NCAA College Football - 2009 USC Trojans BCS Odds
- By Rocco Leonardo
- Published 07/22/2009
- Offseason NCAA Football News
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USC Trojans Over the last ten years the USC Trojans have been, without a doubt, the best team in college football. Never short on talent, the Trojans are once again poised and ready to make a run at a national title. The only question is; can USC avoid the one-game letdown that always seems to spoil there BCS hopes?
Odds makers are once again calling USC one of the favorites to win the BCS National Championship. Vegas is giving about 7/1 odds that the boys from Southern California will win it all.
After losing quarterback Mark Sanchez to the NFL, head coach Pete Carroll fully believes that junior Mitch Mustain can fill Sanchez's shoes this season under center. The other possibility at quarterback for the Trojans is red-shirt Sophomore Aaron Corp. With both of these options unpredictable at best, this may be the year to stay away from a pre-season National
USC has some big holes to fill. Besides Sanchez, USC also has to replace their top four linebackers as Brian Cushing, Rey Maualuga, Clay Matthews and Kaluka Maiava were all selected in April's draft. Their defense also lost safety Kevin Ellison and cornerback Cary Harris.
Carroll is going to have his hands full replacing the talent that USC lost from last year.
On offense, if the Trojans do develop consistency at the quarterback position, they do return nine starters including running back Stafon Johnson and receiver Damian Williams.
Schedule makers did make it easy for the Trojans either, they have an early season match-up in Columbus, Ohio to take on the Buckeyes. USC also heads on the road to take on Notre Dame, California and at Oregon.
Trojans may have a good chance to win the PAC-Ten, but a National Championship may be out of reach.
What's Your Opinion? 
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said this on 22 Jul 2009 9:56:08 AM EDT
imo, you don't much of anything
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Author/Admin)|
said this on 22 Jul 2009 11:08:24 AM EDT
Mitch Mustain isn't starting at QB for the Trojans. He's currently third string. Corps' currently slated to be the starter with widely heralded Freshman Matt Barkley waiting in the wings. I agree that the Trojans lost many of their best players to the NFL, especially on defense. But USC has recruited so well under the Pete Carroll era that they will have no shortage of talent on both sides of the ball.
Let's keep in mind that USC will have the best offensive line in all of college football, a factor that is often overlooked. Combine that with their outstanding running back depth that includes McKnight, Johnson, Gable, Bradford, and Tyler, and USC should have no problem running the ball down their opponents throats. The veteran offensive line will also help in the development of the first year starter QB whoever that ends up being. The defense will take a step backwards but the new starters should develop nicely as the season continues. In the end this years USC football team will be just as talented as any of the other ones we have seen in recent years. With Pete Carroll coaching what is arguably the most talented team, you can never count the Trojans out of the National Championship hunt. Although they have a number of challenging games on their schedule this year (road games against Ohio State, Cal, Oregon, and Notre Dame), it's the less heralded games that USC has overlooked in recent years. |
