USC Football 2012 Preview: 5 Lessons Learned from the 2011 Season

In sports, like life, if you do not know your history, you are doomed to repeat it. The Trojans have plenty to learn from their previous season and, for the first time in a few years, much of it is actually positive.

With spring ball starting Tuesday, March 6, there is no time like the present to take a look back at the past. Here are some of the more important lessons the Trojans should take to heart this year.

Conditioning Is Key

On October 30, 2010, with 11:29 left in the third quarter, USC led Oregon, 32-29. With the upset of the season firmly in grasp, they let the Ducks score 24 unanswered points to win the game, 53-32.

That was a one of a number of games the Trojans couldn’t close out en route to an 8-5 record.

But on November 19, 2011, USC edged the Ducks, still one of the fastest teams in the nation, to win 38-35. The next week, the Trojans shut out cross-town rival UCLA to the tune of 50-0 to finish the season at 10-2.

That’s because USC spent the entire next year putting an extra emphasis on conditioning. At the end of every practice, from August to November, head coach Lane Kiffin prescribed an extra set of conditioning drills for his team. Having a depleted roster due to post-sanction transfers was no longer going to be an excuse. If there weren’t enough individual players to go around, then the individuals themselves would just have to last longer.

Now that USC faces three straight years of scholarship reductions (10 per year), expect this practice to become a permanent habit.

When in Doubt, Throw to the Guy from Serra High

When the 2011 season started, the rule was simple: When in doubt, find Robert Woods.

But when freshman Marqise Lee, Woods’ former high school teammate, started to emulate the sophomore’s work ethic and never-say-die acrobatics, opposing defenses suddenly had a new problem.

Lee, at 6'1" and 190 pounds, is actually bigger than Woods. His 73 receptions for 1,143 yards and 11 touchdowns surpassed Woods’ first-year stats (65 receptions, 792 yards, six touchdowns) and rivaled his 2011 stats (111 receptions, 1,292 yards, 15 touchdowns).

How do you cover a Biletnikoff finalist and a Freshman All-American returning for a second year with the same quarterback? Well, that’s exactly the question for which every defensive coordinator in the Pac-12 is trying to find the answer.

It’s Not Always About Experience

If experience was the only ingredient to a winning record, then USC would have never gone 10-2 last year.

USC’s top two receivers were a freshman and a sophomore. Their leading rusher had never started a collegiate game until 2011. By the end of the season, their starting three linebackers consisted of two redshirt freshman and one true freshman. The offensive line returned only two starters and only one of those, All-American left tackle Matt Kalil, actually returned to his position.

The team that barely beat Minnesota (3-9), 19-17, in the season opener was not the team that beat Oregon (12-2), 38-35, the second-to-last week of the season.

USC was 10-2 at the end of the season, not because they were loaded with upperclassmen who started strong. On the contrary, they finished No. 6 in the final AP poll because the youngsters learned from their mistakes and were a little bit better for it week after week.

Not All Running Backs Are Created Equal

Dillon Baxter was supposed to be the next Reggie Bush. Now he’s been dismissed from the San Diego State football program.

Marc Tyler had to learn the hard way what happens when you talk to TMZ while inebriated, but cleaning himself up off the field didn’t mean he cleaned up on the field. His 122 carries for 568 yards and four touchdowns didn’t come close to his numbers the previous season (171 carries for 913 yards and nine touchdowns).

D.J. Morgan had trouble getting his speed back after spending a year recovering from knee surgery, then put the ball on the ground. George Farmer, the 5-star receiver from Serra High School, was a nice experiment that never really produced results.

And then there was the 5'7", 180-pound Curtis “Moody” McNeal, who became the Trojans' unlikely hero and leading rusher when he finished the year with 1,005 yards on 145 carries and six touchdowns.  

Kiffin was afraid his smaller frame wouldn’t be able to handle the physical demand that comes with being the No. 1 back at the “Tailback U,” but he held together long enough to have an 1,000-yard season even without a bowl game.

Though no one would have pegged him for the Trojans’ next superstar at the beginning of 2011, the Trojans offense should have no problem counting on McNeal to carry the load in 2012.

There Isn’t an “I” in “team” or “Trojans”

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden knew what he was talking about when he stated, “Sports do not build character. They reveal it.”

The word on the street was that the 2010 team had a lot people looking out for No. 1. But last season, all Kiffin could do was tell the press about how unselfish his team was.

And before you scoff that Kiffin, of all people, would be talking about good character, take note of the final number in the wins column compared to the odds weighed against the Trojans. The recruits who stayed committed and the players who chose not to transfer knew they wouldn’t play in a bowl game. They knew that many an angry fan would point fingers and call them cheaters.

But QB Matt Barkley stayed when he had the option to lead a much less troubled program. P Kyle Negrete started the entire year without a scholarship. Woods, who could leave after this year, has talked about staying to make sure he finishes his degree.

At the end of the day, if you want a good team, you need good people first.