A SoCal Exclusive: Conquest Chronicles

Here’s a fun post to help all of the College Football fans get through the dole-drums of late spring and early summer. For those of you who do not know, Conquest Chronicles is a website dedicated to total coverage of USC Football and Basketball. So with spring practice over and the season opener three months away, I thought I’d give USC fans something to talk about. Thanks to CC for taking part in this interview.

Q: This may sound like a cliche, but in terms of talent, could the 2008 Trojans be Pete Carroll’s best team ever?

I have a problem with anointing a team with the “best team ever” moniker when they haven’t yet played a game with everyone (read freshman recruits) being a part of the team. I still think the 2004 team was the best team in the Pete Carroll era simply because they won an undisputed BCS title. You can amass all the talent you want but until they perform as a unit on the field we won’t really know how good they truly are.

Q: Did Carroll and Sarkisian make the right decision in naming Mark Sanchez the starter after spring ball?

I didn’t have a problem with naming Sanchez the starter but I did think they did it prematurely. I would have liked to have seen them wait until after spring ball ended if no other reason than to keep the competition going at the highest level. With that being said it’s obvious they saw something that the casual observer didn’t so they made the move. That’s why they are on the sidelines and we are in the stands. In the end I don’t care who starts as long as they are productive on the field and get USC some wins.

Q: The Trojans are loaded at tailback with C.J. Gable, Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson, Allen Bradford, etc. Who do you think will get the bulk of the carries come September? Or will it strictly be tailback by committee.

Training camp will give us a better feel for this one but I think its safe to say that the bulk of the carries out of the backfield will be between Gable and Johnson. McKnight is the wildcard, you know he is going to be on the field a lot, as he will have multiple roles as a receiver and running back. Bradford is still the unknown, we hear a lot of great things about him in camp/practice but he never seems to make it on the field where he can have some consistent impact.

Q: Last season the receivers outside of tight end Fred Davis were inconsistent and struggled at times. How did these young guys look in practice?

Damien Williams will bring some consistency to the receiving corps. All the receivers last season had trouble hanging on to the ball that needs to change this year. This is Patrick Turner’s year to shine, he needs to be a leader. Ronald Johnson is going to be fun to watch now that he has a year in the offense under his belt. I would like to really see what Ausberry can do, we have seen flashes of his ability so needs to really be consistent in 2008. The same goes for Hazleton that’s way too much talent not to be a consistent threat.

Q: Who’s going to replace All-American Sam Baker at the all-important left tackle position?

Well, for right now its Charles Brown with Butch Lewis backing him up. This is probably the most important position on the offense as keeping Mark Sanchez protected on his blind side will be key.

Q: With the departures of Sedrick Ellis and Lawrence Jackson, which guys are defensive coordinator Nick Holt looking to replace them with?

Fili Moala and Everson Griffen will the two most watched players on the defensive line. Griffen had an outstanding year for a freshman and he is only going to get better. Moala is seen by some experts as being the top defensive lineman in next years NFL draft, Moala has some big shoes to fill in replacing Sedrick Ellis who also had big shoes to fill himself in replacing Mike Patterson. This will be another stout defense in the Pete Carroll era.

Q: Could Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga be the best two linebackers to ever leave USC?

I think that question will be answered better at the end of the season. its going to be hard not think that if they both have dominant years. As of right now they are pretty close with Maualuga pretty much there. Cushing is coming off an average year due to an ankle injury, we know what he is capable of but this is his money year in cementing his value for next years NFL draft. If has a dominant year he could be in the hunt for a number of post-season awards. Maualuga probably could have come out this year but he heeded Pete Carroll’s advice in staying for his final year to really solidify his value when he heads to the NFL. Maualuga’s only deficiency is that he sometimes over shoots the play, if he can settle a bit more this season and not get injured this will be a stellar year for him.

Q: Last season, USC’s special teams were awful. Have they done anything to correct this?

This was a big concern last season, 2007 was the first team of the Pete Carroll era to be shut out of scoring on special teams. Most of the time special teams use back-up players in key roles. Special teams play provides the opportunity for players to show what they’ve got and earn a starting job. A lot of fans are bewildered that SC still doesn’t have a dedicated special teams coach. Special teams play is so important in regards to field position for the offense. USC had 3 punts blocked in 2007 that does a lot to changing the momentum of a game. Until there is a dedicated coach for special teams who will focus solely on this part of the game I see SC still having issues here, the question is can they limit any potential damage.

Q: If the season started tomorrow, how do you think the Trojans would fare?

I think SC would/will lose 1-2 games. It is so tough to undefeated especially in the Pac-10. Where the Pac Ten used to be considered an offense only conference you can see just how much the defensive play has improved over the past few seasons. Also SC always plays a tough out-of-conference schedule so there is always a landmine or two there that they need to be wary of.