New QB Shows He’s No Fake

He was screaming. He was pointing. He was angry.

It was first down on the Arkansas 14-yard line for USC, and the Trojans had just finished a timeout, and they had a nine-point lead, and they were casually lining up.

Yet their quarterback was acting as if he had just been bitten by a hog.

Who was this guy?

Matt Leinart never shouted like this. Carson Palmer never lost his temper like this. The Heisman dudes were bronze and stiff. Their replacement was all frowns and flailing and fury.

Who was this guy?

Moments later, we found out, an hour later, two quarters later, in an impression as enduring as the hills surrounding Razorback Stadium, we found out.

His name is John David Booty, and he’s got next.

On an opening night when Pete Carroll tried out all of his new toys like a giddy kid at a birthday party, Booty was the one that worked best, Booty was the keeper, and the Trojans were just fine.

The final score was USC 50, Arkansas 14, and if you’ve figured that’s one more point than those great Trojans averaged last year, you’re right.

But if you think you know why Booty was yelling at his team in that key third-quarter moment, you’re wrong.

“Oh, that?” he asked afterward with a smile. “No, I was only pretending to be yelling.”

Before the timeout, the Trojans were in a formation that would result in a pass to Patrick Turner. After the timeout, they decided to use the same formation, but they didn’t want Arkansas to figure it out.

“So I tried to make Arkansas think we were all messed up out there, so they wouldn’t realize that the same thing was coming at them,” Booty said with a grin.

What came at them was Turner running a 14-yard corner route into double coverage.

What came at Turner was a pass perfectly placed on his fingertips.

“It was right there, it was amazing, he could not have thrown it any better,” Turner said.

Catch, touchdown, extra point, USC leads, 23-7, the rout is on, and the Booty story has begun.

With a hidden-ball trick, no less.

Twenty-four completions in 35 attempts for 261 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and plenty of admirers.

“God blessed that boy to be a quarterback,” tackle Sam Baker said.

After a restrained first half, Booty completed nine of 10 passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter in an effort that broke open a game and quieted the oinks of thousands.

He completed eight consecutive passes at one point. He hit Dwayne Jarrett across the middle for six yards on one third down. He hit Steve Smith across the middle for 18 yards on another third down.

“It’s like he’s been in that huddle the last three years,” Baker said. “He already has that swagger.”

Then, in his throw of the night, on third-down-and-eight deep in Arkansas territory, Booty found Fred Davis as he leaped over Randy Kelly in the corner of the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown pass.

Some quarterbacks point to the sky. Others point to their teammates.

Booty turned and pointed to Coach Pete Carroll and quarterback coach Steve Sarkisian.

“I wanted them to know I was fired up and ready to go,” he said.

And he wanted to tell them thanks.

The coaches stuck with him through three years on the bench and in the training room, three long years for one of the nation’s best high school quarterbacks.

He watched Matt Leinart win a Heisman Trophy and surprisingly return to school for one more year.

Then, when he finally had his chance this spring, he suffered a back injury that kept him on the sidelines and made many believe that Mark Sanchez would take his place.

At least not now, he won’t.

Booty isn’t as tall as Leinart, but he throws a much stronger ball, and he already has the poise that it took Leinart several months to develop.

Plus, he has learned more from Leinart than just plays.

Remember when Leinart and Carson Palmer barely talked after Leinart took his place?

That’s not happening with Booty, as he talked to Leinart both Friday and Saturday morning.

“He text-messaged me, and I called him back, and then I called him again,” Booty said. “I wanted his advice. He’s a guy who knows what it’s like to begin your career on the road in the South with all this noise.”

Oh, yeah, Auburn in 2003. Under the same careful game plan, Leinart went 17 of 30 for 192 yards and one touchdown and no interceptions.

“I was stressed out at first, but I finally relaxed,” Booty said, later adding, “I remembered what Leinart told me, that I had great players around me, that all I needed to do was deal.”

Those great players included three running backs -- Chauncey Washington, C.J. Gable and Emmanuel Moody -- who were all so impressive, they couldn’t answer the single question of who will replace Reggie Bush.

But in trying to replace 93% of their offensive production from last year, the Trojans ended up 100% certain that the right guy is guiding them.

Extra Points

In some ways, maybe it’s better for the Angels’ future if they do not make the playoffs.

Something needs to shake Arte Moreno and Bill Stoneman into realizing that boldness in December can fall apart when infested by fear in July.

Yeah, Arte Moreno.

Contrary to popular belief, Stoneman is not the only villain here. Everybody’s favorite owner needs to begin treating his on-field product as aggressively as he treats every other facet of the organization, or all that discount beer won’t be worth a nickel.

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Tribute to Vin Scully No. 1,567.

Debi Little, wife of Dodgers manager Grady, attends only about half of the team’s home games.

She stays in their apartment and watches the other games on television.

“I want to listen to Vin,” she said.

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Nice of Cal to show up in Tennessee on Saturday, huh?

The 17-point beating of this “national championship contender” by the mediocre Volunteers was reminiscent of Cal’s tank job in the 2004 Holiday Bowl.

Just another overrated Bay Area team.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.