• Is this new California running back -- Trajuan Briggs -- the next Marshawn Lynch?
• A year after rebuilding, Oregon looks strong on its offensive line.
• An updated Oregon State depth chart, with new heights and weights.
• More UCLA Bruins to watch this spring.
• What's USC's status at quarterback, and is there really a competition to unseat Matt Barkley?
• More Washington questions, more Washington answers.
• Washington State lost its best chance at a deep threat this year, but, hey, no worries.
• Who's wealthy at defensive end entering spring practices.

Ten days, 14 players and nearly 5,000 words later, we have hit No. 1 on our countdown of the 15 Trojans to watch in spring practice.

But wait. There’s more.

Starting Thursday, we’ll begin our position-by-position preview of spring football, including three questions (and answers) for each spot.

And remember, you can follow the USC blog on Twitter at twitter.com/ocruscblog.

NO. 1 — QB MATT BARKLEY

Profile: 6-2, 230, sophomore

2009 stats: 12 games, 211 completions, 352 attempts, 59.9 completion percentage, 2,735 yards, 15 TDs, 14 INTs, 131.32 rating, 1 rushing TD

Why he’s one to watch: Yeah, this one was about as suspenseful as Jeff Bridges winning the Best Actor Oscar. But there’s really no other choice. Barkley has to be good for the 2010 Trojans to be great.

Barkley had a good 2009 — for a true freshman. His completion percentage was third best in the Pac-10 Conference. His win-loss record was 9-3. His final game was one of his finest: a 350-yard, two-touchdown performance in the Emerald Bowl vs. Boston College.

But Barkley needs to be better. And he knows that.

Areas for improvement include decision-making and footwork. A 15-14 TD-INT ratio is OK for a freshman, unacceptable for a sophomore. (Barkley threw at least one interception in 10 of 12 starts, with San Jose State and Washington State the exceptions.) Barkley’s mind and feet need to operate more quickly.

With a season’s worth of starts and snaps, that should happen. Barkley should experience the phenomenon known as “the game slowing down.” He should have a plethora of weapons at his disposal and more-than-adequate protection despite the loss of NFL-bound left tackle Charles Brown.

So what do we want to see from Barkley in spring practice? A high completion rate. More big plays. Minimal interceptions.

If he lays that foundation, he can work his way into the 2010 Heisman discussion. And in 2011, he can win it.

PLAYERS TO WATCH SCHEDULE

• Monday, March 8: No. 15 — DL Armond Armstead
• Tuesday, March 9: No. 14 — QB Mitch Mustain; No. 13 — OLB-DE Devon Kennard
• Wednesday, March 10: No. 12 — WR Brice Butler; No. 11 — RB C.J. Gable
• Thursday, March 11: No. 10 — TE Blake Ayles; No. 9 — WR-RB Dillon Baxter
• Friday, March 12: No. 8 — WR Kyle Prater; No. 7 — OT Matt Kalil
• Monday, March 15: No. 6 — WR Ronald Johnson; No. 5 — CB Shareece Wright
• Tuesday, March 16: No. 4 — LB Chris Galippo; No. 3 — S T.J. McDonald
• Wednesday, March 17: No. 2 — RB Allen Bradford; No. 1 — QB Matt Barkley

USC football: 15 players to watch in spring (No. 1) is a post from: USC

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28 games into the USC basketball season, the latest reports emerging from Galen Center unsurprisingly suggest that the current Trojans' bunch may be undergoing some sort of burnout effect. With a shortened roster and a general lack of depth, this concept shouldn't come as a big shock to most 'SC fans. From the Los Angeles Times:

USC is said to be running on fumes. The truth is, the Trojans would be lucky to have any fumes left.

With a shallow bench and a roster that includes several players racking up minutes after not playing much last season, it's evident the team is worn to the bone.

Coach Kevin O'Neill said that "tired shouldn't be an excuse," but he also admits that obstacles his players faced this year are a major factor in their current fatigue.

