Tom Malone
Astoundingly, USC players make up exactly half of ESPN.com's Pac-10 All-Decade team: QB Matt Leinart, TB Reggie Bush, WR Dwayne Jarrett, C Ryan Kalil, OT Sam Baker, DT Sedrick Ellis, DE Kenechi Udeze, LB Rey Maualuga, LB Keith Rivers, S Troy Polamalu, S Taylor Mays and P Tom Malone....
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(Photo of Stafon Johnson Leading Conquest at the 2009 Rose Bowl by Icon Sports Media)
My three least favorite college football teams are UCLA, Notre Dame and Cal. This week we play Cal and I hope we kill them. Saturday will make or break someone's season. The game however is overshadowed by terrible off the field injury.
Stafon Johnson is one of my favorite Trojans. On the field he is smooth, steady and always reliable for a big gain or a goal line score. Off the field he leads by example. He is the spiritual leader of team. When I heard the news I was shocked, then bummed, then worried and scared, then hopeful, and finally thankful and proud. Shocked because this is the type of injury you never hear about. It was a fluke accident. Bummed for Stafon because he has so much potential. He was on track to have a great year. I hoped all his hard work would payoff with an MVP caliber season followed by an early draft selection in the spring. Worried because holy sh*t he dropped 200 plus pounds on his neck. Can you die from that? Scared because I heard he was coughing up blood and had been in surgery for so many hours. Forget about football, this was now about survival. Hopeful because USC is a great institution that takes care of its players. If Stafon was in surgery, I knew the best doctors would be working on him. Thankful that the surgery went well and he was recovering. And proud for all the love and support he has been shown. If you wish to continue that love and support you can send notes of encouragement or anything you deem appropriate to:
Stafon Johnson
USC Football
Heritage Hall 203b
3501 Watt Way
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Or you can keep Stafon in your prayers.
Now on to Cal, last year the Trojans defense dominated Cal in the Coliseum. The final score was 17-3. The Trojans D held Jahvid Best to 30 yards on 13 carries. This year Best is averaging 116 yards per game. Look for the Trojans to stack the line again and force Kevin Riley to make plays. Riley has not thrown an interception this season. He has a streak dating back to last year of 115 pass attempts without an INT. The last time Riley faced USC he was 4 of 16 for 59 yards and an INT.
More Thoughts of the Day after the jump...
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From ESPN.com:Punter Matt Darr of Frontier (Bakersfield, Calif.), who averaged 46 yards as a junior, has committed to Southern California for the Class of 2010. Darr chose the Trojans over Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, LSU and Alabama. He also holds offers from Arizona State, Northwestern, Purdue, Baylor and UTEP, among others. He told ESPN affiliate Web site WeAreSC.com, "It was Sunday...
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A lot of people thought USC answered all the big questions after going to the air last week to take down the Cougars. There may not be many questions for this Trojan squad to answer at this early stage of the season, but there are some. These are nit-picky considering how embarrassingly good the team is, but still need...
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Dan Weber, Riverside P-E It’s tough, Tom Malone admits. And it has been for nearly two years since the punter from Lake Elsinore injured his right hip in summer workouts before his senior year at USC. It had been 16 months since he’d been in a game, Malone said, speaking from his hotel in rainy Berlin, eight time zones...
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Several ex-USC players are playing in Germany for NFL Europe. Safety John Walker, from Van Nuys and allocated by the Houston Texans, had 5 tackles, an INT and one pass defensed for the Hamburg Sea Devils. His Hamburg teammate, cornerback Justin Wyatt, allocated by the Arizona Cardinals, also saw game action. In addition, former USC punter Tom Malone, allocated...
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Tom Malone — to San Francisco
Justin Wyatt — to Arizona
William Buchanon — to Oakland
John Walker — to Houston
Scott Ware — to Philadelphia
Free Agent News [Scott Wolf inside USC]
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Reggie Bush in a blur on his way to a 4.33 time in the 40.
Leinart recorded a 37 inch vertical. Nice.
Old commrades, Norm Chow and Pete Carrol talk shop.
Norm Chow and Jeff Fisher of the Tennesse Titans.
Reggie may have run the fastest time, but nobody got more applause than Deuce.
Other notes:
- Nobody could believe that a 320-pound man recorded a 39 inch vertical. Winston Justice baby.
- Darnell Bing was all-around impressive but he didnt run below his listed 4.5 in the 40.
- Hate to pick on LenDale because we love him, but he only did 15 reps on the bench. (Punter Tom Malone did 14 and cornerback Justin Wyatt did 16.)
Trojan Pro Day Report [USCFootball.com]
USC's Pro Day like 'mini-combine' for players [MSNBC]
Leinart, Bush work out for NFL coaches, scouts [FoxSports]
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The
Coliseum played host to 15,000 fans on Sunday for the annual Trojan Huddle.
Desmond Reed was most impressive on offense--racking up 78 yards on just 5 carries. And had a 60-yard kickoff return.
Tom Malone shined for special teams. He got two ovations for his 60-yard and 55-yard punts. Even kicking into the wind, he sailed one 50-yards.
Playing middle linebacker, Saddleback JC transfer, Ryan Powdrell, made some big hits and was very strong against the run. Linebacker Keith Rivers led
everyone with 9 tackles.
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Will Matt Leinart go? Will Tom Malone go? Will Lofa Tatupu go? Decision day awaits... to see if they will join the score of other professional Trojans in
the NFL. Darnell Bing and Winston Justice also meet the three-years-removed-from-high-school-graduation requirement, but have publicly
stated their intentions to return for a third-straight national championship.
[UPDATE]: Leinart has pushed his decision back 24 hours. Annoucement will now come tomorrow (Friday, January 14th) at 2:30pm
from Heritage Hall.
[UPDATE]: Matt Leinart will return to USC for his senior
season.
Decision day awaits Leinart
[Daily Trojan]
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Even without Mike Williams, USC will have no shortage of well-seasoned studs.
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