USC Football Recruiting: Trojans Shut Out for Verbals at Army Game

Well, you can't win them all.

And for the Trojans and their fans, it turned out at today's U.S. Army All-Star game, they couldn't win any.

USC came into the game with the possibility that linebacker Brent Calloway, linebacker Colt Lyerla, running back Harvey Langi and defensive tackle Viliami Moala could be donning the cardinal and gold for the Trojans next season.

Instead, head coach Lane Kiffin and company will focus on the letter of intent signing day to gather additional help going into 2011.

For some, such as Calloway, the notion of the former Alabama commit going to the Trojans was a long shot at best.

After all, Calloway hadn't even listed USC as a serious contender.

So the loss or ("absence" if you prefer) of a verbal from him wasn't of any particular concern.

Not so with the others.

Langi, whose final decision came down to his home state school Utah and the Trojans, decided to stay home.

This too didn't come as a huge surprise for many, and although Langi is a talented and big back, he was projected to play fullback and the Trojans have recruited J.R. Tavai for that position.

However, linebacker is a position of real need for USC, and Colt Lyerla would have looked real good in cardinal and gold.

Though the loss of Lyerla hurt the Trojans in and of itself, it is who they lost him to that stings even more.

Lyerla is a physical and fast linebacker, and the Trojans will be reminded of this for the next few years as they will see him in a Oregon Ducks uniform.

Ouch.

Finally, many Trojan fans had pinned their recruiting hopes on Viliami (Tiny) Moala's coming south to play for the men of Troy.

After all, Moala's cousin Fili had played with distinction for USC before moving on to the NFL.

However, for anyone who asked, I told them that Moala would sign with Cal, and unfortunately, I was right.

Moala is a beast on the interior, and he will give Pac-12 opponents fits in the upcoming seasons.

So on a day when 14 prep all-stars gave their verbal pledges to future schools, the Trojans whiffed on them all.

But take heart, Trojan fans, at least they didn't lose out on any offensive linemen who they have in their sights.

And with the exception of Lyerla, the position players lost out on were not of a critical nature position-wise to USC.

The Trojans are known for pulling signing day surprises, and perhaps there are more in store this year.

And maybe there will be one of those elusive premier offensive linemen among them.