"The adversity and the constant having to overcome adversity takes a toll on guys who haven't had to play major minutes before," O'Neill said.

Senior guard Mike Gerrity had been going with the company line: that every player is tired at this point in the season. But he changed his tune Tuesday and said USC's recent losses against Oregon and Oregon State came from something else.

"We lost focus in both these past couple games," Gerrity said. "We had leads at halftime and we lost sight of what was getting us those leads."

In some ways, fatigue is a reasonable excuse for this team's recent troubles, but in the end, I'm not ready to go ahead and buy it. For one, the Trojans struggles have been on the offensive end - they shoot just 30.2% from beyond the arc and rank among the worst teams in all of Division 1 in terms of points per game. Most scouts will tell you that defense takes far more energy to play than offense so the idea that the team's offensive performance is lagging due to exhaustion is a little tough for me to understand at this point. 

Furthermore, the Trojans' effort hasn't entirely been consistent. Why does the fatigue only kick in for games against the conference's bottom feeders - Oregon, Oregon State, and  Washington State. It looked like the effort was certainly there against Washington in Seattle and Cal at Galen Center. Something doesn't match up exactly.

Surprisingly, O'Neill acknowledged the the team may be wearing down this week and that if may be negatively impacting the team's recent performance. From Scott Wolf's blog:

"Basically we are a little fried as a team," said O'Neill. "I don't know how we will react over these last two games being that we really have nothing to play for like the Pac-10 Tournament of anything like that.''    

Yet, even with the season winding down, USC has one final road trip left to Arizona on the horizon, where they will aim to finish the year on a positive note. It's going to be tough for these to get motivated to play in these games, considering that Cal has already won the Pac-10 regular season title and there is no Pac-10 tournament for 'SC. Yet, with three important seniors in Mike Gerrity, Marcus Johnson, and Dwight Lewis, on the roster, it would be nice to see them play well over the final stretch run. 

Additionally, the trip to the Valley of the Sun, will also mark Kevin O'Neill's return to Arizona, where he once coach for the Wildcats for one season back in 2008. Of course, O'Neill has been downplaying its significance:

"To me it's just another game against a quality team. I have great respect for Arizona and their tradition. I loved my time in Tucson, but it's just another game. It's unfortunately our last game of the year, but it's just another outing.''  

Nonetheless, this season is just about all wrapped up, and as a result, most of the Trojan faithful is already taking a quick glance at the future. And as it looks now, that future appears to be pretty bright. 

That is because, the Trojans recently got its first verbal commitment from the class of 2012 - 6'2" combo guard Larry Lewis of Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona according to WeAreSC.com:

Lewis verbally committed to the Trojans on Tuesday night, after sitting down with his mother and AAU coach, Jeff De Laveaga.  The 6-2 guard had unofficially visited the Trojans several weeks ago and felt that experience, coupled with strong pushes from USC assistant coach Bob Cantu and head coach Kevin O'Neill, was enough to make him a Trojan.

"Larry wanted to get it done," De Laveaga said of the recruiting process, adding that Lewis chose USC for the location, the education and the chance to play as a freshman.  "He had a great time on his unofficial visit.  He said it was a great campus, with great facilities and he loved the staff."

Though Lewis currently stands at 6-2, he's projected to hit 6-4 by the time he's done growing, which may take several more years considering his age.  Lewis will graduate at 17 and won't turn 18 until he's enrolled at USC.

With Jio Fontant becoming eligible to play next December, along with the arrivals of Bryce Jones in 2010 and Gelaun Wheelwright in 2011, Kevin O'Neill looks to have a formidable backcourt for years to come.

At the bottom of the post, readers can vote to select the most classless act. One vote per IP address, so give it careful consideration.

