September 2007 Archives
USC coach Pete Carroll said he will not move any players to offensive line or cornerback.
``There's no one to move (to the offensive line),'' Carroll said. ``And we have (cornerback) Vincent Joseph and Cary (Harris) might be back this week.''
An MRI revealed offensive guard Chilo Rachal sprained the medial collateral ligament in his knee. Pete Carroll said he did not know how long Rachal would be out. Carroll said center Kris O'Dowd would be probably be out two-to-three weeks, but that was not an official decision.
Carroll said cornerback Shareece Wright is also expected to be out two weeks with a strained hamstring.
Stafon Johnson's foot is in a boot today because he has a sprain or bruise after someone stepped on him on the final play. USC is waiting for results from an MRI.
USC fell from first to fifth in the Sagarin ratings that are supplied for the BCS rankings, which do not consider margin of victory. The other USC (South Carolina) is No. 2 in those same ratings.
Washington coach Ty Willingham made a comment about USC during a halftime radio interview.
"Don't believe the hype."
Former Oregon and current Kentucky coach Rich Brooks told the Seattle Times today the following about the two conferences.
"The SEC is like playing in the Pac-10 with four or five USCs."
Here's this week's Top 25 ballot for the Associated Press.
UPDATED: Because we voted LSU No. 1, the Tigers finished with two more points than USC overall and earned the top spot.
If we voted USC No. 1, the teams would have tied for first.
Washington coach Ty Willingham was asked about USC's 16 penalties.
``If I'm their coach I'm alarmed with that many penalties,'' he said. ``But at the same time I think our guys were playing and forcing some things. We probably could have got, they had 16 penalties? We probably could have got 32 on just holding alone because I think our guys were being aggressive and working and forcing them to do things.''
USC's 16 penalties was not a school record, it just felt like one.
``There might be every penalty in the history of college football called tonight,'' USC coach Pete Carroll said.
Why did John David Booty play perhaps the worst game of his career? Because he could not grip the ball properly.
``When it was about to come out, it slipped off my fingers,'' Booty said. ``It's really weird. It was kind of windy out there but the ball was really slick.
If my memory serves me correctly, Matt Leinart complained after a close win at Arizona State that the heat caused the ball to become slippery and made the grip tougher. Must be a quarterback code of honor thing.
We will write a positive post tonight. Stafon Johnson (123 yards, 14 carries) and Chauncey Washington (106 yards, 21 carries) became the first duo to rush for more than 100 yards since 2005. Reggie Bush gained 260 yards and LenDale White 154 against UCLA.
Chilo Rachal sprained his right knee and tailback C.J. Gable said he sat out to rest his chronically sore groin. Cornerback Shareece Wright pulled a hamstring.
``I hope I can come back next week,'' Wright said, but there was no official word on how long he will be out.
Tailback Stafon Johnson said someone stepped on his foot on his final carry but it was not considered serious while Rachal’s replacement, senior Alatini Malu injured his hamstring.
USC center Kris O’Dowd dislocated his right knee.
``He’s going to be out for awhile,’’ USC coach Pete Carroll said of O’Dowd.
O'Dowd is not eligible to redshirt because he played in the fourth game of the season.
I'll defer to Pete Carroll for a description of a shambolic performance.
``We were so horrid,’’ Carroll said. ``We were hard to watch. We couldn’t do more wrong. We just wanted to get out of our own way.
``It’s a classic game to give away. I feel grateful with all the things that happened. A lot of teams lost. We tried really hard. It was a horrible night. We understand. We survived.’’
It seems obvious Stafon Johnson needs to get more carries, with 105 yards in nine carries, except to those who make the decisions.
One thing did happen off camera in the second quarter. Pete Carroll ran down the sideline and pulled Johnson off the field because the sophomore was gesturing to the crowd following Washington’s second touchdown. He was worried USC might get a penalty.
Center Kris O'Dowd has a sprained knee while guard Chilo Rachal sprained his ankle. But those are preliminary updates.
Chilo Rachal and Kris O'Dowd are both being taken to the locker room after going down in the first quarter.
Hopefully, ABC will show Pete Carroll and Ty Willingham speaking at midfield during warmups because Willingham is actually laughing, something the public doesn't see too often.
Washington just took the field in its throwback uniforms from 1960. The Huskies are wearing gold helmets with no logos, dark bluish-purple jerseys with gold numbers and gold pants with no stripes.
Ah, it feels good to be back in Open Forum Land. So many things to say. I could say I missed answering Mitch Mustain questions, but I won’t. Or that I understand C.J. Gable’s diminished role.
But I do understand today’s Open Forum is brought to you by Roman Meal bread, the official sustenance of Peter Caesar Carroll's injured legions.
Washington coach Ty Willingham practices in pads once a week to avoid injuries. Caesar practices at the same intensity whether in pads or shorts to simulate game intensity every day.
In case you missed our article today, offensive tackle Butch Lewis said he will not make the trip because of a sprained ankle.
