College football is underway, but you're still seven days from the first game at the Coliseum. The bye week is building the anticipation. You can't wait ... to tailgate. Emily Nerland, USC grad student (with future aspirations of one day being an employed American citizen) gives you a taste of things to come with a report on her trip to Virginia.

For anyone who watched the game on TV and possesses the observational skills of at least a toddler, you could tell by the shots of profusely sweating fans that Virginia was hot and humid. I would liken it to being in a mouth. A hot, sticky, Southern mouth. 

You could also gather after watching the first quarter that the game was going to be a blowout. Sitting in the comfort of an air-conditioned room you could switch channels to another game while not losing half your body weight to excessive perspiration. Hey, you could have gone surfing at half time! That is the beauty of Southern California. A team you are proud to cheer for and a climate where 72 and sunny is the rule rather than the exception. 

So what did Virginia have to offer other than a tune-up game that, in retrospect, served as a spring board to the top of the polls? In the ways of football I’d say not much more. The only passionate exchange of words about football came at four in the morning at a Waffle House and it was regarding fantasy football draft picks.

So much for #1 vs. #2.

Even if USC manages to hold onto their top ranking in the ever-fickle polls, Ohio State stands little chance of jumping Georgia for the #2 spot. The Buckeyes (sans Beanie Wells) barely escaped unranked Ohio, 26-14. The hype-machine would have loved to see the nation's two top ranked teams on the 13th, but for now we'll just have to settle for a September edition of what would be a classic Rose Bowl.

The line of the day comes from Chris G. of Pasadena:

"After enduring [Ohio State]'s game against Ohio, I hope the Trojans don’t get caught looking ahead to Oregon State."

-- Adam Rose

Who cares that USC isn't playing today? There's still plenty to read about in the paper ...

• USC will watch Ohio State-Ohio game for quarterback clues -- David Wharton breaks down the most important football game this weekend -- for USC fans.
• USC coaches head off to recruit; players take a break -- Players have some free time. Coaches are gone. Don't worry, Rey Maualuga has a watchful eye on things.
• The script in Ohio features a Vested interest -- Embedded somewhere in Columbus, Ohio, David Wharton reports on the building hype for next week. Gotta' love the headline.
• Bonus: Readers write in about USC, UCLA, and the rivalry.

Photo by Matthew Emmons / US Presswire

How do you keep the Trojan Marching Band happy without a football game? You keep it busy.

Just like the team, the TMB is itching to hit the field. Waiting through an extra bye weekend before kickoff is frustrating, but this weekend allows the band extra time to perfect its Stevie Wonder show for the home opener. Just because there’s no game, though, doesn’t mean band members aren’t hard at work. In addition to regular practice (the TMB never misses a Saturday), the band will perform its annual show with the L.A. Philharmonic on Friday and Saturday night at the Hollywood Bowl.

And did we mention the TMB is going to be on TV? ESPN will attend band practice Saturday morning to record the band’s arrangement of the theme from "Indiana Jones" as part of a nationwide contest. Bands from the top-ranked football teams around the country will perform the same arrangement, and visitors to ESPN.com will vote on the best performance. Hollywood’s Band never takes a break, and the TMB will start the season in style. We’ll post an update with a link when the video goes up.

-- Ed Carden, USC drum major
Photo: USC TMB performs at the Hollywood Bowl in 2001 (click to expand). Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

NOTE: If you want to see the Spirit of Troy perform this weekend, tickets are still available to the L.A. Philharmonic's Tchaikovsky Spectacular.

SoCal's got better looking women and, of course, better football, but there was no better place to be than Berkeley -- yes, Berkeley -- opening weekend of the college football season. It was one of those perfect Saturdays where everything falls into place, including strolling one of the prettiest campuses in the Pac-10 hours before kickoff and the gorgeous, cool and sunny weather ... to even finding the perfect parking spot.

Perfect parking spot at Cal? Say what? Finding a parking spot to tailgate at Cal football is traditionally about as enjoyable as a root canal, but I had a plan and Signa Nu would be my guinea pig. After failing to convince three other fraternities to let me park my Green Machine in their front lawn in exchange for cases of energy drink, the boys at Signa Nu (on probation, no less) agreed. Dean Faber would have been proud. And even better: I didn't have to climb a tree to beg for a parking spot.

The L.A. Times is excited to welcome one of our new contributors, Ed Carden, the drum major for USC's world famous Spirit of Troy. His first post explains just what he does as the band's front man.

