Rebuilding isn't option for USC

[Eric the Red]

Rebuilding isn't option for USC

 

BY RICH KAIPUST

 

 

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

 

LINCOLN - During UCLA's run to the NCAA Final Four, Bruin basketball stories were getting half as many hits as Southern Cal spring football stories on the Web site for the Los Angeles Daily News.

 

And to think that people might have forgotten Trojan football now that Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush have worn the cardinal and gold for the final time.

 

"I'm sure everyone wants to know, 'What are you going to do after Matt and Reggie leave?'" freshman quarterback Mark Sanchez said. "There's no such thing as just rolling the helmets out there and winning. It's important for guys here to stay hungry."

 

College football's most dominant and magical program for the last half-decade might be headed for its most uncertain preseason since Pete Carroll became head coach. Star-studded recruiting classes assure USC of still having talent, but the losses from the 2005 team are so significant - particularly on offense - that nobody will be throwing out No. 1 rankings when annual magazines start hitting the stands.

 

That's what observers have been watching for during spring practices - all workouts are open, per Carroll's policy - and what 15,000 came to see Sunday at the Trojan Huddle scrimmage at the LA Coliseum.

 

"I think people are feeling like, 'Well, they're just going to reload and be back next year,'" said Scott Wolf, the USC beat writer for the LA Daily News. "There's a feeling of invincibility with fans. They don't really take into account that there's going to be a transition period. It definitely looks like a completely different team right now."

 

Nebraska has an interest in all of this because of the Huskers' game at USC Sept. 16. That will be only the Trojans' second with a new quarterback - either Sanchez or junior-to-be John David Booty - and seven new offensive starters overall.

 

A good time to catch them, right?

 

"We don't see it that way," USC offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said. "We're going to try to have the numbers like we did last year, and anything less will be a disappointment.

 

"The sense you kind of get is that people on the outside don't view it the way we do. I'm sure they think, 'Oh, boy, they're going to have to rebuild and it's going to take awhile.' We look at it as we're going to try to be better than last year. We're going to try to take Mark or John David, or whoever it is, and make them better than Matt Leinart. That's what we did with Matt when Carson Palmer left."

 

Kiffin and Carroll have pointed out similarities between 2006 and 2003. That spring, USC started the process of replacing Palmer and all its tailbacks, but returned a bevy of talent at receiver. Amid uncertainty, the offense evolved and helped produce a 12-1 record and national championship.

 

This spring, however, unwanted problems have added a degree of difficulty.

 

Booty immediately ran into back trouble and opted for surgery, leaving the No. 1 spot to Sanchez, a former Nebraska recruiting target who redshirted last fall. USC was set to turn tailback over to Hershel Dennis, its 2003 starter ahead of then-freshmen Bush and LenDale White, but the senior blew out a knee last week in the latest of some injury and eligibility issues.

 

But the receiving corps is led by All-American Dwayne Jarrett, whom Kiffin said has gone from 200 pounds to a buff 212, and Steve Smith. Tight end Fred Davis is replacing a possible first-round NFL draft pick in Dominique Byrd, but Kiffin said: "We think he's going to be the best guy we ever had."

 

Kiffin said Sanchez has been "fabulous" in camp, including a stretch of about 500 practice passes with just one interception. He calls the 6-foot-4, 215-pounder from Mission Viejo, Calif., a better athlete and a better thrower than Leinart, just without the experience and intangibles.

 

With Leinart still on campus, Sanchez hasn't hesitated to ask how he once went about replacing Palmer.

 

"His advice was that you don't have to be a Heisman Trophy winner right now," Sanchez said. "This entire experience isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. You don't have to do it all today."

 

Replacing Bush is probably the greater task. Nobody will offer that same explosiveness. Kiffin acknowledges those players don't come around often.

 

"We're going to build around what we have, specialize in what we're really good at," Kiffin said. "Maybe instead of Reggie going 80, we'll have to have two 40-yard plays."

