If you have any doubt Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis studies USC intensely, check out this amazingly long (and intricate) answer about the Trojans. Did Weis leave anyone out?
Weis is also quoted saying he has already watched every single play in every USC game.
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They're pretty stout on offense. Everybody says, well, Reggie is gone, LenDale is gone, Leinart is gone. Well, they're averaging 31 a game and rushing for 142 and throwing for 250, and that's 392 total yards per game, and they've only given up 13 sacks all year long.
Everyone says, well, they've got Booty in. Well, he started all ten games this year, completed 62.3 percent of his passes, 22 to 6 touchdown/interception ratio, 241.7 per game. Just like last night against Cal, you watch the game, he was 18 for 31, 238 yards, two touchdowns, about how he is every game. That's why he averages 241.7 and he threw for 238 last night.
The running back is kind of interesting. Moody got hurt in the Oregon game, got an ankle injury. We don't think he'll be back. We're not positive. As a matter of fact, Washington got hurt in that game, as well, and he got an MRI and it revealed he had a sprained knee, but he did play against Cal even though they started the freshman C.J. Gable, which I'm assuming the reason they started him is because of the knee that Washington had just come off of. But he started four of the last five games and is their leading rusher. He's rushed for 703 yards and just under five yards a carry with eight touchdowns.
I think that if Moody is not back we'll see him and Gable, who came onto the scene last night. It seems like every time you turn around they've got a new front line running back that runs real well. So Gable starts last night, he's third on the team in rushing after last night. He's got 250 yards and 4.23 average with three touchdowns. He also is dynamic on kickoff returns, where he's averaging 27.6 a kickoff return. Last night they give him the start versus Cal, which obviously is a huge game. He comes out and starts, 19 carries for 91 yards at 4.8 average, and he also had a 35?yard catch.
It's obvious what they've been able to do with their running backs is they lost Reggie and they lost LenDale, and these other guys have stepped right in and performed really well.
They've had a slew of injury at the fullback position. They've gone through about four different guys. Let's take right now Allen Bradford, who's a true freshman, looks like he's now at the top of the depth chart because of the number of injuries they've had. We were involved in trying to recruit Allen ourselves last year. I know he's a very, very, very good athlete who can play on either side of the ball. He was both a linebacker and a running back in high school. Last night he started at fullback.
At tight end, there's three guys. Fred Davis is the starter, he actually came to USC as a wide receiver, he's fourth on the team in receptions with 26 catches and three touchdowns. Dale Thompson, he'll show up, as well. He's played in all ten games and he's actually started the last three. And they do have a third tight end that shows up, Jimmy Miller.
Probably the greatest strength of their offense positionally, as far as depth goes, wide receiver, because it's really status quo from last year only with a year more experience. They've got one of the best combinations of wide receivers in the country. I don't think anyone would argue that point. Steve Smith right now this year is their leading receiver. Dwayne was ?? we'll get to him here in a couple seconds, but Steve started in all ten games and he's got 55 catches for 874 with a 16?yard average and eight touchdowns. Typical for him, he had another good night last night, six catches, 88 yards, touchdown along the 37.
Dwayne Jarrett, he missed one game against Washington, but he obviously is their go?to guy, second leading receiver on the team statistically for 48 catches with 610 yards and seven touchdowns. Last night he had five catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, as well.
Patrick Turner ?? they have great size with Jarrett, not that Smith is small, but at 6'0", 200, he's the smallest of the bunch, because now you come with Patrick Turner who's another 6'5", 230 guy, he's a third wide receiver, he's played in all ten games. He's the third leading receiver on the team with 28 catches and a couple touchdowns. Last night he had a couple catches.
Now, they have one injured receiver, Chris McFoy, he got hurt early in the year in October. He fractured his shoulder, and he was expected to miss six to eight weeks, so we don't know if we'll see him or not. After the first three guys they have two freshman, Vidal Hazelton and Travon Patterson I think are the two guys that we would expect to see after the first three. But that combination of Smith, Jarrett, Turner, that's probably as good as it gets.
On the offensive line, basically the offensive line is anchored by two guys. All five of them have been starting all year long, but we can start with Kalil, their center. He's played and started in every game in the last three years, and last season he was All?PAC 10 first team. And the left tackle Sam Baker has played and started every game in the last three years, but he's a former guard that was named All?PAC 10 in 2005. He was also named to multiple All?American teams, as well.
Kalil and Baker anchor the line, but the left guard, Radovich, he's played all ten this year, Rachal, the right guard, he's played and started nine games this year. He missed the Washington game. And Williams, he's played and started all ten games at right tackle. So they're pretty solid at their offensive line.
