• Officially, if the depth chart remains as is, USC will have 11 returning starters in 2010, plus four other starters who have previous starting experience.
• The offensive backfield is loaded with experience, as Matt Barkley and fullback Stanley Havili combine for 47 starts. Allen Bradford has one start at tailback (he also started two games at fullback in 2006), while C.J. Gable has 11 career starts at the position.
• The right side and middle of the offensive line (Kristofer O'Dowd, Butch Lewis and Tyron Smith) will all return in 2010, and the left side of the line (Matt Kalil and Khaled Holmes) will be completely new.
• Wideout David Ausberry, who was injured for most of the second half of last season, was inadvertently left off the depth chart. He'll most likely work his way into the rotation at split end along with Brice Butler and Jordan Cameron.
• The receiving corps officially has just one returning starter in Ronald Johnson, but Rhett Ellison started four games at tight end in 2009 and David Ausberry started six games at wideout before getting injured halfway through the 2009 season.
• The defense should have five returning starters in addition to four other projected starters with prior starting experience.
• The middlemen on the defensive line -- senior tackles Christian Tupou and Jurrell Casey -- have a combined 34 starts.
• The three projected starting linebackers -- Devon Kennard, Chris Galippo and Malcolm Smith -- all return from 2009.
• With an entirely new secondary, the defensive backfield will feature a lot of fresh faces, though Shareece Wright (four) and Drew McAllister (one) have recorded starts in previous seasons.

OFFENSE:

Despite missing 3 starters on offense (RB Joe McKnight, TE Anthony McCoy, and OL Tyron Smith), the Trojans did not miss a beat. Matt Barkley had one of his best performances this season, throwing for 350 yards, 2 touchdown passes, and 1 interception. Damian Williams had a career-high performance, 12 catches for 189 yards. The NFL is calling for Williams, but USC fans are calling for one more year.

DEFENSE:

The defense played tough. Jurrell Casey had a monster performance and Shareece Wright's return was welcomed and a positive impact. Wright had an interception and great pass coverage the whole night.

OFFENSE:

Despite missing 3 starters on offense (RB Joe McKnight, TE Anthony McCoy, and OL Tyron Smith), the Trojans did not miss a beat. Matt Barkley had one of his best performances this season, throwing for 350 yards, 2 touchdown passes, and 1 interception. Damian Williams had a career-high performance, 12 catches for 189 yards. The NFL is calling for Williams, but USC fans are calling for one more year.

DEFENSE:

The defense played tough. Jurrell Casey had a monster performance and Shareece Wright's return was welcomed and a positive impact. Wright had an interception and great pass coverage the whole night.

A focused Trojan effort should lead the Trojans to a victory over a Boston College team that plays a conservative pro-style offense, fitting right into what USC defends against the best. The Trojans also possess offensive speed, even without RB Joe McKnight and Tight End Anthony McCoy that Boston College has yet to see this year.

However, getting the Trojans to play focused and passionate in a normal bowl game will be a tall order for Coach Carroll.

Keys to the Game:

Avoid Complacency: Since 2002, the Trojans have been playing in BCS bowls so it is a foreign concept for the Trojan players to be participating in a lower tier bowl to finish the season. Typically, teams in this situation do not play with the focus and passion that is required to beat an opponent who is looking forward to knocking off a top tier program. With four losses including two where they were soundly beaten, the Trojans cannot think for a second that a pedestrian effort will win this game. Couple that with the loss of four big contributors due to academics or NCAA investigation (McCoy, Spicer, Smith and McKnight), Troy has no room for error.

On the flip side, a focused effort should result in a victory to help wash away some of the disappointment of the season.

Stuff RB Montel Harris early: Boston College Running Back Montel Harris has rushed for 1,355 yards this season and accounts for about 70% of BC’s offense when they win. He is a strong straight ahead runner who also possesses good break away speed. When Harris is running well, especially early, it allows BC to play it safe in the passing game and avoid turnovers. It will be interesting to see how SC fares against Harris. BC runs a very simple offense with uncomplicated blocking schemes which should play right into the Trojans hands. Against similar schemes this year, the Trojans were successful stopping the run but those teams didn’t possess a back like Harris.

It will be bad news for the Trojans If Harris runs the ball around 30 times and rushes for over 150 yards. . .