Let's get to the finalists:

1. Chip Kelly, Oregon

Oregon leads punchless Washington State, 45-0, in the third quarter of an Oct. 3 game at Eugene, when the Cougars recover a fumble at the Ducks' one-yard line. It takes three plays, but quarterback Marshall Lobbestael sneaks in for a touchdown, cutting Oregon's precious lead to 45-6.

Kelly should have other things to worry about — like keeping his players out of trouble. Instead, he decides to challenge the touchdown call. Although he loses the challenge, the Ducks somehow hang on for a 52-6 victory.

Washington State's Paul Wulff says afterward, "We'll have plenty of motivation moving forward, believe me."

2. Randy Edsall, Connecticut

Connecticut defeated Syracuse, 56-31, on Nov. 28, but the Orange won't forget what happened in the final minute. The Huskies led, 42-31, and were facing fourth and 11 at the Orange 28 with 53 seconds remaining. Syracuse was out of timeouts.

Instead of calling a run play to help bring this to a merciful end, Edsall calls for a pass. Zach Frazer throws a touchdown to Marcus Easley, putting Connecticut ahead, 49-31. The Huskies would return a fumble for another score with eight seconds remaining.

Syracuse's Doug Marrone didn't comment afterward, but his postgame handshake with Edsall was described as being "uncomfortable." Orange safety called Frazer's pass "a little cheap shot."

3. Lane Kiffin, Tennessee

The first-year Volunteer coach's body of work was a classless act, from accusing Urban Meyer of cheating to his one-minute farewell press conference, featured above. But with his 4-4 team entertaining an overmatched Memphis on Nov. 7, Kiffin made several jackass decisions.

After taking a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the first quarter, the Volunteers tried an onside kick.

Leading 35-0 late in the first half, Tennessee called a timeout when Memphis faced a third-and-eight play at the Tigers' 14.

The Volunteers went for it three times on fourth down in the first half.

The take-no-prisoners approach paid off. Tennessee built a 49-7 lead and held off a late Tiger charge for a 56-28 victory.

A smug Kiffin said afterward: "It came to me during the week that I had to make sure they felt my intensity — we're really going after this thing."

4. Jim Harbaugh, Stanford

The Nov. 14 "double nickels" game. The Cardinal were steamrolling USC, 42-21, when Toby Gerhart rumbled into the end zone. Instead of kicking the extra point, Harbaugh decided to go for two — probably because he couldn't go for three. The try failed, but Stanford tacked on one more score for a 55-21 bludgeoning of Pete Carroll's Trojans.

Carroll was not happen with Harbaugh, asking him in the postgame handshake, "What's your deal? What's your deal?"

Harbaugh retorted, "What's your deal?"

Carroll, when asked about Stanford's try for two, said: "I don't know what they were thinking with that."

Harbaugh offered this: "I thought it was an opportunity, the way we were coming off the ball, the way our players were playing — that it was the right thing to do."

5. Pete Carroll, USC

One would think Carroll would have learned a lesson about being a good sport after what Harbaugh did to him, but USC's coach failed to rise above it in his team's next game on Nov. 28. With the Trojans holding a 21-7 lead over UCLA with 52 seconds remaining, Carroll decided to stick it to the Bruins, calling for Matt Barkley to throw deep to Damian Williams. The play worked for a 52-yard touchdown and Carroll celebrated like a 13 year old at a Miley Cyrus concert.

The benches emptied and the teams nearly went at it. When things settled down, USC held on for a 28-7 victory.

Carroll and USC said afterward that Rick Neuheisel and UCLA deserved it because they were using timeouts with the verdict already decided. Of course, Carroll didn't feel the same way two weeks earlier when Stanford rolled it up on USC.

6. Max Hall, Brigham Young

The Cougar quarterback let his feelings be known after a 26-23 overtime victory over rival Utah.

"I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, their fans. I hate everything. It felt really good to send those guys home."

Video later surfaced of Hall landing a cheap shot to a Utah player after his winning touchdown pass.

