2009

USC TROJANS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Put on the back burner a disappointing offense, which was supposed to be the strength of this years Trojan team.

Set aside the fundamental flaws that saw the men of Troy commit 13 penalties against an out manned Washington State Cougar team last Saturday.

These are just transitory concerns that can—and probably will—be corrected in the upcoming weeks as a largely young Trojan team continues to mature.

For the Trojans, even the atypical rash of on field injuries, which has seen players such as Hebron (Loni) Fangupo, who broke his leg, and Marshall Jones, who fractured a vertebrae in his neck (both injuries occurred last Saturday), while unfortunate, can still be reconciled because they occurred on the playing field.

No, the Trojans can deal with all of these things because they, for the most part, controlled their destiny in regard to circumstances.

What the Trojans can’t control, and what they must deal with now, is the uncontrollable sweep of fate.

Late in the summer, Frankie Telfort, one of their star linebacker recruits in 2008, was found to have a serious congenital heart defect which has forced the young man to quit the game he loves.

Telfort, a heat-seeking, 4.4 40-yard dash missile, was being counted on to play serious minutes both at linebacker and special teams.

A bit later, Blake Ayles, the highly regarded sophomore tight end, was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, which necessitated an operation in order for him to continue his football career.

Fortunately, Ayles procedure went as planned and the young man recovered.

Blake Ayles is now back to playing football and is contributing very nicely as evidenced by his long reception last week against the Cougars.

Now, Stafon Johnson, an emotional leader and one of the first running backs in the Trojans’ rotation, is laying in a southern California hospital recovering from a serious weight room accident that left him with a crushed larynx, amongst other injuries.

Johnson, whose doctors expect him to recover fully, will not play again this year and his future as a football player is murky at best.

Stafon Johnson has gone from a malcontent, who spent his first year and a half in Pete Carroll’s doghouse, to an emotional leader for the Trojans.

His example as a “team first” guy, has been an inspiration for the team and he will hold a prominent place in their hearts when the Trojans meet the Cal Bears this Saturday in Berkeley.

This rash of accidents and illness are completely out of the Trojans hands in terms of football.

More to the point, football has nothing to do with the pain that the Trojans have experienced in this heartbreaking season.

No amount of practice or studying of the playbook can fix the hurt that the Trojans have felt in this young season.

If the Trojans can somehow find a way to repair both their football related problems and get through what has been a brutal off-the-field season, it will be a tribute to both the team and the coaching staff.

The road in front of USC is littered with football related fundamental problems, all of which can be fixed, and also with the painful shards of fate which the Trojans have no control over.

What lies ahead will be the measure of what this Trojan team is made of.

Two of college football’s traditional powers–No. 4 USC and No. 6 Ohio State–meet in an early-season Top 10 showdown under the lights before 100,000-plus fans in Columbus. It’s USC’s first visit to Ohio Stadium since 1990, a game that was cut short by a thunderstorm.

The Trojans have won their last 6 meetings against the Buckeyes, including a memorable 35-3 victory in Los Angeles last season. USC also has fared well against Big Ten competition recently, winning the last 9 such games (by an average 24-point margin). It’s the first of 2 Midwest trips (a rarity) for Troy this year, with the traditional Notre Dame clash set for mid-October in South Bend. USC–owner of 7 consecutive AP Top 4 finishes, BCS bowl trips, Pac-10 titles and 11-win seasons–is looking to protect a number of winning streaks: 13 non-conference games, 11 overall games and 9 non-conference road games.

This is the 93rd consecutive game the Trojans have been ranked in the AP Top 25, extending their school record. USC’s Pete Carroll–who once coached in Columbus–and Ohio State’s Jim Tressel rank among college football’s winningest active coaches (Carroll is tops at 85.6%, while Tressel is seventh at 74.1%). Carroll has never lost to a Big Ten foe in 6 meetings.

USC, coming off a season-opening home blowout over San Jose State, enters the sold-out “Horseshoe” with an offense led by precocious QB Matt Barkley, who didn’t disappoint last week (completing 76% of his passes for 233 yards) when he became the first USC true freshman to start an opener at quarterback. He is surrounded by loads of talent, including TBs Joe McKnight (145 yards and 2 TDs in the opener) and Stafon Johnson (2 TDs last week), WR Damian Williams, FB Stanley Havili, TE Anthony McCoy, OG-C Jeff Byers and C Kristofer O’Dowd. The revamped USC defense (it lost 8 starters, all NFL draftees) also didn’t disappoint in its 2009 debut, allowing just 121 total yards and 3 points.

Troy’s defensive leader is 2-time All-American S Taylor Mays, a top Thorpe Award candidate, while LB Chris Galippo anchors the linebacker crew. Ohio State, which squeaked by Navy at home last Saturday, has one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the country in QB Terrelle Pryor, who can beat you throwing and/or running. TB Dan Herron can pound the ball behind a veteran line.

Like USC, the Buckeyes lost some marquee defensive players, and they now turn to the likes of S Kurt Coleman, DT Doug Worthington and LB Ross Homan to make the stops. The game will be beamed live nationally on ESPN and will also be shown in 3D in several theaters (including USC’s Galen Center). ESPN’s famed College GameDay pre-game show will originate from Columbus on Saturday morning.