Here’s the first installment on the last day of the year.

I haven’t heard about a DVD for the 2006 season. I can’t imagine the athletic dept. missed a chance to make a buck, so either there is one floating out there or they determined it wouldn’t sell.

Mitch Mustain’s rapport with the receivers is fine and he’s become friends with them as the season progressed. But there’s been a lot of focus on his relationship with Damian Williams because of their background. Matt Leinart loved throwing to Dwayne Jarrett but they didn’t grow up together, so it wasn’t a huge focus.

I’ve been led to believe USC will play Joe McKnight and Stafon Johnson more against Illinois but in the past I’ve been disappointed when the promises of more carries do not materialize.

With Patrick Turner, four-receiver sets might be hampered.

I wouldn’t count on any receiver catching fire in the Rose Bowl since it didn’t happen in the first 12 games.

This recruiting class could still be a top 5 class for two reasons. Recruiting services love to reward the elite schools in the rankings, because they assume they are getting the best players and like to keep good relations with those schools. Also, the Trojans could close strong, which would put them somewhere around the top 5.

The use, or non-use, of the shotgun for a big disappointment this season. It’s primary reason was to avoid the low passes John David Booty had get tipped last season. It’s doubtful USC would commit more to the shotgun with Mitch Mustain because he’s more mobile and has not yet shown that tipped passes are a problem.

I said Rick Neuheisel was the coach other schools preferred least because they knew he had the charm and charisma to be an effective recruiter. At the time I said this, among the other main candidates were Norm Chow and DeWayne Walker, who were unproven as head coaches. So that made Neuheisel dangerous.
It is true that at Colorado and Washington, the teams got worse the longer Neuheisel coached there. My comment probably said more about who UCLA couldn’t get although I think Neuheisel is probably the best choice for them.