Maybe It Isn’t Good Bye

After routing Washington State and taking control of the race for the Pacific 10 Conference championship, USC is playing the waiting game.

The Trojans moved up a spot to No. 2 in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN polls Sunday, but they won’t know until today if their 43-16 victory Saturday -- coupled with Miami’s loss to Virginia Tech -- was enough to propel them from fourth to second in the bowl championship series standings.

USC can clinch the Pac-10 title and a berth in the Rose Bowl game on New Year’s Day by winning its remaining three games. The Trojans, however, are hoping for a bid to the Jan. 4 Sugar Bowl and a chance to play for the national title if they run the table.

Of more immediate to concern to Coach Pete Carroll and his staff: USC also must wait nearly two weeks before playing its next game.

The second of the Trojans’ three off weeks leaves them without a game until Nov. 15, when they will play Pac-10 cellar-dweller Arizona at Tucson.

“The hard thing is just waiting because you want to get going,” Carroll said Sunday.

USC will approach this off week differently from its first, which came after the Trojans defeated Hawaii on Sept. 13.

Carroll rested most of the starters and gave the majority of repetitions to young players after his team improved to 3-0 with that 61-32 victory at the Coliseum.

When USC resumed its schedule on Sept. 27 at California, the Trojans played the first two quarters as if in a daze and trailed, 21-7, at halftime. USC came back in the second half and tied the score at the end of regulation, but suffered its only loss, 34-31, in triple overtime.

After the loss, Carroll stood outside Cal’s Memorial Stadium and said he erred in the way he handled the off week. He also vowed not to make the same mistake when the Trojans arrived at this juncture.

On Sunday, Carroll amended his previous comments and said circumstances dictated the approach before the Cal game.

“This time, we won’t be looking to see the young guys and try guys out at positions,” Carroll said. “Before we were trying to figure out where the young guys [could] fit in. Since we have that all figured out with the redshirting, now we move forward.”

USC, which also has an off week after its game against UCLA on Nov. 22, will practice today, Tuesday and Wednesday and have a competitive event of some kind during practice on Thursday, Carroll said. Players will be given Friday and Saturday off before returning for a practice Sunday night.

The coaching staff will spend the weekend recruiting.

“I don’t want to approach this as a week off because that’s the wrong thing to do,” Carroll said. “In general, we’re going to practice like crazy and work real hard on Sunday night.

“This comes at a real good for time for us.... I think we’ll come out of it better and stronger.”

Healthier as well.

The off week allows several key players to recover from injuries.

Junior linebacker Matt Grootegoed, a semifinalist for the Butkus and Lombardi awards, was in uniform but did not play against Washington State because of a high ankle sprain suffered against Stanford on Oct. 11. Grootegoed played sparingly against Notre Dame the next week and did not travel to Seattle for the Trojans’ victory over Washington on Oct. 25.

Carroll said he was pleased with the play of sophomore Dallas Sartz, who started in Grootegoed’s place for the second consecutive game.

Sartz made nine tackles and also broke up a pass.

“He plays like a starter -- he’s going to be playing all the time now,” Carroll said. “When Matt comes back this week, we’ll be that much stronger and be able to keep rotating guys in to keep guys fresher.”

Sophomore wide receiver Mike Williams, a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, played against Washington State despite a high ankle sprain suffered against Washington.

Williams caught four passes for 43 yards Saturday, and also completed a 23-yard pass to tight end Gregg Guenther in the third quarter that set up Williams’ 13-yard touchdown reception two plays later.

Williams said he took a pain pill at halftime but was not close to full strength.

“Far from it,” he said after the game.

Sophomore tailback Hershel Dennis, who rushed for 54 yards in seven carries and scored on a 24-yard run in the second quarter, sustained a hip injury and left the game in the third quarter.

Senior defensive end Omar Nazel started despite wearing a cast on his right hand for a thumb injury that he suffered against Notre Dame, forcing him into a reserve role last week.

Nazel recorded five tackles, including a sack, against Washington State. With the Cougars contributing minus-64 yards on two bungled punt snaps, USC limited Washington State to minus-25 yards rushing. The Trojans are now ranked third in the nation in rushing defense at 68.2 yards a game.