Simmons Won’t Be Joining Team

Not all the news from USC’s scrimmage at the Coliseum on Tuesday night came from the football field.

While Carson Palmer and the rest of the offense moved the ball as well as they have all summer, prized recruit Marvin Simmons was watching from the stands.

The former Long Beach Poly linebacker has been ineligible while his scholastic test score is under investigation. Although he maintains the score is valid, he confirmed Tuesday he will no longer contest the investigation.

Simmons now plans to enroll in a junior college with hopes of making it back to USC in the future.

Meanwhile, down on the field, Palmer looked sharp throwing to a variety of receivers. And those receivers, who dropped pass after pass in a scrimmage last weekend, not only held onto the ball but turned short throws into longer gains.

“We showed we can make plays,” Palmer said. “It’s getting a lot easier.”

The junior quarterback worked mostly against the second-team defense, completing 21 of 31 passes for 187 yards and one interception. His two touchdowns showed the versatility of USC’s new spread attack.

First, he dumped a short play-action pass over the middle to fullback Charlie Landrigan, who carried the rest of the way for a 21-yard score. Then, he rolled right and threw back across the field to a streaking Kareem Kelly for another 21-yard touchdown.

Tailback Sultan McCullough added seven carries for 21 yards and a two-yard touchdown run.

“Carson had a nice night,” Coach Pete Carroll said. “We were catching it and moving the ball downfield.”

Though Carroll, who doubles as defensive coordinator, would have preferred a better performance from his secondary, he praised the play of the defensive line.

Bernard Riley provided a push up the middle, flattening tailback Chris Howard on one play, hitting tailback Darryl Poston on another. That made it all the easier for defensive end Lonnie Ford to get around the outside for three sacks.

“Just trying to get into a rhythm,” Ford said. “The defense is playing fast.”

Jason Wardlow had a sack, too. The freshman defensive end missed practice Tuesday morning because of a foul-up with his NCAA paperwork. But his ineligibility lasted all of a few hours and he was back in uniform that evening.

Not everything went so smoothly for the Trojans. Kicker David Davis made a 20-yard field goal but looked shaky missing attempts of 42 and 52 yards.

“I was a little nervous,” he said. “It was just being in the Coliseum for the first time.”

USC also lost four fumbles and Carroll was unhappy about missed tackles and nine penalties, including several along the line of scrimmage. But with Darrell Rideaux returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, there were plenty of positives, Carroll said.

“I liked the way we were hitting,” he said. “Guys were hitting the pile and knocking people back. Offensive linemen were getting downfield . . . we did a lot of good things.”