Daily Trojan USC.edu

Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Andrew Whitesides | Daily Trojan Running wild | USC running back Allen Bradford had big runs in almost all of the Trojans' spring practices and could be the next Stafon Johnson.

Now that spring practice is over, it's time to look back at what we learned about the USC football team heading into next season.

Of course, there are still plenty of unanswered questions. But even after just 15 practices, there are still plenty of trends that can be analyzed. After all, if the coaches can pick a quarterback after 15 practices, it's easy to find five things we learned about the Trojans from spring practice.



1. There never was a quarterback battle

It was hyped as a quarterback competition between the best high school quarterback in the country in 2004 against the best one from 2005. But the so-called competition was anything but between Mark Sanchez and Mitch Mustain.

It was clear all along that the coaches would choose Sanchez unless he did absolutely terribly and Mustain played perfectly. But that was never going to happen and once again, the coaches played it safe.

Redshirt freshman Aaron Corp never had a chance and was an afterthought all spring despite playing well. He actually performed the best at Trojan Huddle but the coaches attributed it to playing against the second-team defense. It looks like Corp has zero chance at being named the starter any time soon.

The good news, though, for USC fans is it seems Sanchez was the right choice. Sanchez looked more relaxed and comfortable after being named the starter before the Trojan Huddle. Against the first team defense he threw for 203 yards and three touchdowns with his only interception coming on a botched trick play.

Sanchez is a natural leader and his three games of starting experience should help him immensely next season, but he will have trouble avoiding the rush, which brings us to the next point.



2. The offensive line is USC's weakest position

The Trojans returned only one starter on the offensive line - left guard Jeff Byers - and it showed during spring practice. The defensive line got the best of the offensive line all spring and that doesn't bode well for next season.

It's going to prove difficult to replace All-American Sam Baker at left tackle, and the unexpected loss of right guard Chilo Rachal to the NFL Draft really hurt USC's depth.

The offensive line is simply young and inexperienced and had way too many missed assignments during the scrimmages.

The defense had seven sacks in the Trojan Huddle, five of which came from linebackers, showing that the offensive line is having trouble picking up blitzes and that needs to be resolved before next season.

But luckily for the offensive line, the running back stable should be better and might take some heat off the line, which brings us to our third point.



3. Allen Bradford could be this year's Stafon Johnson

Running back Stafon Johnson is proof that it is possible to play your way out of USC coach Pete Carroll's doghouse. He went from getting three carries his freshman year to 98 carries last year. All it took was hard work in practice and making sure to hold onto the football.

This bodes well for bruising running back Allen Bradford. Bradford had a great spring and proved he could be the power back in USC's running back rotation.

While Bradford didn't have a great scrimmage Saturday, he did play well in USC's first scrimmage, rushing for two touchdowns and 84 yards on just four carries.

He seemingly broke off a big run in just about every spring practice and seems dedicated to getting more playing time this season. Bradford has 28 carries in his two-year career at USC after being one of the most sought after recruits in 2005.

It's almost impossible to predict the running back rotation for next season but if Bradford improves this summer and early next fall, he could see his role increase. Bradford will stay at running back next season and his talk of switching to defense at linebacker is over, especially with the depth at linebacker next season.

4. Linebacker is USC's strongest position

It might sound hard to believe that the Trojans stand to get better at the linebacker position despite the loss of outside linebacker Keith Rivers, who is projected to be a top-10 pick in this Saturday's NFL Draft. But it's true.

Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga both decided to return for their senior seasons, making them two of the best linebackers in college football.

And Rivers will be replaced at weakside linebacker by either Luthur Brown or Kaluka Maiava, who missed spring practice because of a wrist injury.

Brown had a great spring and proved he can play all three linebacker positions similar to former linebacker Thomas Williams.

But if Maiava comes back completely healthy, the job should be his. He is a ball hawk and reminds me of former Trojan Matt Grootegoed because of his instincts. Both players are considered undersized, but instincts are much more important. Just ask former Trojan linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who has been selected to the last three Pro Bowls in the NFL.

But the Trojans also saw great play from young players such as Malcolm Smith and Chris Galippo. Smith impressed coaches all spring before an injury cut his spring short. Galippo simply dominated the Trojan Huddle, recording nine tackles with six for a loss, three sacks and two fumble recoveries.

The linebackers really stood out all spring, but so did the wide receivers, which brings us to the final observation.



5. The wide receiver position will be improved

To say that the wide receivers underachieved last season is an understatement. The receivers struggled all season and were inconsistent, but luckily tight end Fred Davis bailed them out with a monster year.

But Davis is gone and now the receivers have to step up. If spring practice is any indication, however, the wide receivers have taken great strides toward improving.

Arkansas transfer Damian Williams looked as good as advertised and could play his way into the

No. 1 receiver spot. As it stands, he's second on the depth chart at flanker behind Vidal Hazelton, who showed flashes of greatness last season but was largely inconsistent before having a solid spring.

Right behind Williams is Ronald Johnson, who will be more of a deep threat than last year because Sanchez throws a much better deep ball than John David Booty did.

One of the only depth chart surprises was that David Ausberry was named co-starter with Patrick Turner at split end. Ausberry has always been great in practice, but needs to translate it to games. He's similar to Travon Patterson who always has great scrimmages but doesn't make plays when they count.

But it could all change this season as the receivers look more mature and could be poised for a breakout year.

It remains to be seen, however, if the entire team is poised for that breakout year next season. The team struggled in some areas, but then again, it was only spring practice.

We won't have any real answers until the fall and USC plays its opener at Virginia in 129 days.

But who's counting?



- To comment on this article, visit www.dailytrojan.com or e-mail Rhett at rhettbollinger@gmail.com.

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