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ESPN Video: Reaction to Stafon Johnson's Injury

Interview w/ Pete Carroll, the doctor who performed the surgery, and Stan Johnson (Stafon's father).

Recruiting: George Uko Names USC Leader

From ESPN.com:

ESPNU 150 defensive tackle George Uko (Chino, Calif./Don Antonio Lugo) told ESPN affiliate Web site WeAreSC.com, "I'd say SC is definitely one of my top choices right now. I'd say they probably have the lead, but there are still are a lot of other colleges that are still in it and everything." 

He continued, "I took my Cal visit. I don't think I'm going to take anymore for a while. I know my latest one will be sometime in November with Oregon and then USC. I'll probably make my decision after I take all my visits. I'll probably just take my Oregon and Tennessee one and USC."

George's recruiting has been all over the place, but this is the latest.

Photo of the Day: USC Students Show Their Support for Stafon Johnson

Students line up to sign a poster that says "Fight On Stafon".  Photo from the Official blog.

Video: Pete Carroll Gives Update on Stafon's Condition

 

Good to hear he's at least communicating non-verbally.

Stafon Johnson Rushed to Hospital After Dropping Weight Bar on Throat

From ESPN.com:

USC Trojans running back Stafon Johnson injured his throat in a weightlifting accident Monday and required emergency surgery.

Johnson was bench pressing when the bar slipped from his hands and fell on his throat, according to a release from the school.

Immediately after the accident, Johnson was coughing up blood, a source close to the USC football program told ESPN's Shelley Smith.

Wow, that is some serious stuff.  Hope Stafon is alright.

Update: As of 7:20pm (PST), Stafon is still in surgery and listed in "critical but stable" condition.

Update #2: Doctor who performed the surgery says Stafon's physique and fitness saved his life.

Update #3: Pete Carroll held a press conference today to provide an update on Stafon's condition. 

TNYC: Thoughts on Washington State Win

Here are some random thoughts on the win:

- It was a win, but a frustrating one.  The 1st quarter started smoothly with a quick 3-and-out from Wazzu followed by a quick TD from SC, but then 3 holding penalties, 1 offsides, 1 personal foul, and 1 roughing the kicker happened.  Let's not even talk about the 3rd quarter...

- Nice to see Brice Butler get his 1st career TD.  There was a overhead shot during the broadcast and you could see Brice start from the slot, move inside on the safety and then get nice separation off the break on the corner route; the defender really had no chance on the play.  You can watch Brice talk about the play here.

- Matt Barkley's throw to Damian Williams on the 3rd TD was a thing of beauty and the play of the day.  The anticipation and quick-decision showed why he is so highly-regarded.  If you look at the play, Matt drops back looking left, checks off, makes a split-second decision to throw to Damian, and then delivers a perfect touch pass (while getting hit) over the Wazzu linebackers' heads and between the safeties.

Credit also goes to Coach Bates/Morton for calling a great play.  In post-game interviews, the coaches/players talked about seeing large gaps in the middle of the field while studying game tapes last week.  If you watch the play closely, the formation is trips right and 1 receiver to the left; off the snap every receiver runs a streak up field, but the key to the play is the SC tackles let the ends run by them and Joe McKnight, rather than block, jumps forward to mimic a screen play which causes Wazzu's linebackers to bite and take a step forward allowing Damian to run right by them and split the safeties. Great play all-around.

- Want to talk about a player doing work?  Nick Perry has 6 sacks already playing limited minutes.  He is currently the Pac-10 leader in the category.  Nick just has that sixth sense for getting to the quarterback; he set a Michigan state record with 36 sacks in 2007 as a HS senior.

- Some prospects that showed up for Saturday's game:  Sharrif Floyd (official visit), Ronald Powell, Robert Woods, George Farmer, Marquis Lee, George Uko, Dietrich Riley, Dion Bailey, Joshua Shaw, Antwaun Woods, Demetrius Wright, and more.  The list of visitors could literally make up one side of a HS All-American game.

- Some big injuries from the game: Hebron Fangupo (broken fibula) and Marshall Jones (cracked vertebra) are out for the season.  Jordan Campbell also sprained his ankle and Garrett Green suffered a concussion.

