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Joe McKnight to Miss Rest of Spring

From USCRipsIt.com:

Tailback Joe McKnight has missed USC’s last two practices and will now be out for the rest of the spring after he dropped out of a class this week, putting him below the minimum number of academic units required by the NCAA to participate in team-related activities.

Bad news, but Joe will have summer school to make up the units.  All that matters is that he's on the field when we play Virginia. 

Pic of the Day: All Eyes On Joe McKnight

Joe Andras has a ton of fantastic pictures from Day 1 of Spring Practice over at WeAreSC.com.  Do yourself a favor and check it out. 

Pic of the Day: Nike Ad

Noticed the Nike ad above on the Rivals site.  That bottom left image should look familiar to you.   

TNYC Arizona Review

Here's my review of yet another tight game:

• Positive - Strong Defensive Play
  

• The defense led the way once again and shutdown the Wildcats in the 2nd half.  With this game, the 1st team defense has only allowed two teams to score more than 15 points this season - that's a very impressive stat.  At times in the 1st half, the defense looked a little shaky, but adjustments were made and Arizona was only able to get inside SC's 40 once in the 2nd half.

Leading the way for the defense was Kevin Ellison with 9 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  The defense recovered 3 fumbles total which gave SC the win in the turnover battle (3-2). 

• Negative - Wide Receiver Play
  

• For some reason our receivers continue to struggle to get any separation.  I had a nice corner view of the action on Saturday and Cason/Fontenot were stuck to our receivers like glue for most of the game.  I guess I have to give some slack to our young receivers since they did line up against one of the top CB duos in the nation, but it's not like they're lacking in talent.  Our receivers need to step their game up plain and simple. 
  

• Player of the Game - Joe McKnight
  

• Players like Kevin Ellison had more complete games, but without Joe's punt return and 59-yard run, we might have come out of the Coliseum with a loss.  They were the game-changing plays needed to spark SC's comeback. 
  

• Play of the Game - Joe McKnight's Punt Return
  

• Up until Joe's punt return the crowd was completely out of it and the team looked sluggish.  After Joe caught Keenyn Crier's punt and broke it left up the sideline for a 40-yard return, the entire dynamic of the game changed.  The crowd was suddenly up on their feet jumping up and down with a sense of urgency and players on the sideline were waving their towels telling the crowd to get louder.  You just felt that the offense was going to do something good on the drive and Mark responded with a 25 yard TD pass to Fred Davis that sent the spark into a full blaze. 
  

• Final Thoughts... - Sanchez's Gutty Performance

• Last week I wrote in my "Why I believe Mark..." post that the offense needed a leader/playmaker over experience/efficiency, and I think Mark's performance on Saturday exemplified that.  He didn't put up impressive stats, but he made plays (often from nothing) when the offense needed one and the team/fans seemed to feed off his enthusiasm and leadership late in the game.  His pass to Fred Davis in the 4th quarter was excellent as he looked right to freeze the safety and then hit Fred perfectly in stride.  In the last drive, Mark scrambled for two 1st downs which forced Arizona to burn all their time-outs, set up a chip shot FG, ate up 6 minutes off the clock, and left Arizona with less than a minute to try and tie the game.

When you consider that Mark hadn't taken a single snap with Matt Spanos all week, had a o-line that had only one true starter protecting him in his 1st start ever, and a receiving corp that was tightly covered by an elite CB duo, it makes Mark's plays all that more impressive.  Personally I would like to see Mark get another start next week since I think he's poised to have a breakout performance.  I trust the coaches to make the right decision...

Many are predicting the game against Notre Dame this week to be close, but I'm predicting the opposite:  we will win by at least 2 TDs; I think our offense matches up well against their defense.   Plus Stafon is expected to return which will take some pressure off our QB and receivers.  I was wrong with Arizona, but I have a good feeling about this one...