Confuse the BC Quarterback: 25 year-old freshman Quarterback Dave Shiniskie has had a solid year for BC throwing for 1,831 yards with 14 touchdown passes in a run happy offense. However, he has also thrown 13 interceptions and played awful against teams that mixed things up defensively and possessed team speed like the Trojans. Against Virginia Tech and North Carolina, both games that BC fell behind early and had to throw, Shiniskie was 13 for 31 with 6 interceptions and only 1 td pass. He ended up being pulled in the second half of both games. He does not do a good job of throwing the ball away against pressure and will literally throw it up for grabs at times. The BC coaches have been working with him on just taking the sack or throwing it out of bounds but the Trojans should still get opportunities at multiple interceptions if they contain the running game.

*Offensive keys to the game, players to watch and a little inside the locker room info after the break

Damian Williams, Jeff Byers, Charles Brown and Taylor Mays were all named to the All-Pac-10 first team. Williams was selected twice as a wide receiver and punt returner.

Everson Griffen, Josh Pinkard, Kevin Thomas and Garrett Green were selected to the All-Pac-10 second team. Green made the team as a special teamer.

Trojans receiving honorable mention were Allen Bradford, Jurrell Casey, Chris Galippo, Will Harris, Butch Lewis, Anthony McCoy, Joe McKnight, Tyron Smith and Christian Tupou.

To see full list of the All-Pac-10 teams click here.

Pac-10 Football Awards and All-Conference Announced [pac10]

We all saw how great he played against Penn State in the Rose Bowl and he is now showing us that he is a legitimate contender for the Mackey Award and the he could be a great pick-up in the NFL. He is one of the better blocking TE's in the game and his performance on Saturday simply increased his exposure to those who don't folloow USC on a regular basis.

From the LA Times

McCoy looked like the best tight end in college football against the Fighting Irish, catching five passes for 153 yards and setting up two touchdowns and a field goal in the Trojans' 34-27 win at Notre Dame.

After waiting two seasons behind Mackey Award winner Fred Davis, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound McCoy has developed into an upper-round NFL prospect in his second season as a starter.

"He's got the whole package," USC Coach Pete Carroll said. "Few guys are that flashy and effective as receivers that can also block.

"He's going to be a tremendous prospect at the next level."

McCoy enters Saturday's game against Oregon State averaging a team-best 25 yards a reception. He has caught 14 passes, second on the team to wideout Damian Williams, and overcome a few early drops to become a short, mid-range and deep threat.

"He can stretch the field," freshman quarterback Matt Barkley said. "It's been such an advantage to have that. . . . The way he can run vertically and just have a knack for catching the ball and finding that open window is huge."

I still laugh at the scene of McCoy dragging those ND defenders downfield before thy brought him down short of the goal line. That was a sight! McCoy was honored for his performance against ND by being named the Mackey Award player of the week.

He will continue to play an important role as SC goes down the stretch.

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We are about to enter the second half of the season and now the fun begins. SC has the meat of the schedule in front of them. After this weekends game against Oregon St. SC goes on the road against the Duck's in Eugene then on to Tempe to face ASU. It has been an interesting ride so far, SC has not left us bored that is for sure with huge road wins against Ohio St. and Notre Dame. Yes there was the slip up against the Huskies but with what we have seen from them I think it was clear that the loss of Barkley and Mays along with Sarkisian and Holt knowing the strengths and weaknesses of this team backward and forward combined for a perfect storm  for the upset...Hats off to them for the win but lets not get carried away.

The mid-season reviews and award lists are out and SC has some good representation...

Lets start with Ted Miller's Second-half outlook of USC...

Will Washington prove to be the only bump in the road for USC? And if USC rolls to an 11-1 record, will it play its way into the national title game? Or will we see the Trojans matched up again (sigh) with a Big Ten team in the Rose Bowl? It might be more fun if the Trojans lost to Oregon on Oct. 31 and then won out and earned an at-large invitation to another BCS bowl game. It seems like a massive long shot, given the selection procedure, but just picture USC vs. Florida/Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Yummy!

I am not even worrying about the post season, there is way too much football left to play and a couple of tough games still on the schedule...not just Oregon.

If anything the Notre Dame game showed me that we still have some work to do on finishing. The defense took their foot off the gas and let ND back in it, the dumb penalties sooner or later will come back to haunt us and cost us a game and for as great as Matt Barkley played he still is susceptible to making rookie mistakes.

SC needs to tighten a few things up...

Decreasing dumb penalties,3rd down conversions, the running game and the red zone offense still need to improve.

Michael Lev of the OCR has a quick take...