When I introduce myself and tell people I’m the drum major for the USC Band, the usual response goes something like this … “Huh?” Then I get to explain exactly what it is that the drum major does, which isn’t always easy. 

As a Trojan fan (or at least a follower of college sports), you probably know the drum major better as “Tommy Trojan” or “the guy that stabs the field during pregame.” But Tommy Trojan (as we all know) is a statue in the middle of campus, and there’s a lot that goes in behind the scenes before a drum major gets to stab the field.

Auditions for drum major are held at the end of the spring semester each year behind Heritage Hall. The band votes for the best candidate based off of their marching, conducting (with the Trojan sword) and an inspirational speech. I tried out alongside two of my close friends, with whom I spent months preparing for the audition. After putting in so much time and effort, it was an accomplishment just getting up there.

• In two weeks, USC will climb into a tie for ninth most frequent location for ESPN's "College GameDay." [Fanblogs.com]
• The USC coaching tree has deep roots. [USC Rips It]
• Matt Hinton of Yahoo (formerly SMQ) has a really cool way of doing his rankings -- by who earned it. USC is No. 2. [Doc Saturday]
• A tale of three Trojans ... in Seattle. [OC Register]
• Art of Troy is back with post-game analysis from Virginia, including breakdowns of several key plays. [Trojan Football Analysis]
• The first BCS poll is many weeks away, but it's never too early to start projecting. USC is No. 1. [BCS Guru]
• Speaking of difficult projections, Mark Sanchez has jumped to fourth on one popular blog's poll. [Heisman Pundit]
• Sanchez was also named quarterback of the week. [Davey O'Brien Award]
• USC commit Matt Barkley tossed a few picks but also saved the day in triple overtime in a highly anticipated high school showdown. [LA Times]
• If you still don't know who Barkley is, here's another profile. [USA Today]
• Fark fans, anybody? Here's some more fun with UCLA's new coach. [WeAreSC forums]

Also, some changes made to the final Virginia stats after the jump ...

After an impressive drop-free performance in the opener, USC receivers are confident that the criticism that dogged the unit last season is behind them ...

Ohio State tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells, who suffered a foot injury last week against Youngstown State, will not play on Saturday against Ohio, Buckeyes Coach Jim Tressel said ...

After coaches instructed Broderick Green to leave the dancing behind and play to his strength, the redshirt freshman tailback from Arkansas responded Thursday with perhaps his best practice performance to date ...

The Trojans will practice today at 7 a.m., so that coaches can use the weekend to recruit ...

-- Gary Klein
Click here to read today's complete article.
Photo by Geoff Burke / US Presswire

ALSO, per Jerry Crowe: Top-ranked USC is a seven-point pick over No. 3 Ohio State

Rolling right along, USC under Pete Carroll has been ranked No. 1 at some point in all but one of the last six seasons. . . .

In 2006, the Trojans got to only No. 2 before losing to UCLA. . . .

From 1981 to 2003, the Trojans were never ranked No. 1 under John Robinson, Ted Tollner, Larry Smith and Paul Hackett. . . .

-- Jerry Crowe
In today's text messages from press row.

Now that he is developing a role as a power back in USC's tailback rotation, Allen Bradford is about to take a star turn.

Coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday that along with his regular repetitions with the first-unit offense, Bradford would likely serve as a model for Ohio State's Chris"Beanie" Wells when the top-ranked Trojans begin focused preparations for the third-ranked Buckeyes.

-- Gary Klein
Click here for the rest of today's story.
Photo by Luis Sinco / L.A. Times

Did you notice the Pac-10 has a slightly different logo this season?

The version on the left is from last year. The version on the right is from this year. A Pac-10 representative says officials consider it a "tweak" rather than a change. It's a different font to give it a more up-to-date look. The correct color is the darker "reflex blue," but it sometimes comes out a little lighter.

One of our readers, Jonathan B., has a really good eye. He noticed it during the Washington-Oregon game.

-- Adam Rose

Ask anybody on the USC football team, and they'll tell you that the only time being No. 1 matters is at the end of the season.

If the rest of the world thought that way, a lot of columnists would be unemployed. So just for fun, let's look at which schools lead in appearances at No. 1 in the Associated Press Poll:

That top spot is within striking distance this year for the Trojans. Notre Dame won't be adding to its total, but Oklahoma and Ohio State have a fair shot. Could be fun to keep an eye on this stat. If you want to look up some more trivia, head on over to the AP Poll Archive.

--Adam Rose
h/t 901Club on the WeAreSC forums.

