November 2007 Archives

Defensive end Lawrence Jackson remembers his first USC-UCLA game.
``I’d never seen a crowd like that first game,'' he said. ``I was stumbling in warm-ups.’’

Today's Blood Bowl, the annual game between the Daily Trojan and Daily Bruin, was canceled because of the weather.

This installment is brought to you by the Coliseum, because where else would Caesar ever play for more than 2,000 years?

Cal returned 750 tickets for tomorrow's game at cavernous Stanford Stadium, which seats all of 50,000.

Can the Coliseum install FieldTurf for tomorrow's game?

Although Caesar is 23-0 in November, he's just 3-2 in December.

Here's the first batch of answers on a soggy Friday.

Staples Center will provide a shuttle service to USC tomorrow.
Here's the info:

Apparently we're not the only one to express support for No. 2-ranked West Virginia the past couple years.
``I've been telling the guys West Virginia is going to win it,'' USC guard O.J. Mayo said. ``They always say no one comes out of West Virginia.''
Except Jerry West. And O.J. Mayo. And . . .

Quarterback John David Booty doesn't mind criticism from last year's game.
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In honor of last year's game, a bonus category will be number of John David Booty passes that are tipped.

Offensive guard Chilo Rachal, who was sick Wednesday, returned to practice Thursday. Defensive tackle Fili Moala (concussion) was also cleared to play. However, linebacker Keith Rivers (sprained ankle) was held back because of soreness but he is expected to be available for the game.

USC coach Pete Carroll joked about Saturday's game being the last at the Coliseum if the Trojans move to the Rose Bowl next season.
``That's our battle cry, `Going to the locker room the last time ever.' ''

After last year's nine-point performance against UCLA, has USC learned much the past year?
``By Year 2, you start seeing tendencies you don't notice as much the first year,'' offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said of the Bruins' defense.
We hear USC coach Pete Carroll's been a little edgier than usual this week with the Trojans, mindful of the coaching matchup. Earlier, this week, we wrote in the Daily News how he told the team Sunday he could personally matchup with the UCLA coaches.

USC-UCLA tickets are going for an average price of $247 according to TicketsNow.com. The cheapest ticket goes for $91.

Here's Coliseum commisision member David Israel in today's Daily News:
``If they’re serious and I hope they’re not – I hope it’s just a petulant threat. Then I’m thinking that Michigan job is looking pretty good for Pete Carroll.’’

If USC defeats UCLA, Karl Dorrell will be fired Sunday.

We did a little digging and found out Raiders coach Lane Kiffin is not interested in the Arkansas job.

It's the latest video report with Pete Carroll and special friends.
http://www.cbs2.com/video/?id=53848@kcbs.dayport.com

It's time for questions!

Here's USC general counsel Todd Dickey on Tuesday: ``The Coliseum has not benefited from substantive physical upgrades or preventative maintenance for more than ten years because the Commission has focused on attracting an NFL team that would renovate the stadium.''

But here's Dickey last October: ``It's a great college football stadium. It was earthquake retro-fitted in the mid-'90s and should be good to go for decades.
``There may be some seats that need to be replaced, but it's in pretty good shape. I don't hear any complaints from our people about the quality of the Coliseum.''

Chilo Rachal did not practice because he was sick while Drew Radovich is also battling a stomach virus. Kyle Moore intercepted a tipped John David Booty pass, which drew comparisons to a famously tipped pass about a year ago.
While yesterday's practice bothered Pete Carroll for a lack of enthusiasm, today's was considered much better.

USC basketball coach Tim Floyd said MRI results on forward Kyle Austin's back did not look good and there is a chance he could redshirt.

UCLA agreed to let USC lease the Rose Bowl on game days provided USC lets UCLA lease Pete Carroll on game days.

We don't want to say USC's offense is predictable but a Pac-10 coach who faced the Trojans told us that when one personnel group comes in, it's a pass to Vidal Hazelton. When another personnel group comes in, the play is a bootleg. And when a third group comes in, it's a play-action pass.

Monte Kiffin, the father of Lane Kiffin and defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (and Pete Carroll's mentor) was contacted by Nebraska about the head-coaching position. At the same time, Lane Kiffin's name is being thrown around for the Arkansas job.

UCLA quarterback Ben Olson contacted USC when he transferred from BYU and then-offensive coordinator Norm Chow recommended taking him but the Trojans eventually decided against it.

The first full practice of rivalry week did not have the usual enthuasiasm in Caesar's opinion, at least compared to last week's stated perfect practices before the Arizona State game.

OK, time to address the USC-to-the-Rose Bowl announcement. This really smells like a negotiating ploy by USC to pressure the Coliseum into agreeing to its demands for improvements. But it's not just improvements, because who is against improvements?
There's no doubt revenue-sharing plans (like luxury suites) that are really holding this thing up.
I question the timing. For one thing, it detracts attention from the USC-UCLA game, which I guess is the point. But the next time a coach says the players are being distracted by media attention, they should be reminded that USC chose to distract its own players the week of the biggest game of the year with this annoucement.
``I don’t think it’s right,'' Coliseum general manager Pat Lynch said. ``The focus should be on the game and the players.''
Remember, UCLA has exclusive rights to play at the Rose Bowl, so the Bruins would want something (money) to let USC join them for two years. And USC did not address how it would host Cal on Nov. 8, when UCLA hosts Oregon State.

