In June, the NCAA dealt the USC football program an Ali-level punch to the face: four years of probation, the loss of 30 scholarships over three years and a two-year bowl ban.
The sanctions left the Trojans depleted in terms of numbers (they’re down to 70 scholarships) and talent (top recruit Seantrel Henderson jumped ship in favor of Miami), but their spirit was hardly broken. Emboldened by the naysayers and energized by the dawn of the Lane Kiffin era, they began training camp stronger than ever. Matt Barkley looked polished and confident, Ronald Johnson ran roughshod over the secondary, and the defensive line appeared as formidable as any in the country.
A month later it’s a different story altogether.
Injuries, suspensions and disappointing performances have deflated the Trojans to the point that their first team offense could barely beat the scout team on Thursday.
Gone is the offensive swagger of early camp, when Johnson and freshman tailback Dillon Baxter looked as unstoppable as the Trojans of old. Gone is the endearing confidence of projected starter Allen Bradford, who, thanks to a knee injury, will likely be replaced by Marc Tyler when the Trojans open the season on Sept. 2 against Hawaii. And gone to injury are offensive guards Khaled Holmes and Butch Lewis (tackle Matt Kalil only recently returned from a hamstring injury), leaving an already threadbare offensive line even thinner.
Holmes and Lewis figure to return soon but it’s clear the injury bug has struck the Trojans, and it doesn’t appear to be leaving any time soon. No matter how many non-contact practices Kiffin runs, there always seems to be someone new going down – case in point: Hayes Pullard.
Much like the injury bug, team distractions have been frequent during training camp for the Trojans.
First, senior fullback Stanley Havili got into a fight with teammate T.J. Bryant that resulted in Bryant’s left cheekbone being broken – Havili was briefly suspended but returned to the team. Then Baxter, the heralded youngster who went off like a firecracker in spring practice, was caught violating dorm rules and suspended for the first game of the season. As if Kiffin needed any more headaches after the sanctions, the transfers and the Kennedy Pola fallout.
All of which adds up to a bedraggled stumble onto the island of Hawaii, rather than the beach storming Kiffin would most certainly have preferred.
Make no mistake, the Trojans’ defensive line – led by Jurrell Casey, Nick Perry, Armond Armstead and Hebron Fanguapo – is still a monster, and the secondary is much improved with the return of shutdown corner Shareece Wright and the emergence of freshman Nickell Robey. But the offense just is not where it should be.
Barkley, as much as he has improved, seems out of sync. Freshman receiver Robert Woods is talented but young and therefore making rookie mistakes. Bradford is a shell of his early camp self thanks to the knee injury. Even RoJo, who evoked Heisman whispers with his early camp dominance, has been out of sorts lately, catching just three passes for 38 yards on Thursday.
The USC offense isn’t just rich with game-changing athletes, they’re Mikhail Prokhorov rich. But that talent margin just isn’t transferring to the field right now. The Trojans have been flat at best, mediocre at worst.
The energy simply isn’t there, and Lane Kiffin will be the first one to tell you that.
That doesn’t necessarily mean USC is going to have a bad season – their 13-game schedule is not a difficult one; outside of Oregon, Oregon St., Washington and Notre Dame they play relatively easy opponents – but it does mean fans should temper their expectations. Dreams of an undefeated season are pipe-like at best. Anyone who has seen this offense lately will tell you it certainly doesn’t look like it belongs to the 14th-best team in the nation.
After the trophies were stripped and the wins vacated, USC looked primed for a triumphant comeback season. Now that reality has set in, however, the light at the end of the tunnel hardly looks as bright for the beleaguered Trojans.
Patrick Crawley is the sports editor for Neon Tommy and the managing editor of Basketball Fiend. Follow him on Twitter at @BasketballFiend.