MIDSEASON MVP

MLB Chris Galippo

Taking over at the heart of an almost all-new front seven, the redshirt sophomore from Servite High has become an instant leader and among the top playmakers for the ninth-ranked defense in the nation. Galippo leads USC in tackles (41), is tied for first in pass breakups (four) and also has five tackles for loss, an interception and a forced fumble.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

RB Allen Bradford

Even though he didn't play much last season because of injuries, Bradford has made the most tangible gains. The redshirt junior entered this season with 123 career rushing yards and a 2.9-yard average. In six games, he has 228 yards and a 6.3-yard average. Also considered: RB Joe McKnight, TE Anthony McCoy, OT Tyron Smith, DT Jurrell Casey, DE Nick Perry and LB Michael Morgan.

Any one of those players listed above could be seen as most improved. Especially Nick Perry. You have to love what PC is doing with him...he is an absolute beast and he will only get better.

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Here are a few links to some mid-season awards.

Phil Steele's 2009 Mid Season All-Pac-10 team

SN's midseason All-Americans: Offense

SN's midseason All-Americans: Defense

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Here is an interesting take on the BCS from the WSJ...

Quantitatively and qualitatively, USC looks like the top option should any member of the Alabama-Florida-Texas triumverate falter. The Trojans top Boise, Cincinnati and Iowa in total defense. Of that group, they trail only the Bearcats in total offense. With the nation's ninth-rated defense by yards, the Trojans appeared to have one weakness heading into the season: quarterback play. But Matt Barkley continues to disprove that notion, along with the now-foolish idea that Aaron Corp should've started over him to begin the season. Mr. Barkley threw for 380 yards in the victory over Notre Dame.

If Mr. Barkley hadn't missed the Washington game, the Trojans might already occupy one of the top two spots. But with the way Florida and Texas are playing, who knows – maybe they will again.

It is going to get interesting as we go down the stretch.

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Here is Pete Carroll on PMS

All Pac-10 has their USC/OSU preview up.

Ted Miller has a little more in his "What to watch for in the Pac-10"

As expected, Mark Tyler is done for the season, with Stanley Havili expected to be a game time decision because of his shoulder injury.

Here is a good read by the Trojan Empire on the BCS

Eighth in a series on grounds for optimism and worry.

Biggest reason for hope -- An intact offensive line leads nine returning offensive starters.

Coaches often say it all starts with the offensive line (though this is an interesting contrarian argument), so the Trojans should be off to a good start with five starters returning and depth so talented it might unseat a veteran or two -- see tackle Tyron Smith challenging Butch Lewis. Kristofer O'Dowd is an All-American and may be the best center in the country. Guard Jeff Byers and tackle Charles Brown are All-Pac-10 guys who may get national honors, too. Last year, USC averaged 195 yards rushing per game and surrendered just 18 sacks, fewest in the conference. Best line in the nation? Maybe.

Biggest reason for concern -- This is probably the nation's toughest schedule.

Unlike many other programs in other conferences that hope to compare themselves to USC, the Trojans are not afraid of playing tough nonconference games on the road. Good for them, but some years it sets up a brutal slog of a schedule. USC figures to be the only team in the nation to play four nationally ranked opponents on the road -- Ohio State, California, Notre Dame and Oregon. The opener against San Jose State? Heck, the Spartans have won 20 games over the past three seasons since Dick Tomey took over. Toss in the quality depth of the Pac-10 and the round-robin conference schedule and no other team in the nation faces fewer weeks off than the Trojans.

Here’s the fifth thing we learned this spring about USC football:

No. 5 — All-Pac-10 center Kristofer O’Dowd is worthy of all the hype.

How can this be? How could Kristofer O’Dowd prove his value without taking a single spring snap?

It seems counterintuitive, but hear me out:

Sometimes we don’t realize the value of a player until he’s gone. Quick example: In the Phoenix Suns’ run-and-gun heyday from 2004-08, they won 70.7 percent of their regular-season games. Out of the 17 games Steve Nash missed, they won all of four.

The O’Dowd-less USC offensive line didn’t have a bad spring, but it didn’t have a great one either. It was one of the Trojans’ more inconsistent units, and arguably their most disappointing given the number of returnees with starting experience (even without O’Dowd).

A lot of variables contributed to that. One was the daily dominance of a deep, talented defensive line that probably would have made any college O-line look bad. Another was a spate of minor injuries that had several players shifting around. (Tackle Butch Lewis briefly played guard — for the first time.) Yet another was the force-feeding of talented but still-learning young tackles Tyron Smith and Matt Kalil.