O.J. Mayo said he has turf toe but does not think it will affect him for Thursday's game against Oklahoma. Kyle Austin is undergoing an MRI this week. Marcus Simmons (sprained ankle) is not expected to play this week.

So USC is talking to the Rose Bowl about a two-year lease starting next year?
``It's kind of been our second home since we've been here,'' USC coach Pete Carroll said.

The USC-Arizona State telecast on ESPN earned a 3.4 rating, representing an average of 3,270,000 households, the network’s highest rating for college football on Thanksgiving since 1993 (Texas A&M at Texas earned a 4.0) and its most-watched game on the holiday since 1992 (Texas at Texas A&M was seen by 3,304,000 homes, based on a 5.4 rating).

Linebacker Kaluka Maiava did a nice job with 10 tackles against Arizona State while filling in for Keith Rivers and he did it with a cast on his broken wrist.
``I've been missing that feeling since high school,'' Maiava said.
Rivers, who has a sprained ankle, is expected to play this week.
``Back to special teams,'' Maiava said.

Here's some quotes from USC assistant coach Ken Norton, when he played linebacker for UCLA on November 19, 1986.
``I'm not really sure why they chose USC. We're just going to beat USC so bad. Well, they've got a really good band. I think that's what carries the school,the band.
``It's always fun to play a team with a good band.''

We hear UTEP coach Mike Price was already offered the Washington State job.

We've already addressed this issue but it keeps coming up. Former USC assistant coach Ed Orgeron, recently fired by Ole Miss, is going to wait-and-see what job opportunities exist. USC does not have an opening for him right now. The best bet is that Orgeron goes to the NFL as an assistant.

Here's the keep-a-straight face quote from Pete Carroll regarding UCLA's defense.
``They shut down Oregon,'' he said. ``A top team in the conference.''

From the Weekend Forum. Freshman lineman Kris O'Dowd could not redshirt because he played in 25 percent of the games. Ironically, he hit the 25-percent mark by playing two series against Washington. If he got hurt, the week before, he would redshirt.
The point became moot on Thanksgiving when he came in at the end of the Arizona State game.

Freshman center Mamadou Diarra said he will return to practice tomorrow, after being out several weeks with a hernia. Diarra said he's lost 13 pounds since the surgery and down to 223.

A Pac-10 coach told me today he thinks Joe McKnight will be a factor against UCLA and someone the Bruins will need to spend a lot of time on in their game plan. We'll just be happy if he doesn't fumble.

There has never been a Pacific-10 Conference champion with three conference losses. It would take upset wins by Arizona and UCLA for a 3-conference loss champion in 2007.

Forbes magazine ranks USC as the 14th-most valuable college football program.
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I wanted to become invisible for the holiday weekend, so I pretended I was on TrojanTV. And remember, the Weekend Forum is sponsored by Roman Meal, because it takes an infinite amount of bread to pay Caesar.

BCS analyst Jerry Palm now projects USC to play Illinois in the Rose Bowl. How underwhelming would that be?

USC is now 66th in strength of schedule and projected to finish at 65th after playing UCLA. Meanwhile, Hawaii remains dead last at 120th, Kansas is 81st and Ohio State is 49th.

For six years, USC coach Pete Carroll said he never understood how the Bowl Championship Series worked . . . until now.
``It’s about who’s had the most attractive season rather than who had the best team,’’ Carroll said. ``It just dawned on me that’s how it works.’’
Carroll’s opinion might be influenced by the fact USC dismantled Arizona State, 44-24, on Thanksgiving and the Trojans appear to be hitting their stride, albeit 11 games into the season. He might have felt different after the Stanford game.
Carroll said he did not want his comments to be construed as sour grapes because USC is not going to play in the BCS title game. But he believes the Trojans would hold their own if college football held a playoff.
``I would love to be involved with a discussion of who is the best team in the country at the end of the season,’’ Carroll said.

We hear UCLA quarterback Pat Cowan, the hero of last year's game for the Bruins, might make a surprise return for this week's game against USC.

USC tight end Fred Davis is no fan of the current BCS title-game matchup.
``Missouri-West Virginia? I don’t like that,’’ Davis said. ``That’s a whack bowl game. But I think Oklahoma will beat Missouri anyways.''

Pete Carroll is meeting with the Trojans right now, a rare Sunday night film session to get an early start on UCLA week.
Tight end Fred Davis, who went home to Ohio for the weekend, returned as planned Sunday night. During his freshman year, Davis came back late on several occasions. Carroll did not forget either, since he announced Davis’ prompt return during the meeting.

One other scenario if USC loses to UCLA is that the Fiesta Bowl selects the Trojans.
However, BCS anaylst Jerry Palm believes the Trojans' chances of remaining in the top 14 are slim if it loses. A loss to a 6-5 UCLA team would probably be judged harshly by the computers and poll voters.