USC Winning Battle Behind the Lines

USC Coach Pete Carroll envisioned a bright future for his defense when four of the nation’s top linebacker prospects signed letters of intent with the Trojans in February.

But even Carroll is surprised that the future arrived so soon.

Last Saturday, with two freshmen and a sophomore at linebacker for the majority of the game, USC’s defense dominated California as the top-ranked Trojans extended their winning streak to 32 games.

Brian Cushing, who was playing high school football in New Jersey last November, started at the strongside spot and led the team with seven tackles. Fellow rookie Rey Maualuga intercepted a pass and had six tackles, including a sack, in more than three quarters of play in the middle.

Weakside linebacker Keith Rivers, a sophomore, also had six tackles, recovered a fumble and played nearly the entire game despite a deep cut on his left hand. Afterward, he laughed and described himself as a grizzled veteran.

“I looked around and I was the person with the most experience,” said Rivers, who has a total of nine career starts.

Despite numerous injuries and a possible legal situation involving Maualuga, USC has remained on track for a shot at an unprecedented third consecutive national title by answering one of the major questions it faced before the season: how to cope with the loss of All-American linebackers Lofa Tatupu and Matt Grootegoed.

The answer, it turned out, was depth. With a large dose of youth.

Seven linebackers, including the two freshmen, have started games and at least nine have played key roles for the Trojans, who play host to 16th-ranked Fresno State on Saturday night at the Coliseum.

Thomas Williams, a third-year sophomore, and fifth-year senior Collin Ashton have been the most versatile performers for a linebacker corps that has solidified a defense ranked No. 1 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

The depth is a far cry from when Carroll arrived at USC after the 2000 season.

“For the first couple years, we couldn’t find linebackers,” Carroll said Monday.

The dearth of talent at the position caused Carroll to shift players such as Frank Strong and Grootegoed from the secondary to linebacker.

Those moves are no longer necessary.

When USC opened training camp in August, freshmen Cushing, Maualuga, Kaluka Maiava and Luthur Brown represented the new guard.

Seniors Dallas Sartz and Ashton, juniors Oscar Lua and Ryan Powdrell, and Rivers and Williams were veterans.

By the opener against Hawaii, Sartz was starting his third season at one outside spot, Lua’s leadership skills helped him become Tatupu’s successor in the middle and Rivers succeeded Grootegoed.

But the linebacker shuffle began in the second game against Arkansas.

Sartz suffered a season-ending shoulder injury and was replaced by Williams. Cushing, who was backing up Sartz and Williams, dislocated a shoulder the following week in practice.

Williams, Lua and Rivers started the next five games, but Rivers injured a hamstring muscle early against Washington and Ashton played most of the next two games in his spot.

Two weeks ago against Stanford, Lua hurt his knee on a kickoff following the first possession, forcing Carroll to refashion his starting combination. Williams moved to the middle, Ashton started on the weak side and Maiava began the game in the strongside spot before quickly giving way to Cushing.

Williams, who has been nursing a groin injury for weeks, started in the middle against Cal but suffered a knee injury early in the first quarter. Maualuga stepped in and combined with Cushing and Rivers for most of the game, but Ashton also played the weakside spot and intercepted a pass.

“It really doesn’t matter who is in there,” Cushing said. “One guy goes down and we have someone else ready to come in and take their place.”

With two games remaining in the regular season, more shuffling is on the horizon.

Williams is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery today and is not expected to return until the Trojans’ Dec. 3 game against UCLA. Lua did not practice Monday and remains questionable to return at full speed against Fresno State, which puts Maualuga on track to possibly start for the first time.

However, Maualuga, has two off-the-field situations that could affect his availability.

The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office is awaiting a report from the Los Angeles Police Department about an incident in which Maualuga allegedly punched another man at a Halloween party. Maualuga was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery and is scheduled to appear in court next week.

Maualuga also returned home to Eureka, Calif., twice in recent weeks to visit his father, who is gravely ill with cancer. Maualuga has said that he would return home again if necessary.

Carroll is confident the linebacker corps can weather more injuries and unforeseen situations as the Trojans move toward a possible berth in the Rose Bowl, this season’s bowl championship series title game.

Then there’s the future.

With Sartz taking a medical redshirt, Ashton is the only linebacker USC will lose next season.

Carroll said you could never have enough.

“It’s obvious you need a lot of them,” he said. “You need a bunch.”

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NO. 1 USC VS.

NO. 16 FRESNO STATE

Saturday at the Coliseum

7:15 p.m., FSN West

BCS STANDINGS

Rk Team (Rec.) Avg.

1. USC (10-0)....9829

2. Texas (10-0)....9771

3. Miami (8-1)....8906

4. Penn State (9-1)....8520

5. LSU (8-1)....8224

6. Virginia Tech (8-1)....7895

7. Ohio State (8-2)....7295

8. Alabama (9-1)....6893

9. Notre Dame (7-2)....6805

10. Oregon (9-1)....6803