TNYC Nebraska Review

Here are my thoughts on last night's game:

• Positive - O-Line Play
  

• I think there's a consensus agreement that the biggest positive from last night's game was the play of the O-Line.  They were in sync the entire night and opened up giant holes.  I, like many, am wowed by Kristofer O'Dowd's play. 

• Negative - Special Teams
  

• As I mentioned back in my Fall Scrimmage report, I don't feel comfortable with Vincent Joseph returning kicks.  I'm not basing this entirely on his fumble, I personally think he makes bad decisions and always tries to break it instead of going with his blockers. 

Also, not having enough players on the extra point was flat out embarrassing and Joe McKnight nearly had the ball bounce off his leg after misjudging a punt.  Also, how in the world do you kick-off to start both halves?

• Player of the Game - Stafon Johnson

• For two games in a row, I'm giving the POG to Stafon.  Again, he showed great vision in picking the right holes and ran hard - plain and simple running.  The spin move off the broken play was outstanding.  If there's any knock against Stafon it's his lack of breakaway speed, but you really can't complain about his performance at this point. 
  

• Play of the Game - Sedrick Ellis Knocking Brett Byford on His Butt

• Watching Big Sed explode off the snap and knock Byford on his rear-end was easily the play of the game for me.  Sedrick was absolutely unstoppable and was held blatantly on a couple plays.  He's easily been the star of the defense IMO. 

• Game-ball - Steve Sarkisian

• The offensive calls last night were beautiful.  All the misdirection plays and decoys had Nebraska confused the entire night.  I think I remember letting out a nice sigh at the relief of knowing that Lane Kiffin is all but a distant memory. 
  

• Final Thoughts... - Gaining Momentum/Patrick Turner's Lackluster Game

• You can feel the momentum building.  With the first big test out of the way, I think the team will hit their stride this coming Saturday against Washington State at the Coliseum.  I fully expect a big win this week. 

• Don't give up on PT just yet; let's remember that this is his 1st game of the season.  With that said, my expectations for him this season aren't as high as some.  He's talented, but I don't think he'll ever live up to the hype he received as the #1 HS receiver in the nation.  You might say it's ludicrous to say such a thing based on scant proof, but there's just something missing in his game... 

So a very impressive game overall.  I'm looking forward to reading humorous pre-game/post-game quotes from Bill Doba this week...

Quote of the Day: Joe McKnight

On the RB depth situation:

“Every school has a lot of tailbacks,” McKnight said. “It just so happened I picked the school with 10.”

“I’m not going to leave,” McKnight said. “I’m not going to transfer,  no matter what the circumstances.”

Via NYTimes.com. 

Photo of the Day & Practice #1

David Ausberry making a nice one handed grab at today's practice:

(credit to Scout.com for photo)

From what I've read, Joe McKnight really shined and lived up to expectations.  The best news of the day was hearing that Chauncey currently weighs 215, which is nearly 30 lbs less than what he weighed at the end of last season!  I expect big things from Chauncey this season. 

Freshman Workout Photos

A lot more over at USCFootball.com:

Joe McKnight (RB), Marc Tyler (RB), and Aaron Corp (QB)


Brandon Carswell (WR)


Marshall Jones (S)


Marc Tyler (RB)


Chris Galippo (LB)


Christian Tupou (DE) and Everson Griffen (DE)

These guys look ready to play. 

Joe McKnight Has Folks Upset Back Home

The corndogs are still bitter over McKnight:

"Some said I didn't have any state pride by not staying home," McKnight said. "Some would say that I'll go out there [to USC] and sit on the bench for three years."

And the ultimate insult: "Some said I was scared to play in the SEC."

Louisiana has not taken this well.

While performing in this year's Mardi Gras parade, the Curtis School's marching band got jeered.

A member of the band came back and informed J.T.: "You're marching in the next one! They want to kill you and Joe."

Curtis has been told he is "the most hated guy in the LSU community."

Now imagine if USC and LSU made it to the NC in Louisiana next year.  Perfect storm waiting to happen.