Once again, a lot of the reason you hear them just starting this year is they had three guys go into the pros last year. I mean, they've done a great job of just replacing the guys ?? guys leave to go to the NFL, they've got another set of guys coming in of that caliber of player that just come in right behind them. They obviously have done a nice job recruiting and coaching.
On defense, Nick Holt returns to them. He's been head coach at Idaho for the last couple years, but he had been the linebacker coach at USC from 2001 to 2003. Their defense is pretty stout.
This team is probably as complete a team as we go against on offense and defense. They're giving up 14 points a game, three yards per rush, 92 yards rushing a game, 196 and a half passing per game for a total of 288.6. They have 23 sacks. They're 39 percent on 3rd down. The teams getting in the red zone only score a touchdown 50 percent of the time, and I think that's pretty good statistically when teams can hold them to scoring touchdowns 50 percent of the time.
Now, let's start with the front seven or so. I'm going to include more than seven guys because this is as fast a group as you're going to come against. Lawrence Jackson, he's played and started all ten games this year. 2005 he was All?PAC 10 last year. This guy is athletic, he uses his hands, plays the run, he can rush the passer, he has good leverage and he can come off the edge, as well. Last night, typical game, five tackles, one and a half for loss, force fumble a sack and a pass breakup. His typical game.
Now, Sedrick Ellis will man one defensive tackle. He's played seven games. He missed the Nebraska game, the Arizona game and the Washington State game. They are the three games he's been out of this year. He played against us last year and had nine tackles and a sack, and he was 2005 All?PAC 10 Honorable Mention. He's a tough inside player. He's got pass rushability, he's a good player against the run; last night four tackles, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery.
Now, manning the other tackle will either be Moala or Barrett. Now, Barrett, he's played nine games this year and started the first six, and he didn't show up in the participation report in the Cal game last night. I really didn't see him in the game, so I'm not really sure ?? when I watched it this morning and when I watched it last night, here's a guy who started off as a tight end, then they moved him to defensive end, now they moved him to defensive tackle.
Now, Moala, he's played in all ten games and has seven starts. He started in the Cal game where he had three tackles and a pass breakup.
Brian Cushing, he actually is playing like a standup end for them. They call it 3?4 but he's really playing like an end. He's a Will or end for them and their 3?4 personnel grouping. He's played and started in all ten games this year, and he is a lot like Shaw from Penn State. When we went against Penn State, they used him virtually almost identically in what they do with him because he can drop and cover or he can rush. He gives them the versatility to go in and out of packages, and he's the guy that gives them a lot of flexibility in their defense.
Now, when they want to take Brian out they'll either put in Kyle Moore, or last night I saw Alex Morrow a little bit. They'll put in a bigger body if they want to just put in a true defensive end and go to a 4?3 defense, they have the capability of doing that with either Kyle Moore or Alex Morrow, and the other thing, you'll also see Tofi inside as a backup tackle.
Other linebackers, I'd say this is ?? just like I talked about their wide receivers before, I'd say their linebackers really make this team go. They are fast and they are athletic and they are aggressive, okay, and I'll work my way from strong side to middle to weak side.
Let's start with Sartz. In this season he's played and started in ten games, he's fourth on the team in tackles, 50 tackles, five and a half for loss, four sacks, forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, three pass breakups. This is a guy in 2005, again the season starting the first two games but dislocated his shoulder missed the rest of the season. He's playing very well. Last night he had four tackles and a pass breakup.
Maualuga in the middle, he's played ten games this year and started nine. He's their second leading tackler on the team with 66 tackles, four for loss, a sack, a pick and a forced fumble. He's a good player, he runs well, he's physical and he flies around to the ball. Last night he had four tackles and a half a tackle for a loss.
And then you've got Keith Rivers, their Will. He's played and started in all ten games this season. He's their leading tackler, 67 tackles, five and a half for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery. He's another guy who runs well, he makes some plays, athletic.
I'll tell you what, when you watch these guys blitz, you better be ready because whether it's Rivers or Maualuga coming inside or whether it's Sartz or Cushing or those guys coming outside, you'd better be ready because they bring it when they bring it. I'll bring up the safeties here in a second because they bring it, too.
Now, they did lose two defensive backs this year. They lost Pinkard at safety and they lost Thomas at corner. Pinkard tore ligaments in his left knee in the first game of the year and he's off for the year. And then Thomas started two games this year, he suffered a broken foot against Arizona State and he's supposed to be out six to eight weeks.
