USC Football: Trojans End Second Week of Spring Practice with Spirited Scrimmage

With simulated crowd noise being piped in and hundreds of Trojan faithful packed three and four deep along the sidelines, the Trojans capped off their second week of spring practice.

But instead of producing some clear cut answers, the spirited scrimmage may have actually clouded a few issues for Pete Carroll and his staff.

Mark Sanchez is still the leading candidate for starting quarterback. But Mitch Mustain may have gained some ground in the first half with three touchdown passes from three different spots on the field. He threw a 65-yard bomb to Ronald Johnson on his first play from scrimmage. Then he hit reserve fullback, Adam Goodman, with a 15-yard red zone score. Throwing across the field, Mustain found Johnson again in the back of the end zone for a 30-yard score.

But in the second half, Mustain’s stock may have dropped a little as a torrid Trojan pass rush got to him a couple of times to force him into third-and-longs. Although he had some success with quick bubble screens to the wideouts, he had trouble finding receivers on his longer drop backs with defenders in his face.

Mark Sanchez was not immune to the pass rush either as the Trojan defense racked up eight total sacks on the day including a couple against red-shirt freshman, Aaron Corp.

Sanchez was 9 for 15 on the day for 105 yards. Mustain went 7 for 10 for 135 yards. Neither Sanchez or Mustain threw an interception while Corp was intercepted by Justin Hart.

The Trojan blitz packages obviously confused the Oline as much as the quarterbacks, which no doubt must perplex Carroll and Pat Ruel, the Oline coach. With only one returning starter from last year, Jeff Byers at left guard, the inexperience and lack of communication shows. The Oline will need to use the two remaining weeks to sharpen their zone blocking and working with one another as a unit.

The Trojan wealth at running back confuses things even more. Each week another one of the group shows what he can do. Today it was Allan Bradford with a 70-yard burst and cutback over the middle for his second touchdown of the day. His first came on a quick off tackle dive from the four yard-line.

C.J. Gable continued his impressive showing this spring, adding 50 yards on just 3 carries. His longest was a 30-yard gain to set up a Stanley Havili short yardage plunge for a TD.

Ronald Johnson and David Ausberry at this stage are the top receivers. They each had three catches. Johnson had one fumble to go along with his two touchdowns.

Joe McKnight was active again, scoring on a 95-yard kickoff return. He caught the ball on the right hash, slanted to his left and got the entire defense to flow that way. Then he made one of those patented Reggie Bush cutbacks and reversed to his right, turned the corner, and was gone down the sideline.

Overall, one cannot say enough about Clay Matthews, Jr. and the spring he is having. A former walk-on and the son of Trojan standout Clay Matthews, Sr., he had three more sacks, two hurries, and four tackles playing strong-side linebacker in place of Brian Cushing.

Luther Brown, Chris Galippo, and Jordan Campbell did a great job filling in for Rey Mauluga and Kaluka Maiava in the middle and on the weak side.

Christian Tupou and Derek Simmons plugged up the middle in Fili Moala’s defensive tackle spot while Da’John Harris filled in for Averill Spicer at the nose tackle. All three had an aggressive scrimmage along with Kyle Moore coming off his defensive end spot.