Updates: Football

TJ McDonald, a junior safety at Fresno’s Edison HS, has verbally committed to attend USC beginning in 2009, it was announced on Friday. His father (and current coach) is former Trojan and NFL safety Tim McDonald. The younger McDonald received his scholarship offer one week ago, and clearly enjoyed his visit to campus for the […]

USC’s Fred Davis capped a stellar senior season on Thursday by winning the 2007 John Mackey Award, presented annually to the nation’s top tight end. Davis finished the year with a team-high 55 receptions for 794 yards and 7 touchdowns.
In other awards news, OL Sam Baker became just the third Trojan in history (joining Matt […]

The Trojans, like other schools, are allotted 15 practices prior to a bowl game. USC’s first Rose Bowl practices are scheduled for this weekend: Friday (12/7) at 4:00p, and Saturday (12/8) at 11:00a. Their remaining practice dates are: December 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31. When they […]

Trojan senior defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis was announced as the Pac-10’s defensive player of the year on Monday, and is one of a Pac-10 high eight Trojans named to the all-conference first team as selected by the conference’s head coaches. Ellis finished the regular season with 56 tackles, including 12.5 tackles for a loss and […]

It’s official, and it’s not very surprising. UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero today announced that Karl Dorrell has been fired as the Bruins’ head football coach. Dorrell lasted five years at UCLA, with his best season (10-2) coming in 2005. The Bruins defeated USC just once during that span.
Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, Texas […]

To the consternation of football fans anticipating a Georgia-USC matchup–which would have pitted arguably the nation’s two hottest two-loss teams–the Rose Bowl has selected No. 13 Illinois to be the Trojans’ opponent in Pasadena on January 1st. In addition to Georgia, Rose Bowl officials passed on several higher-ranked teams, including Missouri, Kansas, and Hawaii. The […]

As promised, here is a roundup of coverage of Saturday’s USC victory over the Bruins. A few extra notes to add to our previous report: Allen Bradford and Vincent Joseph were suspended for Saturday’s game because of academic issues. It was the second time this season that Joesph was suspended. Also, Fred Davis became USC’s […]

While USC had many recruits in attendance at the Coliseum for their 24-7 victory over UCLA on Saturday, one of those high school seniors was impressed enough with the Trojans to commit on the spot. Mater Dei offensive lineman Khaled Holmes gave his verbal commitment to the Trojan coaching staff in the postgame locker room.
The […]

USC’s offense didn’t always look pretty, and they managed to turn the ball over a few times, but the Trojans otherwise outplayed their crosstown rivals on Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum, 24-7, to bring their winning streak over the Bruins to one game and secure their place in the Rose Bowl on January 1st. The […]

The Rose Bowl is on the line–in more ways than one–as USC hosts UCLA on Saturday at 1:30p at a sold-out Coliseum. Here are the final pre-game comments from the major sources:
Too close for comfort (LA Times)
USC-UCLA games with the Rose Bowl on the line (LA Times)
Tribute planned for Rucker, Danelo (LA Times)
That’s so last […]