and we presumably adopt a four-team playoff, will meet annually in a prime time New Year's Day "bowl" game.
Unless, of course, the SEC and/or Big 12 champions are selected for the four-team playoff, which one is almost certain to be and both are likely to be.
In case you haven't noticed, we've got a bit of a theme going on this week -- important games in the Pac-12. Obviously, everyone is circling the Nov. 3 showdown between USC and Oregon in Los Angeles. But there are other games to enjoy along the way. So this week we're looking at games we're most excited about.
Ted Miller: I like measuring-stick games, games that perhaps reveal the talent and heart of a team, as well as, of course, where they rank in the Pac-12 pecking order.
After USC received pledges from two of the top running backs in the country this week, we analyze the aftermath on the recruiting front in the War Room, including who could be next up for the Trojans.
If it seems like just yesterday we were talking to you about Lane Kiffin's recruiting prowess you are not far off. Tuesday, the USC head coach got a commitment from Ty Isaac, one of the nation's top ranked running backs and he did headline our weekly recruiting update yesterday. The Laner was not done for the week, though. Thursday evening Kiffin was able to fill his running back goal for the recruiting cycle by earning a commitment from Justin Davis (via the LA Times), another elite rusher.
Davis is another guy that Kiffin targeted and truly wanted to get.
The rising senior from Stockton, California chose the Trojans over Washington and Cal as the place where he would play his college football. Davis is a solid running back with the ability to run away from defenders but he also possesses some physicality about himself. He can break tackles, catch the ball out of the backfield and he played in a largely pro styled attack in high school that will help him transition to the Trojans scheme.
For Lane Kiffin, this is just another notch in a long line of recruiting successes. The coach was doing it for the Trojans when he was an assistant coach. Then he did it at Tennessee in his one-year stint as a head coach.
Now, entering year three at USC, Kiffin is proving that he is a force in recruiting.
Some would have you believe that it is just the USC name—that might be. Certainly schools like Texas, Alabama, Ohio State and Florida have a certain cache when it comes to walking into a room. However, the ability of Kiffin to recruit at a high level is more than just school he represents. In today's recruiting landscape, you have to be more than just a brand name. Kids from all over the nation are watching teams across the country play.
Oregon is a media darling with their fast break approach; the Ducks took one of Kiffin's prizes a year ago by letting him play offense instead of defense. The SEC is the toast of the nation as they keep winning titles.
High school football players are exposed to more programs, styles and coaches now than ever before. Lane Kiffin and his staff are out grinding people. For all of the flack that fans of rival schools and Tennessee give Kiffin for his earlier antics, the kids love him. He sells his program well, and keep in mind folks as you look at his class: He's doing this with severe scholarship limitations.
On the field, his Trojans are winning. Off the field, his staff is continuing to get some of the best talent in the nation. Lane Kiffin is growing into a legitimate problem on the college football landscape. This 2012 season, on the field, is his chance to prove he's as good a coach as he is a recruiter.
So where do things stand after spring practices and heading into the offseason. Let's see.
(You can check out our January power rankings here).
1. USC: The Trojans are expected to contend for the national title (typing that strikes up a not unfamiliar feeling). Best starting 24 -- specialists included -- in conference and probably in the nation. Some nagging depth questions. Key is staying healthy, particularly on the lines and at running back.
2.
If things stay as they are, USC's recruiting class will feature the nation's No. 1 incoming freshman backfield.
Just two days after landing a commitment from running back Ty Isaac (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic), the Trojans received one from Justin Davis (Stockton, Calif./Lincoln).
Davis is rated the nation's No. 48 prospect by Rivals. He is No. 18 overall with Scout . ESPN Recruiting ranks him the No. 24 running back in the country.
Most recruiting services are torn between Isaac or Davis as the nation's No.
It was a whirlwind trip they'll never forget.
Sixteen USC football players traveled more than 6,000 miles in less than five days to build four houses and deliver 2,500 pounds of supplies to hundreds of Haitians still recovering from the earthquake...
Every game counts. But some games count more. Or tell us more.
