The Fraternity

Anger got them out of bed, morning after morning. Anger and determination and the cold, hard truth.

All spring and summer, the guys who play in the offensive line for USC gathered to run and lift weights. Together, they sought to erase the memories of all those missed blocks and penalties.

“We’re sick and tired of reading that the offensive line is the weak point,” tackle Brent McCaffrey said. “We get no respect.”

No respect because USC ranked seventh in rushing last season in the Pacific 10 Conference. No respect because the Trojans had minus-20 yards on the ground at Arizona last October.

No respect because USC has not consistently dominated the line of scrimmage since the days of Roy Foster and Don Mosebar in the early 1980s.

“We’re fed up with coming up short,” tackle Faaesea Mailo said. “We’re fed up with being considered ordinary.”

When the No. 15 Trojans play No. 22 Penn State in the Kickoff Classic on Sunday, they will face an opponent that resembles the tough, grinding USC teams of old, an opponent that ran all over USC in a 24-7 victory in the 1996 Kickoff Classic.

“We want to get back to that type of mentality,” Coach Paul Hackett said. “The dominant runner and the powerful offensive line.”

That mentality became a priority when Hackett took over in 1998. The past two recruiting classes featured handfuls of linemen, such as Joe McGuire of Servite High.

But the 1998 and 1999 seasons brought little, if any, improvement. Hackett has preached patience. Freshman and sophomore linemen rarely have the technique or physical maturity to play major college football, he says. Underclassmen have been carefully nurtured.

For now, the Trojans will rely mainly on five veterans who have suffered through rocky seasons.

Seniors McCaffrey and Trevor Roberts are the left side of the line with another senior, Eric Denmon, at center. Zach Wilson, a redshirt sophomore, will start at right guard and Mailo, a junior, will play right tackle.

Last spring, Hackett sat them down for a frank discussion.

“I really laid it out there for the older guys,” he said. “I told them that, at some point, there is going to have to be a shift.”

Hackett also gave them a new coach, firing Steve Greatwood last winter and moving over tight ends coach Steve Morton, who spent more than a decade coaching the lines at Washington and Iowa State.

Morton instituted immediate changes.

Blocking schemes were simplified and greater attention paid to stance and technique, alignment and snap count. Morton calls it his “Keep It Simple” principle.

“We needed to focus on the details,” he said.

Morton talked to his players about avoiding mistakes such as the holding penalty that cost the Trojans dearly in a 33-30 overtime loss at Oregon last September. McCaffrey said some of those penalties occurred because he and his teammates grew tired and lost concentration.

Thus, this summer’s workout program.

The linemen--veterans and underclassmen--made a commitment to train together. In the spring, that meant everyone showed up at 6 a.m. In summer, some players had school and others had jobs, so they split into smaller groups.

The workouts brought them closer. They watched film together and hung out en masse.

“In the past, we had some individuals,” Denmon said. “You need to get some camaraderie between the guys.”

Their group mentality impressed quarterback Carson Palmer.

“Everybody’s gotten bigger and faster and stronger,” Palmer said. “They are a unit, which they haven’t been in the past.”

And they have more depth, which means McGuire, a freshman, will go to East Rutherford, N.J. And redshirt freshman Lenny Vandermade will step into the starting lineup Sunday if Roberts does not recuperate from a strained foot.

So there is optimism among the big guys in training camp at UC Irvine. The linemen believe they will be a much-improved component on a team that--with a healthy Palmer and a veteran defense--figures to improve on its 6-6 record last season.

The offensive line has even received encouragement from ghosts of USC past.

Brad Budde, the All-American guard from the late 1970s, talked to players last week. Marv Goux, whose assistant coaching career spanned from Ron Mix in 1957 to Bruce Matthews in 1982, has been a frequent visitor.

On a recent afternoon, Goux told the team not to worry about the past.

Easier said than done.

“We’re tired of hearing about all the great linemen in the past and how we’re just mediocre,” McCaffrey said. “We’ve been the problem, and now we’ve got to be the solution.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Starting Line

McCaffrey, Left tackle

Roberts, Left guard

Denmon, Center

Wilson, Right guard

Mailo, Right tackle