- Have to give props to my man Allen Bradford for running pissed off all game. His stiff-arm on the run in the 2nd quarter was vicious.  Allen NEEDS MORE CARRIES.

Onto Cal, which should be an interesting game.  My head says this game should match up well for SC since we usually win against teams that rely heavily on the run, but considering how undisciplined and inconsistent our offense has looked, it's hard for me to feel confident.  Despite Cal's beatdown last week, this game still deserves a lot of hype, since it essentially makes or breaks both teams' seasons.  It should be a tough one.

LSUFreek: Jonathan Crompton FAIL

Major FAIL for the worst QB in college football.

Matt Barkley to Start on Saturday Against Washington State

From LATimes.com:

A week after failing to announce a starting quarterback, and then watching Aaron Corp struggle in a loss at Washington, Carroll said Wednesday that freshman Matt Barkley would return to the lineup Saturday night against Washington State.

"He's going to give us the best chance to win right now," Carroll said after practice.

What a difference a day can make; Matt went from having limited throwing motion and no velocity on his passes on Tuesday/Wednesday to "bombing throws" in Thursday's practice.  The game-plan for Saturday will likely be centered on the run, so I doubt the coaches will ask Matt to make any throws beyond 20-30 yards.  It'll be a nice tune-up before the Cal game next Saturday.

Matt Leinart Named Sporting News' College Football Athlete of the Decade

From SportingNews.com:

He was never a living legend like Tebow—never quite had the same visceral presence—but Leinart had a 37-2 record as a starter, won or shared two national titles and owns a Heisman Trophy. Moreover, he was Pete Carroll's point man as the Trojans went from rising power to the kings of college football. If not for a historic Vince Young-led drive in one of sports' greatest championship games ever, the case for Leinart would be crystal clear.

Even as a SC/Leinart fan, I have to admit this pick is premature considering Tim Tebow hasn't even finished his college career yet.  If Florida wins the NC this year, there is no Tebow vs. Leinart debate.  Even if Tebow just gets Florida to the NC game and loses, it's still tough.  You can say Leinart won 2 NCs as a starter (Tebow was a "back-up" for his 1st NC), but Tebow got the job done against tougher competition.  Hard to say at this point.

TNYC: Thoughts on the Washington Loss

This loss was tough to swallow.  When Kevin Thomas tried to go for the big hit rather than wrap up Chris Polk on the 2nd and long on U-Dub's final drive setting up a 3rd and 15 rather than 3rd and 20, I felt slightly sick in my stomach; I knew something bad was about to happen and it was confirmed on the next play when Jake Locker rolled out to his right and threw a bullet down the sideline for a 21 yard completion and a Husky 1st down.  In my mind, the game was over at that point.

Having let the loss soak in a bit and thinking through the rest of the season, I feel a lot better about Saturday's loss.  Here are some positive things to think about:

1.  Washington likely won't contend for Pac-10 title:  I might end up eating my words, but I just don't think the Huskies are consistent enough to make a serious push for the Pac-10 title (yet). The odds are definitely stacked against them.  Since the Pac-10 champion is decided on a round-robin system, even with the loss, SC is still in the driver's seat to win the Pac-10 title.

2.  An early loss will serve as a nice reality check and take some pressure off:  The players will get a nice refresher course on fundamentals and disciplined play and that should translate to a big win against Washington State at home on Saturday which sets up nicely for Cal the following week.  With SC's loss to UW, Cal will most likely be favored, which puts SC in a rare underdog position. Going back to 2007, the last time Cal had a ton of pressure and hype behind them, stepping away from the limelight might not be such a bad thing.

3.  Minimal overlap between UW and SC recruiting:  U-Dub's win will be a major selling point to recruits, but fortunately SC and UW don't have too many head-to-head battles for key recruits. I do have a gut feeling that we'll lose Demetrius Wright after this loss, but outside of that, there's no real concern of a recruiting fall-out.

Having read the latest reports and seen Barkley's post-game interview, even though it's not official, I'd be willing to bet a whole lot of money that he'll be back for Washington State.  If the coaches can get the "It's all about the ball" mentality back in the players' heads and open up the playbook a bit, we should be fine.