Story and photos by Joe Connor

What do you say about a school that has no mascot? What do you say to ESPN, the Pac-10 and Stanford for opening the college football season when school isn't even in session for the home team? Now, that's how you promote your university, conference and college football! Open the season ... when students aren't on campus yet!

So what do you do?

Apparently, you get mad as a tree. Yes, a tree. You see Stanford may be known as the Cardinal, but that's not its mascot – it's simply its nickname. There were no red birds flying around last Thursday in Palo Alto, but the mercury was an unheavenly 100 degrees as a heat wave struck Silicon Valley to welcome the visiting Oregon State Beavers to Stanford Stadium.

There were players, some fans, even band members, plus five women known as "dollies" -- more on them later -- and a (band only) mascot known as, you got it, "The Tree." So I guess ESPN, the Pac-10 and Stanford, said, "let's play some football."

A short list today so we'll keep it above the jump ...

Football

• Beanie Wells is on track to play against USC. [LA Times]
• An AP voter in Ohio, who dropped the Buckeyes from No. 1 in favor of USC, explains his reasoning. [Cleveland.com]
• Mark Sanchez is named Pac-10 offensive player of the week. [USC]
• Rey Maualuga apparently has a sense of humor when he's not busy terrorizing poor college students wearing the wrong uniform. [Unknown, possibly Fark]

Elsewhere

• The No. 1 ranked USC women's soccer team drops a game to Portland. [Daily Trojan]
• Former USC All-American Elmer Willhoite dies. [USC]

-- Adam Rose

USC jumped to No. 1 in the polls Tuesday, but most Trojans did not leap at the chance to proclaim themselves the best team in the land after only one game ...

Middle linebacker Rey Maualuga said X-rays Tuesday revealed that a fracture in his right ring finger had lengthened. He practiced with his hand heavily padded and will play against Ohio State ...

Freshman offensive lineman Matt Kalil suffered a hyperextended knee near the end of practice, [Pete] Carroll said.

--Gary Klein
Click here to read today's complete story.
Photo by Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Has anybody else noticed that the laws of gravity do not apply to Rey Maualuga?

-- Adam Rose
Photo by Luis Sinco / LA Times

What do you get when you combine a lime green Mercedes running on biodiesel, passionate sports fans, and a writer who loves to travel? One entertaining and informative season-long college football trip! Joe Connor, whose freelance writing credits include ESPN.com and FOXSports.com, is sharing his four-month odyssey with you as he visits schools throughout the Pac-10, Big 12, Big 10 and points in between.

Each week this season, you'll get reports from Joe on how the other fans live -- especially division foes. This weekend, he visited Stanford and Cal. Look for his first story tomorrow.

Joe's no stranger to raising awareness of renewable energy via college football travel. Last season, he drove his lime-green renewable energy machine more than 35,000 miles, visiting more than 114 sporting venues in 116 days, including college stops at Nebraska, Clemson, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio State and LSU, among many others. ESPN.com dubbed his journey “Road trip of the year," adding "it’s a great trip and a great cause."

As a reward for not scheduling cupcakes, then beating the tar out of its Division 1 opponent, USC has been given the top ranking in both the Associated Press (Media) Poll and USA Today (Coaches) Poll. That's a two-spot jump in the media and one-spot jump in the coaches poll. The top five, which all played, now look like this:

1. USC
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma
5. Florida

The margins are pretty tight and it'll be interesting to see what happens this weekend, when all the other teams have games and the Trojans have a bye. Wouldn't it be something if Ohio State can pass Georgia to set up a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the Coliseum on Sept. 13?

Click here for complete polls.

-- Adam Rose
Photo by Geoff Burke / US Presswire

While the Beanie Wells watch continues in Ohio this week, USC's open date on Saturday allows the Trojans to turn inward.

The focus, as per Pete Carroll's bye-week formula, will be on freshmen.

Offensive linemen Tyron Smith, Khaled Holmes and Matt Kalil are expected to get extensive work with the first-team offense when the Trojans return to practice today.

"We'll see how far they can take it," Carroll said. "I don't have any goal in mind."

For all of the talk about competition and positions being up for grabs on a daily basis at USC, only one offensive lineman has gone from reserve to starter based on merit during a bye week after an opener.

-- Gary Klein
Click here to read the rest of today's story.
Photo by Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

I'm still learning how to take full advantage of our super-secret archives, where we used to keep some of the best game-day photography under wraps. No more! Here are a few extra images from L.A. Times photographer Luis Sinco that deserve to see the light of day. Enjoy!

-- Adam Rose
All images by Luis Sinco/ L.A. Times