7. Mike Leach, Craig James and Texas Tech

Plenty of blame to go around. Leach allegedly put receiver Adam James in an electrical closet off the press room at Jones AT&T Stadium. That resulted in a complaint by James' dad, Craig, an analyst for ESPN. Leach was suspended and eventually fired, a day before he was due an $800,000 bonus. Leach then said Adam was a slacker and that Craig was a always calling and acting like a LIttle League dad.

Craig said he was merely protecting his son, but documents suggest he threatened the university with a lawsuit for improper treatment of a student-athlete, i.e. his son, who was recovering from a concussion. The only winners here are Tommy Tuberville, the new Tech coach, and attorneys. The fans? The heck with them! Tech just announced a hike in ticket prices for 2010!

Leach's appearance on "Friday Night Lights" was filmed in Austin on Sept. 18, the night before his team played Texas and lost, 34-24. No wonder he lost control of the team in midseason.

8. Rich Rodriguez, Michigan

You can't do this list without Rich Rod, who continues to drag this storied program to new, embarrassing lows.

No stranger to litigation (see West Virginia), Rich Rod was sued for allegedly defaulting on a real estate loan to build condominiums near Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium. One of his business partners in the failed venture is facing five felony counts and possibly 50 years in prison.

Michigan has gone to 33 consecutive bowl games until Rich Rod arrived. Now they've missed the postseason two years in a row. If that's not bad enough, the NCAA alleges that Rich Rod's program committed five potential major rules violations. Somehow, he's still the coach.

9. Mike Locksley, New Mexico

Nothing quite like punching your receivers coach in the face after a coaches meeting. That's what Locksley did, landing a blow to Jonathan "J.B." Gerald in September.

Locksley showed more fight than his team, which finished 1-11 and ranked near the bottom in nearly every NCAA offensive and defensive category.

USC (16-9, 8-5 Pac-10) upset the Huskies (17-9, 7-7) at home last night 67-64. This was only the second time Washington had lost at home this season. Dwight Lewis led all scorers with 22 points, 16 in the first half. The Trojans are now only a half game back of Cal for first place in the Pac-10.

No one expected anything from the Trojans this season after losing Taj Gibson, DeMar DeRozan and Daniel Hackett to professional basketball. This year has been a pleasant surprise and a majority of the praise must go to coach Kevin O’Neill. It is very disappointing this team won’t get an opportunity to play in the post season, but with O’Neill running the program the future looks bright.

USC next game is at Washington State on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Southern Cal 67, Washington 64 [espn]

In the meantime, here's a refresher course on the most high profile, longest-running college football scandal of the decade:

• The Charges: Documents and numerous sources have connected Bush to more than $300,000 in improper benefits from competing camps attempting to woo one of the nation's biggest stars as a client during his sophomore and junior seasons in 2004-05. Between marketing pro Mike Ornstein (an ex-con for whom Bush interned in 2005) and fledgling partners Michael Michaels and Lloyd Lake (another ex-con), Bush was reportedly funneled airfare, limo rides, clothes, expensive hotel stays, $13,000 to buy a Chevrolet Impala and weekly payments of at least $1,500. There was also the infamous 3,000-square-foot home in Spring Valley, Calif., purchased by Michaels, where Bush's mother and stepfather allegedly lived for a year, amounting to about $54,000 in free rent they promised to repay when Bush turned pro.

Michaels and Lake raised reporters' eyebrows after Bush chose Ornstein as his agent in 2006, evicting Bush's parents from the home and preparing multimillion-dollar lawsuits against Bush for fraud. Michaels eventually settled out of court for $300,000; Lake's case against Bush is still creeping forward through a thicket of appeals and depositions reportedly halted by gun-wielding goons.