Cary Harris, he's played in all ten games, made eight starts at corner this year, he took over for Thomas when Thomas went down. He took over for Kevin Thomas.
At the left corner you've got Terrell Thomas, he started all ten games this season ?? excuse me. At the other corner is going to be ?? let me take a time out here for a second and let me regroup.
Terrell Thomas, he started all ten games this season. In 2005 he tore ligaments in his right knee and missed the rest of the season, but last night against Cal there he is, six tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
Two safeties, Taylor Mays took over at safety after the injury to Pinkard. He's a true freshman. We tried to recruit him, too. He played in all ten games this season, he's making nine starts. He's fifth on the team in tackles with 48, leads the team in picks, he had three interceptions, had a big one early in the game last night, three pass breakups.
Kevin Ellison, he's their starting strong safety. He played and started all ten games. He's third on the team in tackles with 52. Now, here's a guy you'd better look for him near the line of scrimmage because he's looking to blow plays up, not that Mays isn't, but this guy is around there, he's aggressive in run support, he likes to be around the line of scrimmage. He was the leading tackler last night with seven tackles and a pass breakup.
The other DB that we'll see significantly, especially if we go to multiple wide receivers, is McCurtis. Now, McCurtis is the backup for everybody when they put four out there. He's the backer corner or safety. So he's the backup for everybody. When they go to nickel, he's the guy that comes in and plays their nickelback. Only other DB we might see is we might see Wright, but we will see McCurtis.
Special teams, Tom McNair is their running back coach, also the special teams coordinator. I'll tell you what, if they're not scoring touchdowns, you know they're going to make field goals and extra points because Danelo, he's 13 of 14 in field goals and 36 out of 37 on PATs.
We have Woidneck handling the punting and Buehler as a transfer. Last night ?? it isn't enough of a worry to worry about Danelo, they've got this kid coming in here who's listed as a kicker and a safety and a fullback. All of a sudden they trot him out there and he makes a 49?yard field goal, okay. Made it easily, too. Pete calls time out, they think about it, they bring out this guy I've never heard of before, he nails a 49?yarder.
Their kickoff guy, Van Blarcom, he's kicked off 59 times this year and has 35 touch backs. Collins is their long snapper, McDonald is their holder, and I had mentioned Gable before as a kickoff returner, but Reed and Harris are the two other guys we expect to see back there as returners.
And that's all I've got at this point.
Weis is also quoted saying he has already watched every single play in every USC game.
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They're pretty stout on offense. Everybody says, well, Reggie is gone, LenDale is gone, Leinart is gone. Well, they're averaging 31 a game and rushing for 142 and throwing for 250, and that's 392 total yards per game, and they've only given up 13 sacks all year long.
Everyone says, well, they've got Booty in. Well, he started all ten games this year, completed 62.3 percent of his passes, 22 to 6 touchdown/interception ratio, 241.7 per game. Just like last night against Cal, you watch the game, he was 18 for 31, 238 yards, two touchdowns, about how he is every game. That's why he averages 241.7 and he threw for 238 last night.
The running back is kind of interesting. Moody got hurt in the Oregon game, got an ankle injury. We don't think he'll be back. We're not positive. As a matter of fact, Washington got hurt in that game, as well, and he got an MRI and it revealed he had a sprained knee, but he did play against Cal even though they started the freshman C.J. Gable, which I'm assuming the reason they started him is because of the knee that Washington had just come off of. But he started four of the last five games and is their leading rusher. He's rushed for 703 yards and just under five yards a carry with eight touchdowns.
I think that if Moody is not back we'll see him and Gable, who came onto the scene last night. It seems like every time you turn around they've got a new front line running back that runs real well. So Gable starts last night, he's third on the team in rushing after last night. He's got 250 yards and 4.23 average with three touchdowns. He also is dynamic on kickoff returns, where he's averaging 27.6 a kickoff return. Last night they give him the start versus Cal, which obviously is a huge game. He comes out and starts, 19 carries for 91 yards at 4.8 average, and he also had a 35?yard catch.
It's obvious what they've been able to do with their running backs is they lost Reggie and they lost LenDale, and these other guys have stepped right in and performed really well.
They've had a slew of injury at the fullback position. They've gone through about four different guys. Let's take right now Allen Bradford, who's a true freshman, looks like he's now at the top of the depth chart because of the number of injuries they've had. We were involved in trying to recruit Allen ourselves last year. I know he's a very, very, very good athlete who can play on either side of the ball. He was both a linebacker and a running back in high school. Last night he started at fullback.
