Updates from August, 2007

Though it’s not necessarily groundbreaking news, Ben Bloch of the Los Angeles Times is reporting that O.J. Mayo intends to return for a second year with USC unless he is guaranteed to be a lottery pick in the NBA draft, which just about everyone thinks he will be. As he’s stated previously, coach Tim Floyd […]

The Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein profiles J.D. Booty before the first game of his would-be Heisman campaign. He highlights Booty’s huge second half performance in the Rose Bowl as the turning point in the quarterback’s Trojan career. Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who compares Booty’s delivery to that of the hyper-accurate Greg Maddux rather than that […]

Former USC pitcher Ian Kennedy is scheduled to make his major league debut on Saturday for the New York Yankees, with a start against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in place of the struggling Mike Mussina, the Yankees announced today. A first-round draft pick in 2006, Kennedy began this year in single-A ball, but quickly […]

Several sources are reporting that starting center Matt Spanos sustained a possible triceps strain during Tuesday afternoon’s practice. Jeff Byers would get the start against Idaho if Spanos cannot play, although it is too soon to tell if that will be the case. One factor to consider: the Trojans have had numerous problems with fumbled […]

In a brief interview with Ben Malcolmson of USCRipsIt.com, Pete Carroll once again reiterated what he’s been saying for about six years now in response to critics and opposing coaches (yes, you, Harbaugh) who have essentially dared him to leave SC for the NFL:
I don’t know how many times I have to say it: I’m not […]

In his first weekly press conference of the season, Pete Carroll indicated that RB CJ Gable would likely get the start against Idaho. As for the injured backs:

Freshman Joe McKnight is practicing in pads today for the first time in over a week, and will get some playing time on Saturday.
Freshman Marc Tyler has been […]

USC’s trio of starting linebackers–Brian Cushing, Rey Maualuga, and Keith Rivers–have been named to the preseason Butkus Award watchlist, presented annually to the nation’s top linebacker.
View all Trojans on watchlists

Bud Withers of The Seattle Times postulates that like the Ming Dynasty and the Roman Empire (which reportedly “got complacent and had some lousy recruiting classes”) , the question is not if the Trojans’ death grip on college football will end, but when. Fair enough. But unlike many pundits and opposing coaches (hello, Harbaugh) who predict Pete […]

On Monday at the Galen Center, the Trojans’ held their first practice of the year to include their full roster (save for freshman PG Angelo Johnson, who still awaits word from the NCAA Clearinghouse), as the incoming freshmen participated for the first time. Naturally, all post-practice attention was on freshman OJ Mayo, and his new […]

The Trojans held their first game-week practice on campus on Monday, breaking out the gameplan for Saturday’s opening contest against Idaho. As it was a game practice and no longer part of fall training camp, a more conventional rotation was in place for the players–meaning, for example, that John David Booty and Mike McDonald got […]