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Super hope and hype on signing day

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Super Sunday was the day wide receiver David Tyree pinned a pass against his helmet that helped the New York Giants win the Super Bowl.

Super Tuesday was the day politicians duked it out in battleground states.

Super Wednesday was the day high school football players, many not old enough to vote, preened before friends and ESPNU cameras, played to sold-out gymnasiums and pledged allegiance to the college car flag.

You think any of this goes to their helmets?

Wednesday was the day the biggest signing-day story was a non-signing day story, with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review first reporting that prized home-state quarterback Terrelle Pryor had not yet made up his mind, leaving suitors Ohio State, Michigan and perhaps Penn State to dangle for at least a few more days.

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Imagine a high school senior being able to keep a real senior, 81-year-old Joe Paterno, on the edge of his rocker.

Wednesday was the day UCLA didn’t have to pretend things went well and maybe USC did?

This entire hot dog-and-pony show was televised, non-stop, by grown-ups.

Some of these hat-switch kids are destined to be college and pro stars; some will flop. Some will get homesick, some will transfer to smaller schools. Some will end up in supermarkets, cleaning up spills on Aisle 4.

But every February, National Signing Day, they are hometown heroes with limitless futures.

Wednesday was the day the nation’s top running back prospect, Darrell Scott, from Ventura St. Bonaventure High, spurned both local schools and Texas, which had him all set to replace NFL-bound Jamaal Charles. Scott, instead, picked Colorado.

“[Coach] Dan Hawkins has a vision,” Scott said on ESPNU, “and I want to be part of that vision that he has.”

Colorado finished 6-7 last year but, as you may remember Hawkins famously stating last year, they are not playing intramurals up in Boulder, “It’s Division I football!”

Wednesday was the day Alabama finally beat Auburn.

Goodness no, it wasn’t an actual football game -- Auburn has won six straight of those. Alabama fans, though, can rejoice because many recruiting services had the Crimson Tide rolling over its archrival on recruiting day.

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“Auburn got raided by Alabama,” said Allen Wallace, national recruiting editor for Scout.com and publisher of SuperPrep magazine. “Auburn got humiliated in the state. Tiger fans can say whatever they want, that winning is all that counts. But the truth of the matter was the gantlet was laid down here.”

Alabama capped its winter jubilee by signing the nation’s No. 1 receiving prospect, Julio Jones.

“It sends a message to college football that Alabama is back,” one of the 800 on-air ESPNU analysts bellowed.

That’s saying a lot considering Alabama finished 7-6 last year and lost to Louisiana Monroe. Alabama isn’t paying Nick Saban $4 million a year to win in February. Tide fans are hoping Wednesday leads to a little November action.

The top schools on many recruiting lists, Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami, finally came through in the clutch. These traditional powerhouses went a combined 15-22 last year, misled by Notre Dame at 3-9.

Fourth-year Irish Coach Charlie Weis wants to be a fifth-year coach, so he responded with a stellar class that has no ties to Ty Willingham.

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“I think our program needed this boost,” Weis said of his 2008 class. “I think this is a significant boost.”

Miami’s showing was remarkable if only because second-year Coach Randy Shannon took over sinking stock. It seemed only hours ago the Hurricanes might be overtaken as a football power by Florida Atlantic.

Wednesday also galvanized another axiom about college football: your fight song does matter.

Larry Smith, who died recently, hastened his coaching departure at USC by stating after a Freedom Bowl loss to Fresno State that the playing fields were leveling -- logos no longer mattered.

“That statement wasn’t true,” SuperPrep’s Wallace said. “Tradition is more important than it ever was.”

The big-time players mostly signed with the big-time schools, and you lost again if you had Akron winning your letter-of-intent day office pool.

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Wednesday also marked what could be the rebirth of a rivalry missing for years in Los Angeles: Pete Carroll vs. UCLA Coach.

Reasonable rankers will debate whether UCLA actually stole the day from USC.

The competing schools, in fact, had completely different agendas.

First-year UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel’s mission was to hold together a highly regarded recruiting class that was splintering in the aftermath of Karl Dorrell’s early-December firing.

The Bruins lost 25 seniors from last year’s team, so they needed a big-net haul.

“The mission was more than accomplished,” Wallace said of UCLA’s recruiting day. “Rick Neuheisel hasn’t pulled one bad string since he was hired.”

Some recruiting services ranked UCLA’s class ahead of USC’s, although Wallace had USC at No. 9 to UCLA’s No. 10.

“It’s a source for a good argument,” Wallace said of the ranking, “but at least now it’s an argument.”

Progress is progress. Last year, Wallace rated UCLA’s class No. 37 nationally.

USC finished fast in the final days as Carroll proved he was doing more in his spare time than interviewing for NFL jobs.

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USC’s objective was more about fine-tuning than grabbing 15 more five-star players just because it could. The Trojans’ roster is already stacked with ready-made players.

USC concentrated heavily on revamping its trenches. Wallace called the Trojans’ haul of offensive tackles one of the best they’ve ever had.

Carroll was able to pick a top defensive back, T.J. Bryant, out of Florida State’s backyard, and nab a first-rate defensive lineman, Nick Perry, away from Michigan.

“There’s a difference between recruiting for rankings and recruiting for your team,” Wallace said of USC’s philosophy. “If they had gone out and got another prep quarterback it would have been subtraction by addition.”

Recruiting is about hope, but it’s also about patience and things coaches can’t even see coming.

Recruiting is not fact.

“Recruiting is mystery,” Wallace said. “The longer you’re in the business, the more you understand that you don’t really understand what you’ve got until you get on the field.”

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chris.dufresne@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The nation’s top recruits

College football’s signing period began Wednesday and most of the top players sent in their letters of intent. A list of the top players in the nation, according to Rivals.com, and where they’re going to school (Southern California players highlighted):

*--* No. Player Pos. Ht., Wt. School, city College 1. Terrell QB 6-6, 235 Jeannette (Pa.) HS Uncommitted e Pryor 2. DaQuan DE 6-4, 267 Bamberg-Ehrhardt HS, Clemson Bowers Bamberg, S.C. 3. Mike OL 6-7, 308 Coffman HS, Dublin, Ohio Ohio State Adams 4. Julio WR 6-4, 215 Foley (Ala.) HS Alabama Jones 5. Patrick DB 6-1, 195 Ely HS, Pompano Beach, LSU Johnson Fla. 6. Darrell RB 6-0, 200 St. Bonaventure HS, Colorado Scott Ventura 7. Marcus DT 6-2, 286 Northwestern Miami (Fla.) Miami Forston HS 8. Baker OL 6-6, 290 Lincoln (Neb.) Southwest Nebraska Steinku HS hler 9. A.J. WR 6-4, 184 Summerville (S.C.) HS Georgia Green 10. Will ATH. 6-3, 203 St. Peter’s Prep, Jersey Florida Hill City, N.J. 11. Matt OL 6-6, 290 Servite HS, Anaheim USC Kalil 12. Michael OL 6-6, 305 Edgewater HS, Orlando, Ohio State Brewste Fla. r *--*

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