Freshmen Are Speeding Things Up

Speed thrills, and USC suddenly has it in abundance.

The veteran speedsters--receiver R. Jay Soward and tailback Chad Morton--have company from a trio of freshmen: receivers Kareem Kelly and Marcell Allmond and cornerback Darrell Rideaux.

Kelly’s 10.28 in the 100 meters was the top high school time in California in 1998. Rideaux has run a 10.36 and a wind-aided 10.29, and Allmond set a national age-group record in the decathlon this summer.

All that has helped make them strikingly mature and veteran athletes, and they stand out immediately in the way they play and the way they carry themselves.

“The three of us, having that in our past gives us an idea what to expect,” said Rideaux, who has had some success as well as “learned from my mistakes” going against Soward and Windrell Hayes.

“At a Division I program, especially at our school, USC, every practice is at game-speed and game-tempo. We’ve conditioned our minds to compete every practice, every play,” he said.

The three freshman have an excellent chance to play this season--and play a lot.

“It’s a great opportunity with only two returning receivers because of injuries,” Allmond said. “Two freshmen can walk up and play, possibly three.”

Kelly, Rideaux’s teammate at Long Beach Poly, sees the opportunity too.

“The coaches have told me I have a chance to play,” said Kelly, one of a handful of freshmen given Sunday morning off for extra academic preparation and to rest sore legs. “I have to come out with a humble mind. It’s up to me. I have to work hard.”

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Safety Ifeanyi Ohalete threw a punch at tight end Pat Swanson in a practice tussle, and a displeased Hackett said he would “address that at length” Sunday night. “We’re very fortunate he didn’t break anything,” Hackett said. . . . Running back Malaefou MacKenzie is being held out of practice because of lingering concerns about his recovery from knee surgery. . . . USC has had trouble getting things straight on one of the practice fields at UC Irvine. Workers first laid out a slanted field, then painted “02” instead of “20” for the 20-yard line--and accidentally marked it at the 25. . . . Fullback Brennan Ochs sprained an ankle and is expected to miss a couple of days.