ANALYSIS: USC CAN USE BREATHER : TEAM WANTS TO GET HEALTHY BEFORE UCLA, NOTRE DAME.Byline: Scott Wolf Scott Richard Wolf (born June 4, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Boston, Massachusetts to Steven Wolf and Susan Enowitch, Wolf was raised in West Orange, New Jersey. He graduated in 1986 from West Orange High School. Daily News Staff Writer Last year, USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. quietly got Oregon State to make a slight change in the 1998 schedule. The Trojans convinced the Beavers to move their game up from Nov. 14 to Sept. 19. It made sense to Oregon State, because it meant the Beavers wouldn't have to play UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX and USC back to back. It made even more sense to the Trojans. They would get a much-needed weekend off before playing archrivals UCLA and Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame , teams they haven't swept since 1981. Little could they imagine how propitious pro·pi·tious adj. 1. Presenting favorable circumstances; auspicious. See Synonyms at favorable. 2. Kindly; gracious. [Middle English propicius, from Old French the schedule change turned out to be. It not only gives wide receiver R. Jay Soward Rodney (R.) Jay Soward (born January 16, 1978 in Rialto, California) is a football player who most recently played for the CFL's Toronto Argonauts as a wide receiver. College career He burst onto the college football scene with a 4-TD game vs. a chance to rest his severely sprained ankle A sprained ankle, also known as a ankle sprain, ankle injury or ankle ligament injury, is a common medical condition where one or more of the ligaments of the ankle is torn or partially torn. , it gives the rest of the team a chance to, uh, well, rest. The Trojans (7-3, 5-2) are certainly ready for a break. ``It's been a long road,'' linebacker David Gibson
David Gibson, (March 9 1804 – January 25 1864), was a surveyor, farmer and political figure in Upper Canada. said. ``We've been playing since August.'' Even though USC might be playing better than it has all season, it could use a minivacation to ease the physical and emotional strain. Following Saturday's 34-9 victory over Stanford, for the first time, the Trojans were able to erase some of the sting of the two tough losses to California and Oregon. ``Those two (conference) losses we took are still lingering in the back of my head,'' wide receiver Billy Miller said. ``But it's a little further back there now. ``It's kind of like a small exhale exhale /ex·hale/ (eks´hal) to breathe out. ex·hale v. 1. To breathe out. 2. To emit a gas, vapor, or odor. but not too long of one.'' Imagine if the Trojans had not blown a 21-point lead to Cal, or been able to make two short field goals in their 17-13 loss to Oregon. Next week's city championship would be a matchup of two top-10 teams. But even without that added feature, there's enough motivation for USC. ``We can go in there and destroy their whole season,'' cornerback Daylon McCutcheon Daylon McCutcheon (born December 9, 1976 in Los Angeles) is a retired National Football League cornerback. Coaching career Beginning in 2007, McCutcheon began coaching at his former high school. said. ``That's what rivalry football is all about.'' But first, he'll gladly take the bye. ``It's going to give us a chance. A little extra time to prepare for them,'' McCutcheon said. The focus this week will no doubt be on Soward's ankle. Which means something must be going right for the Trojans. The defense has been dominating the past four games, allowing just 12.5 points. And the offense seems to have stepped up a notch since freshman Carson Palmer Carson Palmer (born December 27, 1979 in Fresno, California), is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. He attended the University of Southern California, where he won the Heisman Trophy Award in 2002 in his senior season. was given the starting job. As for Soward, he joked Saturday that he briefly used a pair of crutches to make UCLA think he wouldn't be ready for the game, but his availability is a real concern. It's fairly certain that for this revival of USC's enthusiasm to sustain itself, the Trojans need a healthy Soward. ``With R. Jay out, that takes our deep threat out,'' Palmer said. ``It makes short passes difficult, because defensive backs won't back up as much on the receivers.'' USC coach Paul Hackett aluded to that immediately after the Stanford game. ``The biggest thing is to get the team (Soward?) healthy and fresh and ready to play UCLA,'' Hackett said. ``Our focus is very simple and it's four letters: UCLA. We're ready to do something the last two weeks.'' Don't be surprised if Hackett works on some more psychological material for next week. He already created a stir several weeks ago when he said Oregon was the best team in the Pacific-10 Conference The Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) is a college athletic conference which operates in the western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I. Membership Full members . The remark was completely ignored by the Trojan players but immediately brought a reaction in Westwood, and it wouldn't be surprising if Hackett dropped another verbal bomb to create a distraction. USC STATUS REPORT GAME: 10 RESULT: USC 34, Stanford 9 RECORD: 7-3, 5-2 THIS WEEK'S GPA GPA abbr. grade point average Noun 1. GPA - a measure of a student's academic achievement at a college or university; calculated by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number attempted : 3.38 CUMULATIVE GPA: 2.68 QUARTERBACKS: A- Carson Palmer completed 19 of 26 passes, with several drops by receivers. It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to take the reigns off the kid. RUNNING BACKS: B Here's the new policy. Chad Morton skips practice during the week and just shows up for games. It sure seems a better way to keep him healthy. RECEIVERS: B+ When R. Jay Soward went down, Larry Parker and Billy Miller picked up the slack. But the Trojans lack a deep threat without Soward in the game. OFFENSIVE LINE: B+ Maybe, just maybe, they really are improving. But is it enough to make a difference in season-ending games with UCLA and Notre Dame? DEFENSIVE LINE: A Aaron Williams forced a fumble, recovered two others and scored a touchdown. He helped the defensive line drive quarterback Todd Husak crazy. Perhaps their best game of season. LINEBACKERS: A Stanford ran and passed away from Chris Claiborne, but Zeke Moreno (11 tackles) and David Gibson (eight) were just as frustrating to the Cardinal. DEFENSIVE BACKS: A Troy Walters was a nonfactor, as the Trojans' secondary put in a superlative effort, limiting Husak to 138 yards passing. SPECIAL TEAMS: C+ Adam Abrams got back on track, but the punting was average, and a personal foul for roughing the punter kept Stanford's only TD drive alive. COACHING: B The defensive coaches are the unsung heroes of the season. At least the offense is improving. News flash: The Trojans committed 10 more penalties. - Scott Wolf CAPTION(S): Photo, Box PHOTO ``The biggest thing is to get the team (Soward?) healthy and fresh and ready to play UCLA. Our focus is very simple and it's four letters: UCLA. We're ready to do something the last two weeks.'' - Paul Hackett, USC head coach BOX: USC STATUS REPORT (see text) |
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