Maybe Two Is Better Than One

Carson Palmer’s debut against Purdue stirred plenty of debate about who USC’s quarterback should be. And even though Coach Paul Hackett insisted that Mike Van Raaphorst is the starter for now, there’s ample precedent for a two-quarterback system.

In 1962, USC won the national championship with alternating quarterbacks, Pete Beathard and Bill Nelsen. The pair helped USC to an 11-0 record.

The 1972 team that won the national title also had two pretty good quarterbacks, Mike Rae and Pat Haden, and went 12-0.

And only a few seasons ago, Brad Otton and Kyle Wachholtz shared time on the 1995 team that went 9-2-1 and beat Northwestern in the ’96 Rose Bowl. Otton and Wachholtz even alternated every quarter for part of the season, when Otton played the first and third quarters and Wachholtz the second and fourth.

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USC isn’t a national contender this season and isn’t even one of the favorites for the Rose Bowl.

But with a victory over Purdue behind them and an obliging schedule ahead, the Trojans have a good chance to become only the second USC team since 1988 to start 3-0.

USC will be favored in its next two games--against San Diego State on Sept. 12 and Oregon State on Sept. 19--before facing powerhouse Florida State in Tallahassee on Sept. 26.

USC started 6-0 in 1995. Before that, the last team to start 3-0 was the 1988 team that started 10-0 before losing its final two.

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USC’s starting backfield against Purdue probably didn’t have any trouble memorizing the playbook.

Van Raaphorst, a journalism major, has a team-best 3.68 grade-point average. Tailback Chad Morton has a 3.41 in sociology, and fullback Brennan Ochs, a political science major, has a 3.32.