The constant was the absence of O’Dowd, who missed spring ball while recuperating from shoulder surgery.

It’s hard for even a football fanatic such as myself to truly judge offensive-line play, and it’s especially difficult to assess the interior linemen when so many bodies converge and the ball is often elsewhere. But it was clear during spring drills that USC’s offensive line missed O’Dowd, who earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors as a sophomore. There were far too many tackles for loss and far too many one-sided blitz periods.

The offensive line hadn’t looked that shaky since the start of training camp last year, when guard Jeff Byers was out because of an illness. O’Dowd took just about every snap then, so maybe it’s the combination of him and Byers that makes the O-line click. Once Byers returned, the line jelled.

I expect the same to happen this year when O’Dowd comes back — and adds “All-American” to his growing résumé .

10 THINGS WE LEARNED SCHEDULE

• Thursday, April 30: No. 1 — Freshman quarterback Matt Barkley is really, really good
• Friday, May 1: No. 2 — Junior defensive end Everson Griffen can be as good as he wants to be
• Monday, May 4: No. 3 — The Trojans have more viable tailbacks than they have spots to play them
• Tuesday, May 5: No. 4 — The Trojans are crazy deep at cornerback, and that’s a very good thing
• Wednesday, May 6: No. 5 — All-Pac-10 center Kristofer O’Dowd is worthy of all the hype
• Thursday, May 7: No. 6
• Friday, May 8: No. 7
• Monday, May 11: No. 8
• Tuesday, May 12: No. 9
• Wednesday, May 13: No. 10

More from the USC blog:

• USC football: 10 things we learned in spring (No. 4)
• USC football: 10 things we learned in spring (No. 3)
• USC football: 8 kickoff times set for 2009
• USC football: 10 things we learned in spring (No. 2)
• USC Football: Robinson in CFB Hall of Fame
• USC football: 10 things we learned in spring (No. 1)
• USC basketball: Net result of the comings and goings
• USC football: Pryor engagement already on their minds?
• USC football: The secret to Jethro Franklin’s success
• USC football: A pair of unsolved mysteries

Post from: USC

Follow the jump for the complete list.

Some thoughts on USC's Junior Day:

"Just being around the players and coaches on Saturday was incredible. They have so much energy and you get fired up being around them. They have a great football program and who wouldn't want to be a part of a team like that."

One of his best friends and former teammates is '09 commit, Byron Moore, so hopefully that'll provide some pull in bringing in Sean.    

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• USC offered Malcolm Jones, younger brother of Marshall Jones, over the weekend.  He's one of the top big backs in CA (and likely the country) for '10.  Personally I think Anthony Barr out of Loyola is a better prospect. Unfortunately it doesn't look like either player will come to SC; many people have Barr as a lock to Notre Dame and Malcolm to Stanford.  

• Nick Montana, son of famed Joe Montana, was also on hand.  Lot of hype surrounding Nick off of name value alone.  I personally think he's a good QB but far from being elite.  Playing at Oaks Christian on a stacked team in a sub-par league tends to skew things a bit.

Some argue SC needs to take a QB this class, which is valid because there is always the possibility of Corp transferring (I doubt Mustain will transfer again) if he loses the QB battle, which would leave us 1-deep going into the 2010 season.  Pete Thomas is a name that is floating around and he was on hand for Junior Day.  I'm hoping SC takes the QB process slow and holds off till next year... 

• Lot of SC leans showed up in Dietrich Riley, Kenny Stills, Randal Telfar, and Ronald Powell. Powell looks like he'll be a lock to be rated one of the elite D-Linemen in the country.  SC has been on Ronald since I first started this site.  Ronald has mentioned that SC is his favorite school but lot of stuff can happen between now and signing day.  Hopefully Tyron Smith (former teammate of Ronald) and the coaching staff will keep his interest level high and turn Ronald into this year's Devon Kennard minus the suspense.

• Tevin McDonald, younger brother of '09 commit T.J. McDonald and son of former USC All-American safety Tim McDonald, came down from Fresno to take in the day.  SC has been more selective about handing out offers this year and Tevin has yet to receive one, but can change that at the upcoming Rising Stars camp.

Really liking Pete Carroll's approach this year in taking more time to evaluate players.  With all the talent in CA this year, we definitely have a shot at pulling in the top class in the nation.  Obviously lot of factors will come into play, but judging from the response from Junior Day, it is definitely a great precursor to the Rising Stars camp which has been a big hit for recruits and will bring together the elite talent across the nation.