The most stinging charge the NCAA can levy against USC itself is "lack of institutional control," which became a very real possibility when investigators reportedly combined the Bush probe with their investigation into former Trojan hoops star O.J. Mayo, whose already-notorious handler was caught so red-handed in alleged cash exchanges with ex-coach Tim Floyd that the school went ahead and preemptively flogged itself with a self-imposed postseason ban in exchange for (they hope) leniency from Big Brother. Combined with the program's unusual openness to celebrities and outsiders of all stripes under Pete Carroll, the longstanding innuendo about its generally cozy relationship with agent-type life forms, the fishy rent arrangement between Bush teammates Matt Leinart and Dwayne Jarrett and its own investigation into a suspicious SUV driven by outgoing tailback Joe McKnight (who forebodingly arrived at SC labeled as "the next Reggie Bush"), it's not hard to come to the conclusion that the athletic department is (or was) something of an open market.

• The Defense: The hitch in the "prosecution," from the NCAA's perspective, has always been less about proving Bush was on the take -- almost no one at this point would even attempt to make that argument with a straight face -- than making the crucial leap from innuendo to proof against the university itself. Both Carroll, as he was leaving the school to take over the head coaching job at Seattle, and new coach Lane Kiffin (Bush's offensive coordinator in 2005) have recently pleaded ignorance; Kiffin, attempting to quell the doubts of top recruit Seantrel Henderson earlier this month, reportedly told Henderson's family the program should be fine "because there was no knowledge of anything going on by the staff." New Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott, who can presumably cite the results of the conference's internal investigation in his sleep, said earlier this week he doesn't expect serious sanctions.

If the NCAA is able to tie the Bush and McKnight cases to the more brazen Mayo hijinks under a single, "lack of control" umbrella, it may not have to charge USC with anything except negligence -- i.e. not knowing that ex-cons are buttering up star players is as bad as ignoring or facilitating it -- to justify a heavy-handed response. If not, the burden is much tougher; as NCAA Executive Director David Price reminded Don Yeager for Yeager's book on the scandal, Tarnished Heisman, the NCAA wasn't able to go after Michigan when it learned former Heisman winner Charles Woodson had accepted money from an agent while playing for the Wolverines because it couldn't prove anything against the program: "We had no information that there was any institutional knowledge; therefore, we did not take any action against the institution or even bring charges."

On that front, the most damning claim against USC is Lake's allegation in Yeager's book that he was in the room with Bush's stepfather as he discussed the sketchy housing arrangement with Carroll over the phone. Other evidence is similarly vague and circumstantial, such as various rumors that coaches and administrators (including Carroll and athletic director Mike Garrett, another former Heisman winner) were tipped off about Bush's arrangements, were well-acquainted with the sleazier elements on the fringes of the program and were often in position to notice Bush and his family spending well above their means. Running backs coach Todd McNair (twice convicted himself on suspicion of breeding dogs for fighting during his NFL career) has been accused of socializing with sketchy characters who wanted access to players and with Bush during at least one of his high-priced hotel stays.

Even if you could prove that kind of chatter, it doesn't amount to much in the way of a smoking gun. So far, there is no firm evidence in any published reports to date that anyone at USC had direct knowledge of improper benefits to any football player, which probably means the NCAA doesn't have it, either.

• The Fallout: Long-held visions of white-gloved men marching out of Heritage Hall with Bush's 2005 Heisman Trophy and/or the 2004 BCS championship trophy are misplaced, not least because the NCAA has no control over either. BCS power brokers or the Downtown Athletic Club of New York may confer later to dole out their own brand of justice, but the worst the NCAA will do in the way of that kind of symbolism is "vacate" wins from the wildly successful 2004-05 seasons -- a popular punishment lately, employed against Oklahoma, Florida State and Alabama in the last four years, but a relatively empty one when it comes to deterrence. If this case is about anything from the NCAA's point of view, it' has to be preventing a dozen more like from breaking out across the country.

