Stll plowing through football questions.
Q: Peter Parker said:
Will USC defense be able to create turnovers this year as it used to do when the team was winning National Championships? Also, what position will freshman James Boyd play?
A: That is a nagging question for Pete Carroll. The defense was better last year at creating turnovers but there’s no question Carroll’s been frustrated in recent years, especially after the defense developed a reputation for creating turnovers in his first few years. The truth is no one knows the answer until the season starts.
James Boyd is supposed to be a defensive end. He looks like a redshirt candidate barring injuries to other players.
Q: davidallen760 said:
How well do Aaron Corp and Matt Barkley throw on the run, including both while scrambling and rolling out of the pocket on a designed play?
A: Corp throws extremely well on the run because he is mobile and it is a natural play for him. Barkley is not nearly as fast but he does have a such a strong arm that he can pull it off. However, the danger at the moment would be whether having him rollout would cause a forced pass if no one is clearly open.
Q: Champion said:
In the recent team recruiting ranks, http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=969044
USC is rank 12 in the recruiting rankings, behind Stanford and ahead of California. Washington is also in the top teams. USC recruitng not doing as well as it did in years past. Even you did not list 5 five euro players in your recruit rankings.Why are there no big name guys? Also, can you list some predictions for future commits as you did last year when you listed some. Sorry about making this a two part question. Thank you.
A: This could be off, but it seems like there are not a lot of commitments from the top 25-30 guys right now and those who did commit to other schools were from out of state. It’s still very early. I don’t think Pete Carroll is too worried about it. And the commitment of Jesse Scroggins was considered a coup because he easily could have gone to Tennessee or Florida. Whether he plays at USC is another matter. He is still a top 100 player. I’ll judge USC on whether it got enough five Euro players later in the year. But I’ve said before that USC is waiting longer this year on taking commitments, if possible. So maybe that plays a role too.