(Photo by Icon Sports Media) USC will be tested all year. Saturday is their first test. They have to travel to a hostile environment to play a worthy opponent. What will the outcome be? Your guess is as good as mine. But the Trojans always come to play on Saturday. If they can limit mistakes […]
Read moreUSC’s Casey and Thomas return to practice
Posted by ESPN.com’s Ted Miller USC defensive tackle Jurrell Casey and cornerback Kevin Thomas, both starters, returned to practice Wednesday after missing the previous two days due to illness. It also appears likely that All-American center Kristofer O’Dowd will return to the starting lineup after missing the opener with a dislocated kneecap. The need for […]
Read moreUSC football: Jeff Byers rocks, Kevin Greene rolls
The USC football team hasn’t donned pads yet, but that didn’t stop senior guard Jeff Byers from laying out freshman defensive end Kevin Greene. The play happened during the second practice of training camp Sunday. Quarterback Aaron Corp scrambled left, then turned back and ran right. As Greene gave chase, Byers blindsided him with a […]
Read moreHope and concern: USC
Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller Eighth in a series on grounds for optimism and worry. Biggest reason for hope — An intact offensive line leads nine returning offensive starters. Coaches often say it all starts with the offensive line (though this is an interesting contrarian argument), so the Trojans should be off to a good start […]
Read moreJeff Byers Leads Nations Best O-Line
(Photo by Icon Sports Media) Here is a nice piece by Ted Miller on sixth-year offensive guard Jeff Byers. The Trojans return all five starters on the offensive line this season. This is my favorite excerpt: Byers is one of five returning starters from a line that: A. Gave up only 18 sacks in 2008, […]
Read moreUSC spring wrap-up
Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller USC Trojans 2008 overall record: 12-1 2008 conference record: 8-1 Returning starters Offense 9, defense 3, kicker/punter 0 Top returners WR Damian Williams, C Kristofer O'Dowd, OT Charles Brown, OG Jeff Byers, TB Stafon Johnson, TB Joe McKnight, FS Taylor Mays, CB Josh Pinkard, DE Everson Griffen. Key losses QB […]
Read moreUSC football: 10 things we learned in spring (No. 5)
Halfway there! Here’s the fifth thing we learned this spring about USC football: No. 5 — All-Pac-10 center Kristofer O’Dowd is worthy of all the hype. How can this be? How could Kristofer O’Dowd prove his value without taking a single spring snap? It seems counterintuitive, but hear me out: Sometimes we don’t realize the […]
Read more2009 Depth Chart Released
The jury is out. Pete Carroll announced today his depth chart going into the huddle. Of course in traditional Carroll fashion, the competition for starting positions will continue throughout Summer workouts. But the Spring depth charts typically hold strong resemblance to the final list, come start of the football season. Follow the jump for the […]
Read more2009 USC Football Schedule
The 2009 schedule features Taylor Mays, Jeff Byers, Damian Williams, Stafon Johnson, Joe McKnight, Everson Griffin and Josh Pinkard. To download the poster for your desktop wallpaper click here.
Read moreAnother edition of…
In case you missed it, Pete Carroll is back with another edition of USCRipsIt. This time he gives a lot of general sounding quotes previewing spring practice. There is some pretty good stuff in there, including the preliminary plan to move Jeff Byers over to center while Kris O’Dowd recovers from shoulder surgery. “The biggest […]
Read moreTrojans to Return Entire O-Line for 2009
(Po-He Tseng / USCRipsIt) Much of the off-season news has focused on the departures of Mark Sanchez to the NFL and offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian to Washington. However, it should not be overlooked that the entire offensive line will return for the 2009 season. Led by sixth year senior Jeff Byers the Trojans will have […]
Read more2009 USC Recruiting Dinner
Here are our thoughts on the guys that stood out in last nights presentation. Full bios and direct quotes from Pete Carroll after the jump. John Martinez, OL, 4-STAR Just a nasty, pancake blocking guard. He can get down field too (a la Jeff Byers). Highlight after highlight he would pull from his guard position, […]
Read more
TrojanWire 