Oregon coach Mark Helfrich touches on many topics including the readiness of backup quarterback Jeff Lockie in his weekly press conference, provided by the Oregonian. USC receiver Marqise Lee needs to pick up the pace to become the school's all-time receptions leader, writes Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News. The story of how a skiing accident and subsequent rehab on campus at Washington played a role in guiding UCLA coach Jim Mora back to the college game from Christian Caple of the Tacoma News Tribune. Jon Wilner of the Bay Area News Group revisits Barbour's decision.Ĭolorado is looking to rectify its problem with missed tackles as it prepares for Cal, writes John Henderson of the Denver Post. A few days later, MacIntyre ended up at Colorado, where Cal travels to this week. Just as USC takes each game one at a time, pollsters-especially those in the Coaches' Poll used for the BCS rankings-should do likewise.You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĪrizona State coach Todd Graham has high praise for Oregon State receiver Brandin Cooks as the Sun Devils prepare for the Beavers.Ĭal athletic director Sandy Barbour interviewed, then passed on then San Jose State coach Mike MacIntyre before hiring Sonny Dykes in December. On the other hand, not to vote USC Number One in the Week Three poll is equally ridiculous. But for a sportswriter to state that they are the best after only two games is ridiculous. The other huge plus, and perhaps the most important, is that the coaching staff has remained intact, allowing for continuity on offense, defense, and special teams.Īlso, the coaches have their own self-scouting system to discover their tendencies in various situations and make changes so they will be less predictable.įinally, the USC staff patterns various facets of its game after winning teams in the NFL like the Denver Broncos, the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots, and the pro-style West Coast offense.Īll of these factors combined could make this the greatest USC team of the Pete Carroll era. But of course, that, too, remains to be seen.Īs for speed, they may not have anyone quite as fast as Reggie Bush, but for all-around team speed, I believe this is the fastest squad that Pete Carroll has fielded. I don’t think they would fold like Oregon did last year when they lost Dennis Dixon. But the Trojans could weather a key injury here and there and still come out on the winning end of the score. Now that is not to say that they are all equal in quality. The Trojans are six deep at running back, nine deep at receiver, four deep at tight end, and four deep at quarterback. It definitely has the ability to withstand key injuries. What we do know is that Carroll’s current squad is deeper and faster than any other that he has had. No one really knows, but it might be as good as the 1972 squad, the best USC team of all time. Just as it was wrong for Wolf to look back at USC’s losses in previous year, it was just as wrong for Plaschke to look ahead and proclaim this to be Pete Carroll’s best team.Ĭould it be? Of course. The Oregon State game, a week from Thursday in Corvallis, will be the Trojans’ first Pac-10 game. We’ve only played two games and haven’t started conference play yet." When asked by a reporter if this was his best team, Pete Carroll said, "That’s risky business. In his Sunday column, Plaschke wrote that this was the best Trojan team of the Pete Carroll era. In this case, that title goes to Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times. So we go from the supreme USC critic to the supreme USC homer. Yet I believe it is equally wrong to project ahead. Should voters backpedal and look at games played in years past? Or should they concentrate on the games that have been played in the current season? He was also thinking about the upset loss to Oregon State in Corvallis two years ago. He was thinking about last year and the year before. No, that went to the Florida Gators, who didn’t even play.Īpparently, he felt that Florida extended a much better effort not playing than USC did in overwhelming Ohio State. So, Wolf voted USC for the Number Two spot? There was absolutely no comparison between the way the Bulldogs dodged a bullet against South Carolina and the way that USC manhandled Ohio State. The same Georgia Bulldogs that did not perform so well against the South Carolina Gamecocks.ĭid he even watch the Georgia-South Carolina game? It was Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks that fumbled the game away rather than the Mark Richt's Bulldogs actually winning it.
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