Updates: Players

Head coach Pete Carroll made the obvious official late Thursday afternoon when he announced that redshirt sophomore Mark Sanchez will make his first career start on Saturday against Arizona in place of injured QB John David Booty (fractured finger). Carroll added that Booty would be available to play if needed.

Scott Wolf, venturing beyond the veil of his notorious blog, discusses some sacred cows of the USC football program (including Pete Carroll’s coaching, the use of Stafon Johnson, and Joe McKnight’s lack of impact) in his latest video practice report for CBS and KCAL.
Trojan Insider Wolf Reports SC Practice 10/10 (CBS2.com)

Although the Trojans benefited from an extra week of practices before Labor Day as a result of their exhibition trip to Mexico, USC kicks off practice for the 2007-08 season for real this Friday night in a “Midnight Madness” event at the Galen Center. (Friday’s event–which includes a scrimmage, introduction of the men’s and women’s […]

Phil Collin of the LA Daily News profiles USC’s surprising 2008 interception leader junior DE Kyle Moore. A guy many thought would be beaten out in short order by heralded freshman Everson Griffen, Moore has become a zone-blitz specialist (who drops into coverage when a linebacker or defensive back blitzes) in Carroll’s complex schemes devised with Nick Holt. […]

Since we know there are a lot of Mitch Mustain fans out there, we point you to this profile of the Trojan scout team quarterback in today’s Daily Trojan, in which he discusses the difficulties in copying the style of Washington QB Jake Locker, and other topics. He indicates that playing on the service team […]

Bud Withers of the Seattle Times notes that even though his name isn’t as well-known nationally as other USC players, nose tackle Sedrick Ellis (tagged with the telling ”Beast” tattoo on his leg) might just be the best player on 2007 Trojan team.  He describes Ellis’s dominant trait as his strength: “He has pushed up a team-best 510 in the […]

Scott Wolf cites unnamed sources who tell him that Brian Cushing’s sprained ankle is serious enough that the linebacker could be out for a month, possibly until the Notre Dame game on October 20. He’s officially listed as “probable” for Saturday, but his status will be clarified on Thursday. Pete Carroll told reporters “It will […]

Gary Klein of the LA Times examines the career of Trojan senior tight end Fred Davis , from his highly anticipated recruitment as a wide receiver (who later moved to tight end because he outgrew his position), to his missing the 2005 Orange Bowl as punishment for returning late home visits, to setting the USC record for […]

After a solid game against Washington State, Pete Carroll wasted no time in shifting his focus to Washington on Sunday, in particular their redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker. Carroll calls Locker “amazing” and “as good a prospect as we’ve seen in our conference in a long time,” which, pondering just the Trojan prospects during Carroll’s […]

Rather than posting detailed descriptions of each, I thought I’d simply call your attention to some interesting profiles on USC players which were published in the last several hours.  The Associated Press discusses senior nose tackle Sedrick Ellis’s domination of Nebraska and his decision to return for his senior year. Phil Collin of the Daily News analyzes the effect of having a dominant fullback […]