 

USC is forgetting for now that it owns a 48-4 record and two national championships over the last four seasons. Spring practice, Sanchez says in a philosophical tone, is about "rebirth, new life, developing a new identity." The Trojans are still five months from opening their season at Arkansas on Sept. 2 and hosting Nebraska two weeks later.

 

"We're failing now," Sanchez said, "so that when we play that Big Red team or when we're in Fayetteville, Arkansas, we'll be ready to go

[Husker IN Hawaii]

I think that NU vs USC is gonna be a hell of a game. I will be in the desert when it happens but I am sure that I will get a chance to watch it sometime. GO BIG RED!!!

[Foppa]

"We're failing now," Sanchez said, "so that when we play that Big Red team or when we're in Fayetteville, Arkansas, we'll be ready to go

"That Big Red team?!?!

 

So he seems to know where Fayette-whatever is, but we're "that Big Red team?"

 

Typical California reaction, I guess

[Benard]

I think usc will beat us by 3 td's or more.

[tattooedhusker]

I think usc will beat us by 3 td's or more.

you think a lot of things.....and most are not true

[Big Red Cop]

I think that Benard can't think!!

[tattooedhusker]

I think that Benard can't think!!

i know he can't....it gives him headaches <~ that same feeling

[Blackshirtsguru]

I think usc will beat us by 3 td's or more.

I think you post on here merley for attention! You could give two sh#ts about Nebraska. Your entire agenda is to stir up the boards and that is your sole purpose for coming here! You throw in a one liner to piss everyone off and then you leave. You NEVER have any facts to back up your "I think" posts. Personally I can read right through your BS and it looks like others are too.

[skersfan]

Who is Bernard and does he ever post on here?

[tattooedhusker]

and when he comments then you react to it he disappears!! **poof**

[Foppa]

I think USC is the world's best team.

I think NU will lose every game this year.

I think Drunk Solich is the best ever, and will soon be President.

I think NU has the worst coaching staff ever.

I think NU has no talent.

I think Taylor is the worst QB ever.

I think NU has no running game.

I think NU has no passing game.

I think NU has no offense.

I think NU has no defense.

I think NU has no special teams.

I think NU has the worst cheerleaders ever.

I think NU has horrible academic All-Americans.

I think NU is the worst team in the Big 12 North.

I think NU is the worst team in the Big 12.

I think NU is the worst team in Division 1 football.

I think NU is the worst team in the entire NCAA.

I think any NAIA team could beat NU.

I think any high school team could beat NU.

I think the Duke Lacrosse team could beat NU.

I think Scarlet and Cream are the worst colors ever.

I think my mom dresses me the best.

 

Well Benard, I think I covered all your bases for you. Is this it in a nutshell? I hope you agree, are satisfied, and never come back. But you will. Because you get off on pissing everyone off about every category you post on.

 

Whoever thought freedom of speech was ok ALL the time must've been some kind of a nut.

[chuckd]

I think usc will beat us by 3 td's or more.

A team (or message board, in this case) is only as strong as it's weakest link.

 

Benard, you are the weakest link, GOODBYE!

 

ME ---> <---Benard

[tattooedhusker]

benard...i think it is safe to assume that you are not wanted.....don't let the door hit ya in the @$$ on the way out

[AR Husker Fan]

"We're failing now," Sanchez said, "so that when we play that Big Red team or when we're in Fayetteville, Arkansas, we'll be ready to go

"That Big Red team?!?!

 

So he seems to know where Fayette-whatever is, but we're "that Big Red team?"

 

Typical California reaction, I guess

Well, not to defend them, but USC played Arkansas last year - killed them, by the way, something like 70-10. And the game this year is in Arkansas - that might explain how they know.

 

But, yeah - how they don't know about NU is puzzling...

[AR Husker Fan]

I think usc will beat us by 3 td's or more.

 

And we all know how accurate your predictions are, don't we?