Trojans Have Deep Thoughts

Thomas Williams was all over the field in USC’s season-opening victory over Arkansas.

The junior from Vacaville, who started six games last season, played three linebacker positions against the Razorbacks, intercepted a pass and also laid out his body on special teams.

Williams, however, will not start for the fourth-ranked Trojans on Saturday against 19th-ranked Nebraska. He won’t even be listed as second string.

USC’s talented linebacker corps has grown so deep in the last few years, there’s almost no room on the depth chart for the unit’s most versatile player.

“I’m not complaining,” said Williams, laughing. “We have a lot of guys that can play.”

Four productive recruiting years, including a stellar 2005 class, have stocked a position that was among the thinnest when Coach Pete Carroll took over the program before the 2001 season.

The surplus of big, fast linebackers spurred Carroll and new defensive coordinator Nick Holt to adopt a hybrid 3-4 scheme this season that takes full advantage of the group’s multiple talents.

“We want to get as many of these guys as we can onto the field,” said Holt, who coached Trojans linebackers from 2001 to 2003 and returned to USC in February after two seasons as Idaho’s coach.

Dallas Sartz, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound fifth-year senior, starts on the strong side. Junior Keith Rivers, 6-3 and 230 pounds, starts on the weak side, and 6-3, 250-pound sophomore Rey Maualuga is expected to start for the first time at middle linebacker against a Nebraska team that runs a pro-style offense under former Oakland Raiders coach Bill Callahan.

Sophomore Brian Cushing, 6-4 and 245 pounds, plays the pass-rushing “elephant” position, a term made popular by the San Francisco 49ers in the late 1980s.

Sophomore Kaluka Maiava, senior Oscar Lua, redshirt freshman Luthur Brown and Williams are among the backups for a position group that wreaked havoc against Arkansas in the season opener and is expected to carry the defensive load against Nebraska.

USC center Ryan Kalil has watched Trojans linebackers evolve during three-plus seasons of trying to keep them out of the backfield during practice.

“They’re a physical bunch and they’re fast,” Kalil said. “Usually you get one or the other; guys who do-si-do you or guys who try to make your life miserable with their helmets. They can do both.”

The linebackers showed their range of skills against Arkansas.

Rivers, Maualuga, Cushing and Sartz were among the Trojans’ top five tacklers. Rivers and Sartz forced fumbles and Rivers also recovered one. Williams picked off a pass.

“We don’t try to do anything fancy,” Maualuga said. “We just try to dominate.”

The linebackers are taking their cues from coach Ken Norton Jr., a former All-Pro at the position who spent 13 seasons in the NFL and played on three consecutive Super Bowl champions with the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.

Norton, who retired from pro football after the 2000 season, joined USC’s staff as a graduate assistant in 2004.

He shared responsibility for the group with Rocky Seto for two seasons before Seto moved to the secondary this year.

“I have six or seven guys who’ve all got it -- they all understand what you need to do and how you need to play this game,” Norton said.

“It’s fun for me because as much as I love this game, I still get a chance to play through them.

“When they mess up, it’s my mess up. When they do well, I feel like I’ve done well.

“So there’s no doubt I play through all of them.”

USC’s depth at linebacker was built over time.

When Carroll took over before the 2001 season, the Trojans had lost linebackers Zeke Moreno and Markus Steele.

The coaching staff moved safeties Matt Grootegoed and Frank Strong to linebacker and played Mike Pollard at middle linebacker.

Sartz and Lua arrived in the fall of 2002 along with Lofa Tatupu, who transferred to USC after a season at Maine and was not eligible until 2003. (Tatupu turned pro after the 2004 season and helped lead the Seattle Seahawks to Super Bowl XL.)

Williams was part of the class of 2003, and Rivers came in from Lake Mary, Fla., the following year.

But 2005 was the watershed class, Cushing arriving from New Jersey, Maualuga from Eureka, Maiava from Hawaii and Brown from Lakewood.

This year, the Trojans added Michael Morgan from Dallas and Joshua Tatum from Oakland McClymonds High. Both are expected to redshirt.

“When I came in, most of the guys were 6-1 and I was the heaviest at 240,” Lua said. “Now you’ve got guys coming who are 6-4 and 250 pounds who run 4.4 40s.”

Carroll has described this year’s Trojans defense as the fastest he has coached at USC. But Carroll said speed was secondary when recruiting linebackers.

“The No. 1 thing we look for is how competitive they are, that will take you past speed,” Carroll said. “Just to get guys that can run is not enough.”

USC’s linebacker corps is expected to be on the spot Saturday as the Trojans try to compensate for the loss of two starters.

Safety Josh Pinkard suffered a season-ending knee injury against Arkansas and nose tackle Sedrick Ellis had arthroscopic surgery Tuesday after hurting his knee Monday.

Williams said the linebackers were up to the task.

“We’ve had a whole bunch of great players but not the team-within-a-team unity we have now,” he said. “We’re just coming together.”

gary.klein@latimes.com