At tight end, there's three guys. Fred Davis is the starter, he actually came to USC as a wide receiver, he's fourth on the team in receptions with 26 catches and three touchdowns. Dale Thompson, he'll show up, as well. He's played in all ten games and he's actually started the last three. And they do have a third tight end that shows up, Jimmy Miller.
Probably the greatest strength of their offense positionally, as far as depth goes, wide receiver, because it's really status quo from last year only with a year more experience. They've got one of the best combinations of wide receivers in the country. I don't think anyone would argue that point. Steve Smith right now this year is their leading receiver. Dwayne was ?? we'll get to him here in a couple seconds, but Steve started in all ten games and he's got 55 catches for 874 with a 16?yard average and eight touchdowns. Typical for him, he had another good night last night, six catches, 88 yards, touchdown along the 37.
Dwayne Jarrett, he missed one game against Washington, but he obviously is their go?to guy, second leading receiver on the team statistically for 48 catches with 610 yards and seven touchdowns. Last night he had five catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, as well.
Patrick Turner ?? they have great size with Jarrett, not that Smith is small, but at 6'0", 200, he's the smallest of the bunch, because now you come with Patrick Turner who's another 6'5", 230 guy, he's a third wide receiver, he's played in all ten games. He's the third leading receiver on the team with 28 catches and a couple touchdowns. Last night he had a couple catches.
Now, they have one injured receiver, Chris McFoy, he got hurt early in the year in October. He fractured his shoulder, and he was expected to miss six to eight weeks, so we don't know if we'll see him or not. After the first three guys they have two freshman, Vidal Hazelton and Travon Patterson I think are the two guys that we would expect to see after the first three. But that combination of Smith, Jarrett, Turner, that's probably as good as it gets.
On the offensive line, basically the offensive line is anchored by two guys. All five of them have been starting all year long, but we can start with Kalil, their center. He's played and started in every game in the last three years, and last season he was All?PAC 10 first team. And the left tackle Sam Baker has played and started every game in the last three years, but he's a former guard that was named All?PAC 10 in 2005. He was also named to multiple All?American teams, as well.
Kalil and Baker anchor the line, but the left guard, Radovich, he's played all ten this year, Rachal, the right guard, he's played and started nine games this year. He missed the Washington game. And Williams, he's played and started all ten games at right tackle. So they're pretty solid at their offensive line.
Once again, a lot of the reason you hear them just starting this year is they had three guys go into the pros last year. I mean, they've done a great job of just replacing the guys ?? guys leave to go to the NFL, they've got another set of guys coming in of that caliber of player that just come in right behind them. They obviously have done a nice job recruiting and coaching.
On defense, Nick Holt returns to them. He's been head coach at Idaho for the last couple years, but he had been the linebacker coach at USC from 2001 to 2003. Their defense is pretty stout.
This team is probably as complete a team as we go against on offense and defense. They're giving up 14 points a game, three yards per rush, 92 yards rushing a game, 196 and a half passing per game for a total of 288.6. They have 23 sacks. They're 39 percent on 3rd down. The teams getting in the red zone only score a touchdown 50 percent of the time, and I think that's pretty good statistically when teams can hold them to scoring touchdowns 50 percent of the time.
Now, let's start with the front seven or so. I'm going to include more than seven guys because this is as fast a group as you're going to come against. Lawrence Jackson, he's played and started all ten games this year. 2005 he was All?PAC 10 last year. This guy is athletic, he uses his hands, plays the run, he can rush the passer, he has good leverage and he can come off the edge, as well. Last night, typical game, five tackles, one and a half for loss, force fumble a sack and a pass breakup. His typical game.
Now, Sedrick Ellis will man one defensive tackle. He's played seven games. He missed the Nebraska game, the Arizona game and the Washington State game. They are the three games he's been out of this year. He played against us last year and had nine tackles and a sack, and he was 2005 All?PAC 10 Honorable Mention. He's a tough inside player. He's got pass rushability, he's a good player against the run; last night four tackles, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery.
Now, manning the other tackle will either be Moala or Barrett. Now, Barrett, he's played nine games this year and started the first six, and he didn't show up in the participation report in the Cal game last night. I really didn't see him in the game, so I'm not really sure ?? when I watched it this morning and when I watched it last night, here's a guy who started off as a tight end, then they moved him to defensive end, now they moved him to defensive tackle.
Now, Moala, he's played in all ten games and has seven starts. He started in the Cal game where he had three tackles and a pass breakup.