As pointed out earlier this week, and the L.A. Times chronicled on Wednesday, significant sanctions -- postseason bans, television bans, aggressive scholarship reductions -- are almost unheard of against Division I-A football programs, Florida States and Central Floridas alike, over the last decade. After 20 years of consistent, meaningful probation against powerhouse programs (outstanding teams from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Miami, Texas A&M and Washington were all held out of bowl games in the eighties and nineties, to name only a few, and SMU's program was famously disbanded for two years at the height of its success), the heavy hand disappeared almost entirely under late president Myles Brand, who came into office in 2002 with two major teams (Alabama and California) serving bowl bans and oversaw the administration of exactly zero over the next seven years. If the Infractions Committee finds USC guilty of any serious infraction, it could easily look to make an example of the Trojans to rebuff that increasingly soft image. There's no evidence it's prepared to do that.

If they get off scott-free, or with just a token slap on the wrist, well, I'll be getting a lot of infuriated comments about the miscarriage of justice, and the NCAA's credibility as a consistent, potent enforcer of its own regulations -- rightly or wrongly -- will be at an all-time low. That's not a comment on anyone's innocence or guilt; behind closed doors, the actual facts may not warrant a significant punishment. But when a case is allowed to sprawl and flourish for this long as the exemplar of open, arrogant defiance in the eyes of fans and media, anything less than a sledgehammer is inevitably going to be greeted like the O.J. verdict. Even if it wins in front of the NCAA, I don't think there's any way SC can come on top of the PR battle.

"Realistically, if we are going to consider this in the foreseeable future, it really is in the next 12 months,'' Scott said during a conference call Tuesday to discuss the hiring of Kevin Weiberg as deputy commish.

The reason for the urgency is that the Pac-10's existing TV deals expire in 2012. Scott would like to get expansion completed before finalizing new TV arrangements, which could include the creation of a Pac-10 network.

Adding two teams would allow the Pac-10 to split into two divisions and add a championship game in football.

Colorado and Utah would join the North Division, which would also include Washington, Washington State, Oregon and Oregon State.

The South Division would have California, Stanford, USC, UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State.

Such an arrangement would preserve rivalries and travel partnerships. It would also secure the Denver and Salt Lake City television markets. Outside of San Diego, Las Vegas and Albuquerque, the league would have representation in every major TV market in the West.

While Scott said no school has been approached about possibly joining the league and that the process is at an early stage, Colorado and Utah best fit the league's academic requirements.

Utah would get the nod over Brigham Young because it is a research institution with a medical school. BYU's religious linkage and refusal to play on Sundays would also be problematic.

Thanks to Image of Sport.

Boise State has its infamous "Smurf Turf," and Nebraska has what it likes to call the "Sea of Red" to describe the vast crowd inside Lincoln's Memorial Stadium. As of next fall, though, neither of them will have anything on I-AA Eastern Washington, which announced plans Wednesday to install an actual field of red:

Taking a cue from Boise State's famous blue turf, Eastern Washington is planning to install an artificial red playing surface inside its football stadium. The Big Sky program's official school colors are red and white.

Former EWU star Michael Roos, now in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans, has pledged $500,000 toward the "Red Turf Project.'' School officials in Cheney hope to raise additional private money and have the field installed for the 2010 season.
[...]
"There is no doubt that one of Boise State's claims to fame has been their blue turf and like it or dislike it, it has certainly brought them a tremendous amount of notoriety," EWU athletic director Bill Chaves said. "In a similar vein we have a tremendous opportunity at Eastern to do the same by differentiating ourselves with the red turf while providing a superior playing surface."

The NCAA has no provision addressing the color of playing surfaces -- at least not yet -- because it hasn't had to consider the issue outside of the relatively obscure venues at Boise State and Division II University of New Haven, which installed its own blue turf last year. If it goes through with it, then, EWU's lava motif will be breaking ground on what promises to be a run on multi-colored turf by publicity-starved schools across the country; eventually, somebody somewhere is going to with black. (I'm looking at you, Idaho.)

Until then, Woodward Field, thy name is "Blood."

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Picture courtesy EWU Athletics. Hat tip: The Wiz.