From CFN.com: Gee, at what point does the distracton, the loss of starters from last year (leaving school, failing class, getting arrested) add up enough to make at least ONE brave soul wonder if USC just might be a step or so worse than last year? *pause* Naah, won't happen.
yep, its a great point. they return 2 starters on offense and he wasn't even one of them....he was a backup last year. Yet, they have only one returning lineman on offense while the only other starter is of course, the big question mark coming into last year, Leinart. Then add the loss of Mike Williams and now you have to start a backup/ freshman WR and a backup/sophomore WR from last year. this team may face some growing pains if some pac 10 teams improve a notch or two. Cal is obvious while Washington St could make some noise. Va Tech has too bad of a defense to upset them I think but you never know. They must have avoided us then added USC on their opener for a reason. Maybe they know something most don't.
Their offensive line is the X-factor, as well as their secondary. I think that Oregon and Washington State, as well as Oregon State, are going to compete this year against them, and losing their sparkplug at Safety (I think his name was Will Poole) will hurt. I also think that unless they found a Wroten-like replacement that can make an immediate impact on the line, you'll find their defense MUCH more vulnerable because they have lost veteran knowledge in the secondary and push up front...The two places that allow a defense to be called flexibly and aggressively by a coordinator. I don't expect Carroll to allow too many chinks to be exposed in the armor, but I think you'll see SoCal outscore opponents more this year, and that will hurt their rankings as a result. Lienart's going to get the Greene treatment-as in automatic respect-from opposing secondaries, and if his line can block up front, Reggie Bush and company are going to display some absolutely dazzling tailback talent. It all hinges on the line, though...That's their only ?
I thinks its apparent WR is a question mark. Add losing their TE to the mix and their O-Line and passing are affected even more. Teams will be much more prepared for Leinart and given the loss of Wiliams and now Lewis then an expected dropoff is logical. Leinart will have a sophomore slump even though its his junior year. (ok not really a slump but he won't match his numbers from last year) One area that isn't a question is their special teams. Their punter averaged 49 yards a kick (ray guy?) and demolished the school record last year while Bush as a return guy is pretty awesome.
Well I had already called out their lack of experience on the O-line many times. And yes, add in the WR problems now with this guy and Williams, and you have yourself a little bit of a quandry. LSU is much closer to the team they had last year than USC. This offense will struggle. I guarantee you. They will not average more than 30 points a game, after averaging over 40 ppg last year.
How do you NOT make sure this kid enrolls in the 2nd summer session? Somebody in the athletic department dropped the ball on this one.
Lewis has been a head case hid entire time at USC, causing a bunch of problems, that may actually be better off w/o him on the team this season if that turns out to be the case. While USC did loose quite a bit on offense they get back their QB and all 3 fabulous RB's, so Leinart isn't the only returning starter, but their O-line will have to jell quickly if they are to go undefeated, even with that schedule. VA Tech could give them some problems in the opener as they always seem to play better early in the season.
Hey Tirk, you think we could get a full-size of that new avatar? Thanks in advance. :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
Hey, Tirk, you switched avatars too quickly this time around. I like the two chicks making out myself. Who was that, anyways? T.A.T.U or something? :thumb:
Looking at SoCal's schedule, I too could be so brave as the preseason pubs who are picking them to go undefeated. The predictions are based more on the weakness of their opponents than the strength of the Trojans. Hell, I don't get paid to pontificate on such matters and I can figure that out. :hihi:
