RAZOR SHARP TROJANS PROVE THEY STILL GOT GAME IN TEST WITH ARKANSAS.Byline: STEVE DILBECK FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - There now, feel better? You can confess to it now. Deep down in your little cardinal-and-gold shrouded heart, concern had taken hold. USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. lost so many players, so many stars. Glamour guys gone, cashing NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga paychecks. Guys who won Heismans and crystal balls. And here were all these fresh-faced kids. Youngsters with great high school resumes and near-zippo college experience. Heading down to Arkansas for their season opener. Playing a team so fired up for revenge after last season's 70-17 shelling by USC that Arkansas defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a football team in the National Football League or college football who is in charge of the defense. This position aids the head coach a great deal in many ways by delegating play calling to other coaches and allowing the head Reggie Herring Persondata NAME Reggie Herring ALTERNATIVE NAMES SHORT DESCRIPTION Defensive Coordinator for the Arkansas Razorbacks DATE OF BIRTH 7/3/59 PLACE OF BIRTH DATE OF DEATH PLACE OF DEATH Reggie Herring thanked God for the ``chance for our players to get their spirit and their soul back. It was taken from them last year.'' Turns out the Razorbacks remain lost souls, and the Trojans are going to be just fine. Maybe much better than that. USC began life without Matt Leinart Matthew Stephen Leinart (born May 11, 1983 in Santa Ana, California) is an American football quarterback (QB) for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He played college football for the University of Southern California Trojans, leading them to an AP national , Reggie Bush Reginald "Reggie" Bush, birth name: Reginald Alfred Bush II (born March 2, 1985 in San Diego, California), nicknamed 'The Human Highlight Reel' and 'The President', alluding to President Bush, is an American football player who plays for the New Orleans Saints of the NFL. , LenDale White and Co. Saturday night in Arkansas by putting another whupping on the Razorbacks, 50-14, before a stunned crowd of 76,564. Pete Carroll's great USC run will not be coming to some sudden end. Life not only goes on in Heritage Hall, it could ultimately look very familiar. ``We always knew we could do it,'' said senior receiver Steve Smith. ``We just had to show (the media) we could do it.'' The kids were all right Saturday, and so were the few vets. USC started carefully, slowly, made Arkansas pay for mistakes and then seemed to gain confidence and momentum and familiarity as the game wore on. The offense, with only four returning starters, played smart in the first half and then rose up and dropped a 50-spot on the Razorbacks. If Trojan Land was trying to suppress any anxiety over the loss of its stars and the arrival of the new gang, apprehension never seemed part of the team's agenda. ``We were never all that concerned,'' said receiver Dwayne Jarrett. ``We weren't surprised by tonight. ``We just wanted to play our A game and show the nation what we could do.'' New USC starters may have lacked the spectacular quality of the predecessors, but they were effective and will have plenty of time to grow. In truth, Leinart, Bush and White where hardly instant superstars. Leinart had a nice, controlled first start at Auburn three years ago; Bush and White played minor roles. By comparison, this latest unveiling was something of a step above. Quarterback John David Booty John David Booty (born January 3, 1985, in Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.) is the starting quarterback of the University of Southern California (USC) football team. He is called "John David", and sometimes referred to as J.D., because his father's name is John. , who gave patience a Trojan face, forced a few balls early, but did everything the USC coaches could ask. His downfield down·field adv. & adj. Sports To, into, or in the defensive team's end of the field. Adj. 1. downfield - toward or in the defending team's end of the playing field; "he threw to a downfield receiver" passing game will develop, and in the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile his short passing game was on target. Booty completed 24-of-35 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns, without throwing an interception. ``He has a little anxious feet early on,'' Smith said. ``But he settled down and really did well.'' The tailback spot, seemingly left devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. by the departure of Bush and White, saw a variety of young job applicants fill in admirably. If no one screamed superstar, more development figures to be on the way. C.J. Gable, the first true freshman to ever start a USC opener at tailback, rushed 12 times for 51 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Emmanuel Moody, playing mostly in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand, led the team with 58 yards on seven carries and one TD. Freshmen Allen Bradford, shifted from defensive back to tailback late in camp, carried five times for 13 yards and a touchdown. The most explosive and promising of the tailbacks may have been semiveteran Chauncey Williams. The redshirt junior gained 55 yards on eight carries. And the very young defense, although perhaps not at the quality of the team three years ago that shut out Auburn, demonstrated it won't be the porous unit it too often was last season. With linebacker Oscar Lua sidelined with a hamstring injury hamstring injury Sports medicine A muscle injury of biceps femoris, seen in sprinters and runners, when a contracted muscle meets a lengthening force, overpowering intrinsic muscle resiliency Management RICE, NSAIDs, gradual ↑ of pain-free activity–eg, early, the main defensive unit played with only one senior -- linebacker Dallas Sartz -- and caused the home team nothing but problems. Arkansas gained only 287 yards on the night, and despite those soulful cries of revenge, saw USC turn a 16-7 halftime lead into a 44-7 rout in the second half. New cast, familiar hopes for USC. After consecutive national titles and coming within seconds of a third last season, the cupboard is not empty. Hidden fears of normalcy nor·mal·cy n. Normality. Noun 1. normalcy - being within certain limits that define the range of normal functioning normality appear unfounded. The party is still on for the sixth-ranked Trojans. They are good, and have an opportunity to develop into something much better than that. It is very early, but don't all you USC types feel better? CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Former Sylmar High School Sylmar High School is a public school in the northeast San Fernando Valley in the Sylmar district of Los Angeles, California. Established in the 1950s, it is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, District 2, and serves more than 3,600 students in grades 9-12. standout tailback C.J. Gable (25) of the USC Trojans runs into the end zone for a touchdown against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the second quarter Saturday at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. (2) Wide receiver Steve Smith (2) of the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission Trojans makes a catch for a first down to set up a field goal to end the second quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. Brian Bahr/Getty Images |
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