Steve Sarkisian On Roster Size, Freshmen

USC will start training camp with 67 healthy scholarship players, according to Steve Sarkisian. This might be one reason he did not want to commit today about where Adoree Jackson or Juju Smith.

Sarkisian said that will be determined by depth at wide receiver and the secondary. If Steven Mitchell and George Farmer are healthy, it means Jackson is likely headed to cornerback. Sarkisian said USC currently has only three cornerbacks and three safeties not counting incoming freshmen, which raises depth questions.

“The question is where do we need them,” Sarkisian said.

62 thoughts on “Steve Sarkisian On Roster Size, Freshmen

    • You know bleuz the trolls didn’t whine when the SUCC baseball team swept UCLA. At that time bleuz,five (5) starting UCLA players were injured and gone for the year. Even though UCLA fielded a depleted team, UCLA made no excuses for SUCC’s victories. UCLA competes with what it brings, no excuses necessary. SUCC alone is an excuse.

      • You’re not going to bring BASEBALL into the conversation, are you??? Why not bring in water polo, tennis and golf, while you’re at it……Depth matters in all sports, but especially in football against spread offenses where elite players like Hundley can take over a game and readily exploit a teams weakness due to any disparity in talent, which you would rarely see in the NFL because of parity…rotating players in order to keep them fresh throughout the game is critical in football…So does USC have depth issues, yes or no?…..again, FACT, not excuses…..

        • SC does have depth issues and yet beat Stanford with only 12 players playing on defense. Granted, Stanford is not a spread offense but they are known for wearing teams down in the 2nd half. Perhaps that was just an anomaly. So, sometimes on here the Trojan fans contradict themselves on the importance of depth. One minute it is important and the next minute, not so much. I, for one, think it is very important.

          Can someone clarify the scholarship reduction issue for me? SC was reduced by 10 scholarships a year but allowed to have 75 total scholarships vs. 85. By my math, that would be 55 total scholarships but SC has had more than that. Is anyone clear on how that works or worked?

          • Still as clear as mud!! GoTroy mentions the 50-0 game but there were a lot of crazy things that resulted in that game. First, SC had not yet felt the full effect of the sanctions. Secondly, UCLA was a horrible football team as they had been for most years since 1998. It was the perfect storm. The Bruins were trying to run the “pistol” offense and while Kevin Prince is a quality young man, he was not a quality D1 quarterback and the team was poorly coached by Neuheisel. Neuheisel had an opportunity to capitalize on SC’s situation but was never able to pull it off. The true beneficiaries of SC’s problems were Oregon and Stanford.

            Bleauz you made an excellent point about Mora. He has upgraded the recruiting and the coaching. However, he is only in his 3rd year. We are hoping he hangs around long enough to play in and win some big games. Just beating SC is not enough. He has to complete the culture change. It isn’t the 80 yard field image that was the problem, but the “over the wall” tradition that was a joke and reeked of a program in search of a leader. As a Bruin fan, I feel almost like a cancer patient in remission and hoping the cancer doesn’t come back. Trust me, I REALLY enjoy it when we beat SC. But if that is your ONLY goal as a program, it is pathetic.

          • Kevin Prince, I hope he’s doing well, but he was handicapped as a QB. He was painful to watch. I can’t imagine what RN was thinking when he recruited Kevin Prince, because Prince could not throw a completed pass.

          • I completely agree, PU……Mora’s intensity is scary….and his team has bought into it…..as you said, though, his work is not yet done…….this will be a huge year for UCLA, as they have as good as team as they’ve had since their 1998, Bob Toledo coached team, which was one rescheduled game loss to Miami away from playing for the national championship….the goals have to be much bigger than just beating the team across town for annual bragging rights……

          • Only 1 area of potential disagreement…I would say this “should” be a huge year for UCLA. Expectations need to be fulfilled. There was a certain team ranked #1 in the preseason that went 7-6. Sometimes it seems that everything is in position for a great year, but the team has to execute and play with passion. The Bruins will definitely have an opportunity to make history this year. Being ranked highly in the preseason means little. Time to put up or shut up.

        • It’s funny that we didn’t have depth issues when we creamed the ruins 50-0 and then were preseason #1 in the nation the next season.