We're going through the Pac-12 and picking out one game that seems most important -- or potentially most revealing -- for each team from our vantage point today.
We're going in alphabetical order.
Colorado
Most important game: Sept. 22 at Washington State
Why it's important: Imagine it, Colorado fans, a 3-0 start. Colorado State, Sacramento State and Fresno State to open the season, and victories in those three games are achievable.
Going into the 2012 season, those who follow the Trojans knew that the 2013 recruiting class would have to include a couple of stud running backs.
Mission accomplished.
On the heels of receiving a verbal commitment from Scout.com #1 running back Ty Isaac, the Trojans struck again this evening when Stockton, Calif running back Justin Davis joined his new friend Isaac with a verbal to the cardinal and gold.
Davis, also a 5-star prospect according to Scout.com, found the Trojans too appealing to turn down according to Scout.com, saying, "The synergy of the academics and athletics is like no other."
In Davis the Trojans get a big (6'1") and powerful (197 lbs) speedster who ran for 2613 yards and 39 touchdowns last year as a junior.
Davis turned down offers from a variety of powerhouse programs including Florida State, Oklahoma and Oregon among the over 20 he has received.
The combination of Isaac and Davis gives the Trojans a powerful 1-2 punch for the foreseeable future and, at the same time, allows the recruiting brain trust to focus on other needs.
With the Davis verbal, USC now has seven pledges for the 2013 recruiting season including four 5-star and three 4-star prospects.
To say that this class is shaping up as one for the ages would be an understatement as the Trojans continue to confound those who left them for dead after the NCAA hit USC with some of the most severe sanctions in recent times.
USC will move to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of two international graduate students who were fatally shot off campus last month, according to a statement released on behalf of the university. The 15-page suit filed Wednesday states that the university makes false assertions about safety Ming Qu and Ying Wu, [...]
Vehikite is ordered to serve a year in county jail for 2011 auto accident.
USC reserve linebacker Simione Vehikite pleaded no contest to two felony counts and was ordered to serve one year in county jail Thursday for his involvement in a 2011 automobile accident.
WAY-TOO-EARLY PREDICTION OF USC’S 2012 REGULAR SEASON Yes, I know. There are too many of these. There are so many things that could happen between now and when fall camp begins. But because I need some form of football to tide me over, here are my optimistic realistic predictions (as of now) for the 2012 season.
HAWAII WARRIORS While we’ll be in better shape than we were at the season opener for last year, I don’t think the Trojans will be firing on all cylinders yet. I see Barkley perhaps showing a little rust, maybe throwing a pick or two. Based on Woody’s outlook now, I don’t think he will be the main feature as Kiffin and Co. try to keep him recovering and healthy. I do expect Lee
USC picked up commit No. 7 on Thursday with Stockton (Calif.) junior four-star running back Justin Davis. Davis is the second four-star running back and Rivals100 player to commit to the Trojans this week, following Ty Isaac's pledge to attend USC on Tuesday.
Erik McKinney writes : Stockton, Calif., four-star running back Justin Davis became the second blue-chip running back to commit to the Trojans this week, choosing USC over California and Washington on Thursday.
WeAreSC Roundtable : WeAreSC's panel of writers gives their opinion on what they think the most necessary renovations to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum are.
Now that the boys are back in town, we are putting together a video of the football players' experience in Haiti, which by all accounts was life-changing.
In the meantime, Hope Force International posted a pair of new photo galleries for your perusal. In all, the team built four houses, delivered supplies to schools and orphanages and touched the lives of the people of Sous Savanne.
USA women's water polo announced the 2012 Olympic team which features USC alums Lauren Wenger, Tumua Anae and Kami Craig. The defending silver medalists will count on Trojans to make up nearly a quarter of the 13-woman roster. Click here for the full story.
Wenger and Craig were on the 2008 team, while Anae will experience the Olympics for the first time in London.
Craig, who won back-to-back Peter J. Cutino Awards (top college player), teamed with Anae on USC's 2010 national championship winner.
(Photo of Craig and Anae by Dianne Bekhazi)
Wenger is the veteran of the trio and renowned for her ability to play every position besides goalkeeper.
USC is expected to have about 30 Olympians competing this summer. Current goalie Flora Bolonyai will play for her native Hungary, while Sofia Konoukh ('03) will suit up for Russia.
Last week we gave you our thoughts on which team yet to name a starting quarterback was in the best shape in the Pac-12.
Kevin Gemmell went -- overwhelmingly -- with Oregon, given the history of new quarterbacks under Chip Kelly, the weapons the new guy is going to inherit and the offensive line that is going to be protecting him.
Ted Miller went further south, picking UCLA because the burden of expectation isn't going to be as high on the Bruins as it is with Oregon.
No. 5 USC women's tennis defeated Baylor 4-1 today to advance to the national quarterfinals against No. 4 Stanford on Saturday at Noon ET in Athens, GA. Click here for the recap.
The Women of Troy lost to Stanford 4-2 in Palo Alto on April 13, but the mark of this Trojan team has been rapid improvement. As an example, USC played UCLA three times this year losing the first dual match 4-0 then narrowing the margin to 4-3 in the second meeting before conquering the Bruins 6-1 in the latest encounter.
The obvious reason is that Richard Gallien's team features three freshmen among the top five singles players. No. 1 Zoe Scandalis and No. 3 Sabrina Santamaria fought through three-set comeback wins against Baylor today in their first taste of big time NCAA Tournament competition.
Scandalis, Santamaria and junior Danielle Lao broke down the day with our Darcy Couch.
If you missed our weekly chat, you can read it in its entirety here. No -- just kidding -- here.
Or, you can just enjoy the thrills and chills of these highlights.
KL (Washington, DC) How does moving the WSU opener against BYU to Thursday night impact the game? Does it put increased pressure on a coach like Mike Leach - or has he been around long enough that this sort of move has little/no impact on his Cougar debut? I would guess Leach looks at such games as opportunities to market his offense and WSU.
Phil Steele has released his preseason All-American teams -- four, no less.
Here's how things stack up for the Pac-12.
First team
Offense
Matt Barkley, QB, USC
Robert Woods, WR, USC
Marquess Wilson, WR, Washington State
Defense
Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah
Shayne Skov, LB, Stanford
T.J. McDonald, S, USC
Second-team
Offense
Stepfan Taylor, RB, Stanford
Khaled Holmes, C, USC
Defense
Chase Thomas, OLB, Stanford
John Boyett, S, Oregon
Special teams
KR De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon
Third-team
Offense
John White, RB, Utah
Kenjon Barner, RB, Oregon
Keenan Allen, WR, California
Special teams
PR Jamal Miles, Arizona State
Fourth-team
Defense
Nickell Robey, CB, USC
Jordan Poyer, CB, Oregon State
Special teams
Jeff Locke, P, UCLA
Did you notice a shocking omission?
In a year where huge things are expected from them, the USC Trojans will take the field in 2012 as many people's No. 1 team in the nation.
After going 10-2 in 2011 and returning 19 starters, including Heisman Trophy favorite Matt Barkley, anything less than a Pac-12 championship will likely be considered a disappointment.
Top to bottom, this year's version of the men of Troy are stacked.
But what about individual units?
Which groups stand out on a team chock-full of talent?
This slide show will look at those groups and attempt to assemble them in an order of quality.
The quality of the players themselves, as well as depth, will be two of the factors considered in compiling this list but intangibles also play a part as well.
Now let's find out which groups are the best on a team full of potential greatness...
Note: Special teams have been omitted from this slide show because of the fluidity of personnel, but this in no way diminishes the importance of kicker Andre Heidari or punters Kyle Negrete and Kris Albarado.
Lane Kiffin's salary at USC has long been an issue. It's been widely reported as $4 million annually, and when reported as such, widely mocked.
But finding out the real number has been difficult, because USC is a private school and doesn't have to provide the media with his contract.
Ah, but USC does have to pay taxes! USA Today got a look at the school's returns and it turns out the Kiffins do make nearly $4 million.
Yeah, Kiffins. As in both of them.
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