One football, one song girl question. Some balance.

Q: I couldn’t be happier for Nick Howell–as I recall, he wasn’t really highly recruited, and I always thought we brought him in because of his dad, but those were really amazing stats he had in the game, and the thought occurs to me that maybe he was going up against a real 4th stringer or something.
Anyway, my question is–has he ever shown anything like this in practice before, and, if so, why wasn’t he starting ahead of Butch? [Iknow PC said he is now].
Thanx, and thanx for all your work on the forums.

A: Nick Howell’s been in the mix for playing time over the past couple years but then has tailed off or been leapfrogged in practices, in the view of the coaches. It’s a less dramatic version of what’s happened to Thomas Herring over the years. Howell also was hurt last season. During training camp, he got off to a strong start, then was overtaken by Butch Lewis. He did have a great game so it will be interesting to see how he plays this week.

Q: Could the reason so few girls tried out for the USC Song Girls this year be due to the fact that they have been turned off by the sleazy activities and scandals of the squad, and they fear that being a Song Girl in the present day will damage their reputation?

A: Perhaps.