TrojanUpdate was at Howard Jones Field on Monday evening for the Trojans’ first practice of fall training camp. Our observations from the practice are below; we’ll have a roundup of coverage from other sites either later this evening or tomorrow morning (and every day throughout the month).

Tonight’s practice, which was scheduled to start at 5:30 pm but which saw the whole team on the field running plays at least a half hour before that time, was a very quick, loud, and energetic one. Units would switch stations about every ten minutes, with Pete Carroll floating around the field barking encouragement.

Because the receiver corps might be the most critical for this year’s squad, I spent a good chunk of my time at practice watching them. Clearly, David Ausberry and Patrick Turner look the most physically impressive, and their routes and technique looked very crisp. I would be very surprised if we didn’t see these two lining up opposite one another on game days.

Freshmen Joe McKnight and Ronald Johnson appeared to be extremely quick and displayed excellent hands. The couple of hundred onlookers let out some clearly audible oohs and ahhs when each of them came up with catches on poorly thrown balls. They each responded well to early coaching by new Passing Game Coordinator John Morton, who was demonstrative in his chatter with the receivers unit. Dropped balls, even on tough chances, were met with the repeated, “Do it again!” Several of the early drops were made by Jamere Holland, incidentally. On the other hand, senior Brad Walker showed sure hands and toughness in fighting for the ball in several drills. Defensive backs Cary Harris and Terrell Thomas looked particularly impressive in pestering the receivers on day one.

TE Anthony McCoy looked massive and physically intimidating, but also very quick and athletic. I think the competition between McCoy and Fred Davis will be fierce, which can’t be anything but a good thing for the program. Freshman Rhett Ellison displayed soft hands on some tough catches (as his father, SC great Riki Ellison, stood next to me looking on nervously while donning a pretty massive championship ring).

It seemed that all QBs had chances early in practice. Both John David Booty and Mark Sanchez looked strong in their deliveries. Booty, in particularly, appeared to be much bigger and stronger than he was at this time last year. His presence on the field is also much more significant. He’s clearly the man that the team looks to in this offense. Aaron Corp also looked solid during his reps, though he threw a few less-than-catchable balls early on. I was impressed with his apparent command in the huddle, though.

Fullbacks Stanley Havili and Jordan Campbell each got plenty of chances in early drills, and both looked ready to play, carrying the ball and catching short passes. I didn’t stick around to watch David Buehler kick field goals, but his kickoffs appeared long - though coach Todd McNair kept egging him on with “Longer, Buehler” (sounding like “Byooooler”).

As Carroll anticipated, RB Stafon Johnson got plenty of reps this afternoon, and from what I could tell, he was taking the process much more seriously than he did last year. As the plays were breaking up, he just kept running, which was refreshing to see. Another standout out of the backfield was Emmanuel Moody. This was a no-pads practice, so the goal for defensive players was to simply put hands on the running back - a task which was not easily accomplished with Emmanuel darting laterally from hole to hole. Allen Bradford looked BIG and strong, and he had plenty of pep to his step. I didn’t see much Hershel Dennis, Chauncey Washington, or C.J. Gable, though each did get at least a couple of reps.

The linebackers looked extremely confident and comfortable today, but they were also loud and appeared to assume a leadership role for the rest of the team. They showed the young players how an SC practice should be run. Brian Cushing looked even bigger this year, and he picked off at least one ball in early plays. Rey Maualuga seems to have worked on his quickness rather than adding much more bulk, which is probably a really good thing for the team. I’m not sure if Keith Rivers was a little dinged up, but he took a knee after a couple of plays, perhaps just resting, but it was noticeable because he was the only player on the field doing it.

Without pads, I don’t have many observations about the lines, though freshman center Kristofer O’Dowd did get his fair share of snaps, and he, too, looked huge.

Photos by: Julie Roberts