On Saturday, early BCS title favorite USC took the field for their spring game. But while expectations are high at Southern Cal, the on the field results left a lot to be desired. Simply put the Trojans just didn’t look all that good Saturday afternoon.
Well, one reporter who covered the game was ESPNLA.com’s Pedro Moura.
Pedro was nice enough to answer some questions for Crystal Ball Run on that disappointing spring performance, Matt Barkley, and the differences between Pete Carroll and Lane Kiffin.
1. The buzz around USC all spring long was that Matt Barkley didn’t look like, well, Matt Barkley. How much of that had to do with his limited reps, how much had do with him with Robert Woods being out to injury, and how much- if anything- is something to actually be concerned about?
Let’s say there’s like a 100% of concern to be given out about this Matt Barkley spring situation and we have to devote it all to either (1) genuine concern, (2) lack of reps or (3) Woods and other players being out. I’ll go 10-20-70. Woods being out was obviously key, and it wasn’t even just him. USC didn’t have a scholarship tight end healthy for like five practices and had only two scholarship receivers healthy and available in two different scrimmages. The coaches also understandably gave more reps to Barkley’s understudies so as to prepare for next season. The only thing I’d be worried about as a USC fan is the real possibility that his numbers could fall off slightly this season pretty much naturally.
2. Speaking of which, a lot of the discussion following the spring game centered around the team as a whole being inconsistent. In your time around the team, did you feel like there was any sense of entitlement given all the buzz from this off-season?
I think it was more injuries than inconsistency. I don’t think you can point at a large group of USC’s players and say they were inconsistent when on the field this spring, so, more than anything, I see it as an injury issue. But, like Lane Kiffin said on Saturday, there’s no way the Trojans would survive in the fall if this many players get hurt then, so things have to change.
3. Given that there were so few departures off last year’s roster, this might be tough to answer, but did anyone unexpected surprise this spring? Is there a name we as college football fans need to know that we’re not yet familiar with?
For an unexpected surprise I can offer two players: receiver De’Von Flournoy and cornerback Isiah Wiley. Flournoy hasn’t done anything in three previous seasons with the program but was consistently the second-best receiver on the field this spring behind Marqise Lee, so he stands to seriously compete for the third receiver spot this fall, especially if former top recruit George Farmer can’t get healthy. Wiley, a senior juco transfer, started the latter half of last season at CB but is still largely an unknown and is a legit NFL prospect in my opinion.
4. Josh Shaw transferred in from Florida, and the NCAA recently granted him a waiver to play right away. What kind of player is he? What kind of impact will he have next year?
Josh Shaw is quite good. I watched him in winter workouts a lot and he has the defensive-back instincts you’d expect from a former SEC player. The question with him is whether he’ll be healthy in the fall and where exactly he’ll play, but I think he’ll definitely play and could challenge for a safety starting spot. He’s a good kid and a likely starter at some point in the future.
5. We are now three full years removed from the Pete Carroll era at USC, with incredibly, only the seniors left over from Carroll’s days at ‘SC. What are the biggest differences you notice between how he and Lane Kiffin run their programs?
Let’s see…Carroll definitely spent more time cultivating his image than Kiffin does, for better or for worse, and Carroll was definitely better at smiling when talking to the media than Kiffin is. But I don’t think the two are all that different as head coaches, and they both rely on their assistant coaches quite a bit, which is definitely a positive in Kiffin’s case. I’m curious to see how the newer coach’s reputation changes over the next year or so in Trojanland.
Bonus Question:
In addition to your USC football duties, you also cover the Clippers for ESPNLA.com.
Question, which will happen first: A UCLA Pac-12 title, or a Clippers NBA Championship.
Good question. At first I thought meant UCLA basketball, and that was going to be an easy answer considering the events of the last week. But with Bruin football vs. Clippers basketball, I’m going to have to go with the Clippers. I can’t see UCLA in any possible way winning a conference title in the next three years, and the Clippers conceivably could next season.
Be sure to follow Pedro on Twitter @PedroMoura.
Be sure to follow Crystal Ball Run on Twitter @CrystalBallRun.
