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Dance with the Devils: starting with a date at high-scoring, hard-charging Arizona State, Southern California faces its toughest stretch of games

Sporting News, The, Oct 7, 2005 by Todd Harmonson

Everyone gets up for No. 1. That much Southern California has known since it climbed to the top of the national rankings in December 2003.

But most teams' best gives them as much chance against the Trojans as Hollywood's wannabe-screenwriters-disguised-as-waiters have of landing a three-picture deal.

Hawaii's best was good for a 46-point thrashing, Arkansas' for a 53-point annihilation and Oregon's for a relatively respectable 32-point pounding. USC, however, is set to embark on a schedule swing that should provide the kinds of challenges that will determine whether the Trojans are on track for another championship.

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"That's what I like," says USC coach Pete Carroll, whose team plays two ranked teams in its next three games, starting with Arizona State on Saturday. "It's awesome. It's like every game is a championship game."

Arizona State is especially dangerous because quarterback Sam Keller has the arm and accuracy necessary to exploit the Trojans' depleted secondary, which is missing starter Terrell Thomas because of a knee injury. Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter should frustrate USC by taking the short passes Carroll's defense will allow and running freshman Keegan Herring to set up deep play-action passes. That's when Keller can go to Derek Hagan, especially when he draws shaky Trojans cornerback John Walker, who will be making only his second start at corner. Carroll will put his defense in a lot of cover 2 to protect his corners, so the Sun Devils must be patient.

Arizona State also will need its defense to show more than it has in its first four games. It generates a ferocious pass rush, but Matt Leinart can handle pressure. The Sun Devils' bend-don't-break approach surrenders chunks of yards, and USC's stable of playmakers--led by Reggie Bush--can turn small openings into game-breaking scores.

The Trojans, for their part, will need a far superior performance to the one they delivered at Oregon to dance over the Devils. The turnovers, penalties and first half scoring drought won't cut it against a team that showed it could hang with a national power when it barely fell to LSU.

After facing Arizona State, the Trojans will get a visit from Arizona before Team Hollywood discovers how it will play in Middle America with its October 15 date at Notre Dame.

"We get up and go to the next place," Carroll says. "I don't care. It doesn't really matter. The better we understand that, the better we'll perform."

"We're going to have tough games coming up," Leinart says. "We're not going to just breeze through these games."

Nothing should scare everyone from No. 2 on down more than the notion that USC was miserable at Oregon last Saturday, fell behind, 13-0, and didn't score until 5:08 remained in the second quarter. Then the Trojans hung 45 unanswered points on a ranked team at one of the nation's toughest places to play.

And instantly Carroll looked ahead to the next team that will make USC its No. 1 priority.

"We've got a huge game coming up against Arizona State," Carroll says. "Nothing else matters. All that matters is how we do with the next couple of steps we take."

SCOUTS VIEWS

Observations from college coaches

Purdue quarterback Brandon Kirsch isn't as good as I thought. He's athletic, and he runs that dink-and-dunk passing game and play-action well, but he's not great. I like the defensive ends (Anthony Spencer and Ray Edwards). They play the pass well and let the linebackers handle the run. ... Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball is hard to contain because he does some unorthodox things that turn into big plays. You watch him and say, "He shouldn't do that. He couldn't do that. He didn't do that." And then you're looking at a big play. Having a three-year starter at quarterback is real important. ... Minnesota running back Laurence Maroney is very fast, and he makes real quick cuts. He doesn't waste a lot of time. He makes a cut and is vertical quickly. He can split a defense in a heartbeat. ... The middle of Miami's offensive line is not that good. In the past, that was a strong point, but Florida State went up the middle to get (quarterback) Kyle Wright again and again. ... I've seen some things about Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller that scare me. He's had a few near misses so far. He does throw a good ball, and he's getting better. He's not mobile, though. He's strictly dropback and maybe a half-roll. ... Boston College is going to use the power running game on first down and then bootleg and screen you to death on second and third downs. Occasionally, they throw some slants and hitches. ... Arizona hits well on defense, especially in the secondary. They have some good skill people on offense, but they need to get more physical on that side of the ball. They're on the right track, though. ... Wisconsin running back Brian Calhoun has a different gear. He has some separation to him if he can hit the hole.

Dance with the Devils: starting with a date at high-scoring, hard-charging Arizona State, Southern California faces its toughest stretch of games

Sporting News, The, Oct 7, 2005 by Todd Harmonson

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