Brian Cushing, he actually is playing like a standup end for them. They call it 3?4 but he's really playing like an end. He's a Will or end for them and their 3?4 personnel grouping. He's played and started in all ten games this year, and he is a lot like Shaw from Penn State. When we went against Penn State, they used him virtually almost identically in what they do with him because he can drop and cover or he can rush. He gives them the versatility to go in and out of packages, and he's the guy that gives them a lot of flexibility in their defense.
Now, when they want to take Brian out they'll either put in Kyle Moore, or last night I saw Alex Morrow a little bit. They'll put in a bigger body if they want to just put in a true defensive end and go to a 4?3 defense, they have the capability of doing that with either Kyle Moore or Alex Morrow, and the other thing, you'll also see Tofi inside as a backup tackle.
Other linebackers, I'd say this is ?? just like I talked about their wide receivers before, I'd say their linebackers really make this team go. They are fast and they are athletic and they are aggressive, okay, and I'll work my way from strong side to middle to weak side.
Let's start with Sartz. In this season he's played and started in ten games, he's fourth on the team in tackles, 50 tackles, five and a half for loss, four sacks, forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, three pass breakups. This is a guy in 2005, again the season starting the first two games but dislocated his shoulder missed the rest of the season. He's playing very well. Last night he had four tackles and a pass breakup.
Maualuga in the middle, he's played ten games this year and started nine. He's their second leading tackler on the team with 66 tackles, four for loss, a sack, a pick and a forced fumble. He's a good player, he runs well, he's physical and he flies around to the ball. Last night he had four tackles and a half a tackle for a loss.
And then you've got Keith Rivers, their Will. He's played and started in all ten games this season. He's their leading tackler, 67 tackles, five and a half for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery. He's another guy who runs well, he makes some plays, athletic.
I'll tell you what, when you watch these guys blitz, you better be ready because whether it's Rivers or Maualuga coming inside or whether it's Sartz or Cushing or those guys coming outside, you'd better be ready because they bring it when they bring it. I'll bring up the safeties here in a second because they bring it, too.
Now, they did lose two defensive backs this year. They lost Pinkard at safety and they lost Thomas at corner. Pinkard tore ligaments in his left knee in the first game of the year and he's off for the year. And then Thomas started two games this year, he suffered a broken foot against Arizona State and he's supposed to be out six to eight weeks.
Cary Harris, he's played in all ten games, made eight starts at corner this year, he took over for Thomas when Thomas went down. He took over for Kevin Thomas.
At the left corner you've got Terrell Thomas, he started all ten games this season ?? excuse me. At the other corner is going to be ?? let me take a time out here for a second and let me regroup.
Terrell Thomas, he started all ten games this season. In 2005 he tore ligaments in his right knee and missed the rest of the season, but last night against Cal there he is, six tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
Two safeties, Taylor Mays took over at safety after the injury to Pinkard. He's a true freshman. We tried to recruit him, too. He played in all ten games this season, he's making nine starts. He's fifth on the team in tackles with 48, leads the team in picks, he had three interceptions, had a big one early in the game last night, three pass breakups.
Kevin Ellison, he's their starting strong safety. He played and started all ten games. He's third on the team in tackles with 52. Now, here's a guy you'd better look for him near the line of scrimmage because he's looking to blow plays up, not that Mays isn't, but this guy is around there, he's aggressive in run support, he likes to be around the line of scrimmage. He was the leading tackler last night with seven tackles and a pass breakup.
The other DB that we'll see significantly, especially if we go to multiple wide receivers, is McCurtis. Now, McCurtis is the backup for everybody when they put four out there. He's the backer corner or safety. So he's the backup for everybody. When they go to nickel, he's the guy that comes in and plays their nickelback. Only other DB we might see is we might see Wright, but we will see McCurtis.
Special teams, Tom McNair is their running back coach, also the special teams coordinator. I'll tell you what, if they're not scoring touchdowns, you know they're going to make field goals and extra points because Danelo, he's 13 of 14 in field goals and 36 out of 37 on PATs.
We have Woidneck handling the punting and Buehler as a transfer. Last night ?? it isn't enough of a worry to worry about Danelo, they've got this kid coming in here who's listed as a kicker and a safety and a fullback. All of a sudden they trot him out there and he makes a 49?yard field goal, okay. Made it easily, too. Pete calls time out, they think about it, they bring out this guy I've never heard of before, he nails a 49?yarder.
Their kickoff guy, Van Blarcom, he's kicked off 59 times this year and has 35 touch backs. Collins is their long snapper, McDonald is their holder, and I had mentioned Gable before as a kickoff returner, but Reed and Harris are the two other guys we expect to see back there as returners.
And that's all I've got at this point.