If Pete Carroll can wait until Thursday to name Chauncey Washington the starting tailback, then we can wait until now to take questions. Answers on Saturday.
Linebacker Thomas Williams will start at strongside linebacker and if he gets hurt, Keith Rivers might replace him. Clay Matthews said his sprained AC joint in his shoulder is still an issue.
``It doesn't feel as good as I thought it would,'' he said.
Chris Galippo's surgery is Oct. 9 and he will not be allowed to have any contact drills for three months. In a best-case scenario, he returns for spring practice.
As we reported yesterday, Chris Galippo has a herniated disc and nerve problems in his back and requires season-ending surgery.
He is eligible to redshirt.
Pete Carroll said he doesn't mind the lack of a big-play threat in the offense so far. The longest pass play against Washington State was 22 yards.
``We were a little bit more methodical last year (too). I don't care. I love to see our ability to execute. We were on the verge of scoring 60 points (last week).''
Herhsel Dennis admitted going through an array of feelings while getting his first carries of the season last week against Washington State.
``It was almost like being a rookie again,'' Dennis said. ``But after I got my first carry, it felt like I'd been out there forever again.''
Running backs coach Todd McNair said he would erase the fumbles by Joe McKnight, C.J. Gable and Hershel Dennis during Wednesday's practice from his mind.
``I've forgotten it happened,'' McNair said. ``I have to.''
Center Matt Spanos practiced and if he makes it through tomorrow's workout, will be available against Washington.
Linebacker Chris Galippo's back hurts and doctors are trying to determine the severity.
"He has some serious issues," Pete Carroll said. "We'll find out how extensive it is. It got serious for him being able to play this week or next week."
Carroll did not rule out surgery.
UPDATED: Galippo said he will see Dr. Robert Watkins tomorrow for MRI results and will apply for a medical redshirt if necessary.
Doctors refuse to clear Cary Harris and he is out for the Washington game.
"I'm disappointed, they didn't really give me a chance to test it," Harris said.
Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron has kept just 61 percent (33 of 54) of his first two signing classes and is currently 8-18 in two-plus seasons.
Because Washington quarterback Jake Locker is so mobile, defensive end and strongside linebacker are probably the two most important positions on defense this week. That might be why Keith Rivers practiced at strongside linebacker Tuesday with Brian Cushing out.
Safety Taylor Mays is from Seattle, so we gave him control of one blog post this week.
And Mays wants it known he wants a date with Lauren Conrad, star of Laguna Beach and The Hills. Hey, Matt Leinart dated a Laguna Beach star, so why not?
"I just want to meet her one time," Mays said.
A Pacific-10 Conference coach said last week that Washington quarterback Jake Locker was ``going to be better than Vince Young,''
Linebacker Brian Cushing's ankle injury is more serious than previously announced.
http://www2.dailynews.com/sports/ci_6999418
Interesting Heisman odds were released this week. Michigan quarterback Chad Henne was deleted due to injury. USC tailback C.J. Gable was deleted due to Caesar.
We hear tailback C.J. Gable is scheduled to get some carries against Washington on Saturday (no promises).
By the way, USC coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday he still did not know who would start against the Huskies. Our hunch says Chauncey Washington.
Matt Spanos and Vincent Joseph practiced Tuesday and should be available for the Washington game.
You might have heard that Peter Caesar Carroll parodied Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy's outburst at the outset of today's press conference.
But here's something even better, a real exhange between a reporter and Navy coach Paul Johnson last week. This guy is a real piece of work.
Here's Pete Carroll trying to explain the running backs rotation.
``The first thing is that you have to consider the level of competition that we are playing. We have played some good football teams the past two weeks. Ohio State is a good football team. I think UCLA is a good football team so that’s part of it. We knew that our schedule had only, for the most part, good football teams and it’s surprising for some that Syracuse beat Louisville, but we thought they would be a good football team. We have done some things on our own part that have not helped us, but that’s football.”
Washington coach Ty Willingham on USC.
“Honestly, I don’t know if there is a lot more that can be added to their resume. Obviously, they are a very good football team and at the top of the national polls this year, last year and it seems like almost forever now. They play very well. They play very aggressive. They are well-coached. It is a good football team.”
While Marshall Jones and Christian Tupou got thrown into the game, tailback Marc Tyler still appears on track to redshirt. He will not be making the trip to Washington.
In case you didn't see today's paper, here's what I wrote on Pete Carroll and signal stealing.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was recently fined $500,000 for stealing defensive signals, but it wasn’t the first time the team’s coach drew such an accusation. USC coach Pete Carroll said the Miami Dolphins thought he stole signals when he was the Patriots coach.
The controversy occurred in1997 when the Patriots beat the Jimmy Johnson-coached Miami Dolphins three times in a single season.
``(Linebacker) Todd Collins intercepted (quarterback) Dan Marino for a touchdown in a game and they thought we stole their signals,’’ Carroll said. ``We also had (running back) Keith Byars and he played for them the year before and he remembered their audibles, which means nothing. But they changed their playbooks the next year. I thought it was hilarious.’’