The USC Trojans start spring football practices on March 22. The spring game, open to the public, will be held at the Coliseum on April 23.
USC fans may have been disappointed by the men’s basketball team’s quick exit from the NCAA tournament, but at least they can look forward to football season.
The Trojans start spring practices today with a larger-than-usual group of new players due to mid-year enrollments – and an equally large number of unanswered questions. They won’t all be answered before the annual spring game on April 23, especially with several potential impact freshmen yet to arrive on campus, but they should offer some hints about the upcoming season.
Heading into spring, here are a few of the questions on my mind:
- Who will back up Matt Barkley this season?
A two-year starter, Barkley, now a junior, is locked in as the Trojans’ quarterback. But who’s next in line? As a freshman, Barkley won the job over former Trojans Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain. Last season, Mustain and walk-on John Manoogian were waiting in the wings, but head coach Lane Kiffin has enrolled an arsenal of highly touted high school QBs to patrol the sidelines this year.
Freshmen Cody Kessler and Max Wittek enrolled at USC in the beginning of the spring semester so they could start getting reps this week, but they’re still behind redshirt freshman Jesse Scroggins, who paid his dues running the scout team last season. All were four-star recruits, but none of them have any on-field experience at the college level thus far.
- Speaking of Matt Barkley, will this be the year he lives up to the hype?
When Barkley stole the starting job from Corp before the 2009 season, he was a young but incredibly talented player, and he proved himself competent at managing the offense. Despite former coach Pete Carroll’s effusive praise, however, Barkley rarely stole the show. There were flashes of brilliance, like his game-winning drive against Ohio State at the Horseshoe as a 19-year-old true freshman, but he was mainly entrusted with making short passes and not making too many freshman mistakes.
Barkley was expected to break out last season under Kiffin’s tutelage but it didn’t happen. He was very good, and very efficient, but he still didn’t have the “Wow” factor. He may have been in better shape last season, and he might have been a stronger leader, but he wasn’t able to take over a game when it came down to the wire (although a rash of dropped passes didn’t help matters). When he’s on, Barkley can be one of the best in the college game; the question this season will be whether he can play that way consistently.
- Who will play wide receiver opposite Robert Woods?
One of the wonderful surprises of the 2010 season was Robert Woods. The true freshman was electrifying, often outplaying senior star Ronald Johnson en route to making the All Pac-10 freshman team. Without Johnson this season, someone else has to step up.
Many people expect it to be redshirt freshman Kyle Prater, who likely would’ve logged significant playing time last season had he not struggled with injuries. Prater will miss most, if not all, of the spring practices because of a foot injury, but if he can come back healthy in the fall, he has a shot at being the number two guy.
Another wild card is sophomore Markeith Ambles, who played sparingly last season as a freshman and made headlines for his off-the-field issues rather than his playing ability. Ambles was suspended for a significant part of the 2010 season because of academic problems and at the end of the semester, it was announced that he was no longer part of the team. A few weeks later, though, he was back – hopefully with a better attitude and work ethic. He has the talent to be a starter at ‘SC if he can overcome his immaturity.
Redshirt senior Brandon Carswell is the lone upperclassmen who’s had any real playing time, and he has a definite opportunity to step up and make a name for himself. On the opposite end of the spectrum, incoming freshmen George Farmer and Marqise Lee are expected to become stars, but whether they’ll get the same chance Woods had as a freshman last year depends on how well the returners play this spring.
- Will USC’s defense be able to defend anyone this season?
When Lane Kiffin brought his dad, defensive guru Monte, with him to USC, fans had high hopes for a return to the dominating defense the Trojans had fielded in recent years.
That didn’t happen.
The Trojans’ defense was atrocious last season – the defenders spent the entire season looking like they’d never seen a tackling dummy in their lives (in fairness, live tackling was a rarity in practice to prevent injury on an already thin roster) and the young secondary played like the inexperienced unit it was.
This year’s defensive line isn’t quite set, but it will feature enough veteran players that it shouldn’t be anything less than solid (although we said the same thing heading into last year, too). Among the defensive backs, sophomore Nickell Robey is set as one of the corners and junior T.J. McDonald will likely be one of the starting safeties. Robey had a rough season as a true freshman going against veteran opponents but should show improvement with a year under his belt. McDonald became one of the Trojans’ better safeties in the second half of the season; if Jawanza Starling could consistently play well, he could easily snag the other starting safety spot.
- Will this year’s USC linebackers even remotely resemble some of the stellar linebacking corps of the recent past?
To answer my own question, probably not. The Trojans’ linebackers, just from the last decade, were legendary. There is not one linebacker on the roster who has come close to playing up to his recruiting ranking. Veterans Chris Galippo, Dallas Kelley, Shane Horton and Devon Kennard have logged the most playing time, but none of them has stood out. Kiffin said this will be one of the “most unsettled” units, especially as several players will miss spring because of injuries, but it seems like they’re at least another recruiting class or two away from even having a shot at being great.
- Who will take over at center now that Kris O’Dowd is gone?
O’Dowd was a four-year starter at center and though his performance dropped off slightly later in his career, his presence on the O-line will be missed, likely by Barkley more than anyone else. Redshirt junior Abe Markowitz has some experience filling in when O’Dowd was injury, but he didn’t come close to challenging for the position. Khaled Holmes could be slotted to play at center rather than guard if he’s needed, but redshirt freshman Giovanni de Paolo will get his chance this spring as well. Nothing will be set until after the freshmen arrive for training camp in the fall; the guys coming in are talented enough to pull an O’Dowd and nail down spots on the line in their first year.
- What about Dillon Baxter?
One of the most exciting players heading into the 2010 season got off to a slow start (he was suspended for the season opener at Hawaii) and never became the explosive, flashy player people expected to see. Along with Ambles, Baxter could be great if his head’s on straight this season. His freshman immaturity robbed him of significant playing time last season, and he never seemed to be able to find holes and get in the open where he could really show his stuff. If this is the year he can get it all together (and get out of Kiff’s doghouse), it’ll be fun to watch.
What questions/concerns/comments do you have about USC as the Trojans begin their spring workouts?
