Will These Trojans Be Able to Hackett?

The question seemed to catch Carson Palmer off guard. The young quarterback hesitated, taking a moment to consider whether USC is truly a top-10 team.

“I think we are,” he eventually said. “But, I mean, I don’t think many other people do.”

The Trojans are a tough team to figure. They have risen to No. 8 in the rankings by winning all of their games so far, but winning is one of the few things they have done consistently.

One moment, this team fumbles and misses tackles and lets underdog opponents stay close. The next moment, the defense dominates and Palmer’s offense charges downfield in the two-minute drill.

This Jekyll-and-Hyde personality has made USC’s victories over Colorado and San Jose State equally thrilling and worrisome.

Coach Paul Hackett says the Trojans are like most teams early in the season, trying to find a rhythm, an identity. The question is: After three wins against nonconference opponents, what kind of USC squad will show up for the tough Pacific 10 schedule that begins Saturday at Oregon State?

Will it be a team that has the talent, and the fourth-quarter nerve, to be a Rose Bowl contender? Or a team that can’t quite put all the pieces together?

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Start with the offense, where much has gone right.

The line, maligned last season, has improved under the leadership of seniors Brent McCaffrey and Eric Denmon. They have paved the way for Sultan McCullough, who has established himself at tailback by running for 118 yards a game.

Better yet, after a shaky start against Penn State, Palmer appears to have rebounded from missing much of 1999 because of a broken collarbone. In the last two games he completed 69% of his passes for three touchdowns and one interception, working well with a handful of receivers.

“There’s so much speed and raw talent,” receiver Matt Nickels said. “It’s an offense that is waiting to break.”

That talent showed in the fourth quarter against San Jose State, when Palmer led the offense to three touchdowns in the final eight minutes.

But the Trojans have also squandered numerous scoring chances in the first three games.

Against Colorado, Kareem Kelly let a touchdown pass squirt through his hands for an interception. Against San Jose State, Marcell Allmond dropped a long pass at midfield and McCullough fumbled to kill a late drive.

Part of the problem could have been a stop-and-start schedule that included two byes in the first month, hardly conducive to developing a routine.

Experience is another factor. Many key players--from Palmer to McCullough to Kelly and Allmond--are sophomores.

“We’re all anxious,” Palmer said. “We’d love to put up 600 yards of offense, but we need to be patient and just get better every week.”

That’s fine with Hackett, as long as improvement begins to show in the first quarter against Oregon State.

“What we need to do is play more solid football earlier in the ballgame,” he said. “Because this is going to come up and bite us, it really is.”

Entering this season, the USC coaches expected growing pains on offense. They also expected the defense to take up the slack.

The Trojans have a veteran front line and two seniors--Zeke Moreno and Markus Steele--who rank among the nation’s top linebackers. This group has done much of what the coaches hoped for, keeping games close, giving the offense some margin for error.

Even after a rough start against San Jose State last week, the defense held the Spartans scoreless in the second half, allowing for a comeback.

“We came out a little sluggish,” safety Ifeanyi Ohalete said. “The defense just needed to step it up.”

Now, with stronger teams looming on the schedule, Ohalete and his teammates might have to play even better.

Against the likes of Oregon and UCLA, they probably cannot afford the tackling lapses that allowed Colorado tailback Marcus Houston to run for 150 yards. There is also room for improvement in the secondary, where the Trojans are still adjusting to the loss of Antuan Simmons, a senior cornerback recuperating from abdominal surgery.

The veteran Kris Richard shifted into Simmons’ spot, leaving opponents to pick on the right side, where Darrell Rideaux is the new starter.

Rideaux has survived, if only barely, so Hackett does not seem overly concerned. Defense is still the team’s strength, surrendering only about 14 points a game.

If there is an area where USC is most vulnerable, it is special teams.

There was great optimism in the season opener when the Trojans returned a blocked punt for a touchdown. There was confidence when David Newbury made three field goals and David Bell put his kickoffs into the end zone.

When Penn State blocked a USC punt for a safety, it seemed merely a glitch.

It was, in fact, a harbinger.

Bell’s kickoffs notwithstanding, special teams play has slipped dramatically.

Though Newbury kicked the game-winner against Colorado, he missed two other attempts in that game and, last week, bounced an extra-point attempt off the upright. Hackett will probably stick by his kicker, if only because he has no better replacement.

The same cannot be said for members of the punt squad, who had another punt blocked--this one for a touchdown--against San Jose State.

“I think the punter takes too long to get it off, I think the snap is horrible, I think the blocking is poor,” Hackett said. “What else do you want to know?”

This week at practice, the coaches will try new combinations of players--a new snapper, new wings, anything in hopes of an improvement. There isn’t much time.

In something of an understatement, Ohalete said of the special teams: “That could hurt us.”

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The Trojans are a tough team to figure. To some extent, the fourth-quarter victory over San Jose State boosted their confidence.

But if there was any chance of this team becoming complacent, feeling too good about its ranking, that probably ended with the same victory. As Palmer explained: “To be a top-10 contender, you need to come out and blow away teams like San Jose State.”

Hackett was more blunt.

“I’m concerned but, most importantly, the guys in that room are concerned,” he said, gesturing toward the locker room. “It’s not just their coach telling them.”

So this week coaches and players are focusing on improvement. The young offense is talking about working harder in practice. The special teams are looking for a change.

Despite their unbeaten record, the Trojans know they have work ahead of them.

“If we can eliminate the mistakes,” Hackett said, “we can be a pretty good football team.”

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