          • The sanctions didn’t simply impact us evenly over time……our depth issues eventually exposed us, as they were intended to do, courtesy of the NCAA…..plus, the Bruins gave up in that game…. not a true indicator of our abilities, more an indicator of UCLA’s ultimate low point, from which they have rebounded quite nicely, thanks to Mora….

          • I remember standing there in the crowd below the press box after that goal line stand and we just marched down the field and crushed their will to compete. We could have scored 150 points on them. Pete was merciful. Every play our receivers were open by at least 5 yards and the holes in the ruin line were so massive you or me could have run through them. At that point I really thought Kiffin was going to be a successful coach for us.

          • Yes. the SUCC unforgettable “Unfinished Bidness” season. Barkely was shoe in for the Heisman T. and SUCC also erected an arrogant billboard in Westwood to announce that SUCC would win another glorious NC. Piece O’ Cake.

        • Yes bluez, but not anybody’s fault in the Pac-12. SUCC got caught and then proceeded to act like Donnie Sterling and then itself shoot in the NCAA foot. You play with what you brung.

      • Any team would have challenges after having 30 rides taken away in 3 years. Once it is rebuilt, we will have no problems with public school. public school had a near horrific recruiting class last year, striking out left and right on signing day. This year is a little better, mainly because of Rosen, but they will never consistently out recruit USC. They never have, and they never will. I believe out of the last 10 recruits to have a USC and public school offer, only 1 of the 10 has chosen public school. But I don’t expect you to see the writing on the wall. USC is going back to the national scene….public school will go nowhere like usual. If public school was anything decent, they wouldn’t have a 1/2 of 1 championship, that was won 60 years ago. Its just not a football school….accept it.

        • let’s ignore the entire 90’s, when Private School was getting whipped up and down the field by public school!

        • Porsche018, why answer these people? There are the stupid ones per se, and there are the ones who aren’t stupid per se, but just like provocation (a strategy that I find stupid per se). You can’t have an intelligent dialogue; you can’t win; you can only encourage them. If you don’t answer at all, it will minimize their enjoyment, and might lessen their presence.

        • what’s your interest? What are you doing here again? Might as well go be a Florida St. fan – those toothless goons might actually want you as a fan!

  1. Has Sark solved the uniform number assignments yet. What happens if Adoree wants to wear # MBZ. Has SUCC retired that number or is it available?

    • WHO CARES???????…worry about your own team and that loser of a blogger, Wang……

      • Somebody does, because who gets what uniform # has been a continuing bone of contention for Sark, former SUCC HoF FB players, SuCCster’s in this Blog and SUCC’s Athletic Dept. A tempest in a SUCC teapot, as it were.

        • Who’s going to block and tackle?… what kind of question is that?….I assume that you’re capable of reading a depth chart as well as the other trolls….Question: Does UCLA have a sacred uniform number, or is it always just a free for all?…. Or don’t they care either?

          • Does Cow Poly SLO have a practice field for your soccer team or do they use the cow pasture, CowPolyFan3.0?

          • Bruins accept numbers assigned to them. Bruin FB isn’t about who gets or wears what uniform #; it’s about winning the South conf., winning the Pac-12 CS, and then competing for a NCAA (not the kissy vote type) FB Championship.

          • Sorry, pal….You can’t get away from the kissy vote type championships, I’m afraid… even this year……the college football playoff committee will be voting, to be sure, although most of these people know a heck of a lot more about college football than blowhard voters with an agenda, like Scottie….

  2. Wonder why USC isn’t trying to flip 4-star all purpose running back Cameron Scarlett (4.5 – 40 yard dash, 210 lbs) who is visiting UCLA from Oregon. USC needs to pick up a back.

    • I’m pretty sure that Martin called every likely suspect. Only in some dream world is everyone interested. If I were a great TE, I would be calling USC every other day. If I were a great DE, same. Who can explain these kids?Remember that OT Kyle Murphy from So. OC? The family is educated, so Pat Haden drove down for a home visit. Murphy very likely could have started at LT as a freshman at USC. He would have been starting half way into that season, anyway. Now he’s going to be a junior, and will finally start at Stanford–at RT. Sure, Stanford is the better university, but USC is not too shabby, and he’d be NFL ready right now. Who can explain these kids? Well, Chris Peterson gave it a go: “We’re dealing with the dumbest age group in America.”

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