College Football Preview, Pac 10 - UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans

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2005 SEASON IN REVIEW: Once again the USC Trojans came into the season as one of the best teams in the country and had a legitimate shot at claiming their third consecutive national championship. The Trojans came roaring out of the gate, demolishing Hawaii in the season opener, 63-17. In the team's second contest, it steamrolled Arkansas, 70-17, and followed that victory with an impressive 45-13 victory over the nationally-ranked Oregon Ducks on the road. USC then squared off against a solid Arizona State squad away from home and walked away with a hard-fought 38-28 victory. The Trojans continued their march towards a perfect regular season with a tremendous 42-21 win over the Arizona Wildcats. At 5-0 USC went against a well coached and well prepared Notre Dame squad and it was its toughest challenge to date. The Trojans needed a last- minute drive to slip past the Fighting Irish. After almost stumbling against Notre Dame, the Trojans trounced the Washington Huskies and Cougars, defeating the two schools from Washington by a combined score of 106-37. Pete Carroll's juggernaut continued its onslaught of the Pac-10 by defeating Stanford, 51-21, and California, 35-10. USC came home for its final two regular-season matchups to face nationally-ranked Fresno State and UCLA. Fresno State was a surprising challenge for the Trojans, but USC was able to pull off the 50-42 victory. The Bruins were supposed to give USC a fight as well and maybe even threaten the Trojans' perfect season, but that was not the case as USC destroyed UCLA to the tune of a 66-19 final. With another perfect season under their belts and a shot at a third consecutive national crown, the Trojans headed to the Rose Bowl for the much anticipated battle with the Texas Longhorns. Unfortunately for USC the Trojans were unable to capture the title, falling to Texas Longhorns, 41-38, in one of the most memorable college football bouts of all-time.

2006 ANALYSIS:

OFFENSE: USC Torjans Carroll will have the dubious task of replacing not one, but two Heisman Trophy winners this season. As if the loss of Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush were not enough, the Trojans will also have to replace LenDale White and three starters from the OL. Carroll was prepared for the departure of Leinart and has two solid candidates to fill his spot in John David Booty and Mark Sanchez. However, it was a tough off-season for both players, as Booty suffered back spasms and needed surgery, while Sanchez was suspended for off-the-field issues. As of now Booty seems to be healthy and should be ready for the start of the season. No one is expecting Leinart-like numbers from Booty, but he should do well, especially considering the top two wideouts from last year are back in Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett. Smith has been solid throughout his career at USC trojans football", but it was Jarrett last season who proved he is probably the best overall receiver in the nation. As a sophomore, Jarrett pulled down 91 passes for 1,274 yards and 16 touchdowns. It might be hard to duplicate those numbers with a new QB, but he should still be the most dominant wideout in all of college football. The biggest concern for the Trojans in '06 will be their rushing attack. USC will not be able to replace the best running back tandem (Bush and White) to ever play at the collegiate level and to make matters worse Hershel Dennis was lost for the season with a knee injury and Desmond Reed could also miss most, if not all of '06 with a knee injury as well. This leaves the running back duties up to junior Chauncey Washington. As of now Washington looks to be the starting tailback, but regardless of who ends up in the Trojan backfield it will definitely be a weak spot for USC.

DEFENSE: With the offense losing some many key players, the USC defensive unit will have to play much better in '06, but with only six starters returning that could be a tough task as well. Fortunately for Carroll, he should have a solid line, especially with the return of defensive end Lawrence Jackson, who led the Trojans with 10 sacks in '05. Sedrick Ellis is back at the nose tackle position and will hopefully continue to do a nice job stuffing the run. The linebacking corps should be one of the best in the Pac-10, thanks to the return of all three starters. Middle linebacker Oscar Lua is the leader of the group, but super sophomore Brian Cushing looks to have the most talent and should improve vastly on his stats from last season. Linebacker Dallas Sartz, who is returning after being lost for the '05 campaign with an injury, moves to strong safety to help out a defensive backfield that will most likely be the weakest link of the USC defense. The Trojans will have to replace both cornerbacks and as of now its seems as if two sophomore will be thrown into the mix. Cary Harris and Kevin Thomas will likely see the bulk of the time there, but both are inexperienced, combining for just 16 tackles last year. The team does return free safety Josh Pinkard, who led the squad with seven pass breakups.

SPECIAL TEAMS: This unit will also be hurt by the loss of Bush. The superstar runner averaged an impressive 9.9 yards per punt return and returned one punt for a touchdown. Regardless of who finds himself with the job of returning kicks for USC, they will most likely not be nearly as dangerous as Bush. Fortunately the kicking game should be just fine with the return of Mario Danelo. Danelo connected on 83-of-86 extra point attempts and was an impressive 11-of-12 on field goal tries. With the tremendous losses on the offensive side, look for the junior to get many more field goal opportunities.

OUTLOOK: How do you replace two Heisman Trophy winners and a running back who scored 24 touchdowns? Plain and simply...you don't. However, the show must go on at USC and despite the losses you can bet Carroll has recruited some of the best high school players this country has to offer. USC should be one of the top teams once again but obviously it will not be as easy and pretty. The Trojans' schedule is relatively easy with the exception of the team's last two matchups at home against Notre Dame and at UCLA Bruins.

USC Articles

USC 2006 - 2007 Season

March
•Reggie Bush Vows to Focus on Football

February
•Bush teams with Shaq to host All-Star charity event
•Dog thinks 2 $900 Super Bowl tickets tasty treat
•Boonton man scores big with Super Bowl tickets
•Dog thinks 2 $900 Super Bowl tickets tasty treat

Super Bowl Weekend
•OK!'s Guide to the Super Bowl Parties
•"Hannah" primed to claim Super Bowl weekend
•Paris Hilton, Ludacris party alongside 50 Cent at pre-game Super Bowl concert

January
•Reggie Bush Engaged to Kim Kardashian?

December
•Eagles vs. Saints Preview 12/23/07
•Bush Hoping to Play Against Eagles 12/18/07
•Cardinals 24, Saints 31
•Bush Out For the Year 12/12/07
•Falcons 14, Saints 34 12/10/07
•Falcons vs. Saints Preview 12/10/07
•Buccaneers 27, Saints 23 12/02/07
•Buccaneers vs. Saints Preview 12/02/07


•2007 News
•2006 News
•2005 News