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Leinart Wins Unitas Award

Congratulations to USC quarterback Matt Leinart, who today was awarded the 2005 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award for being college football's top senior quarterback.

Leinart is the third Trojan to receive the award. Carson Palmer won it in 2002 and Rodney Peete won it in 1988.

UPDATE: We've moved! To view up-to-date postings, go to: http://uscfootballblog.blogspot.com

Trojan Profile: Josh Pinkard

Name: Josh Pinkard

Number: 36
Class: sophomore
Position: cornerback (formerly safety)
Hometown: Oxnard, CA

Siblings: one brother, two sisters
Roommates: Desmond Reed and Mozique McCurtis

Girlfriend: yes, from home
Most attractive characteristic in a girl: sense of humor
Least attractive characteristic in a girl: being too sensitive, like when you can't joke with them

Non-football highlight: Just being in college
Best sport other than football: Basketball
Career other than football: own my own company

Scares you: snakes and alligators
Pet peeve: When people don't clean up after themselves
Formerly slept with a stuffed animal: No, but I slept with a little blankie

Specialty in the kitchen: enchiladas

Favorite professional football team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite professional football player: Brian Dawkins

Opponent you dislike the most: I hate Cal the most

Funniest teammate: Clay Matthews
Prettiest: Thomas Williams
Most athletic: Reggie Bush
Most humble: Steve Smith

Funniest team moment: The Halloween prank. I totally believed it when LenDale [White] was yelling at the coaches and walked out.

Pete Carroll in one word: Awesome

UPDATE: We've moved! To view up-to-date postings, go to: http://uscfootballblog.blogspot.com

Quote of the Week

Brandon Hancock on UCLA:

"We respect Notre Dame and at the end of the day it's a pretty healthy rivalry. But all bets are off with these pansies."

UPDATE: We've moved! To view up-to-date postings, go to: http://uscfootballblog.blogspot.com

Trojan Profile: John Walker

Name: John Walker

Number: 18
Class: redshirt senior
Position: cornerback
Hometown: North Hills, CA

Siblings: one brother, one sister
Roommate: William Buchanon

Girlfriend: Yes
Dream girl: Adriana Lima (Victoria's Secret model)
Most attractive characteristic in a girl: faithful in support
Least attractive characteristic in a girl: insecurity

Non-football role model: Jesus
Non-football highlight: returning to Hawaii for the first time for this year's game against the Warriors [Walker was born in Hawaii but moved away several months later]

Best sport other than football: track (hurdles) [was ninth at the 2001 California State meet in the high hurdles]

Career other than football: television actor [from usctrojans.com: As a youngster, Walker was a television actor who appeared in such shows as "E.R." and "7th Heaven"]

Formerly slept with a stuffed animal: My Buddy doll

Specialty in the kitchen: anything to do with meat

Surprising fact: I have genuine love for everyone; I'm the most approachable person

Scares you: birds like ducks and geese...anything that scampers...squirrels are horrifying

Pet Peeve: dirty fingernails

Proud of: my work ethic

Favorite professional football player: Troy Polamalu

Opponent you dislike the most: I hate, hate, hate Notre Dame because that's where I'm from [Walker used to live in Chicago]

Funniest teammate: Chilo Rachal
Prettiest: Thomas WilliamsMost athletic: Josh Pinkard
Most humble: Patrick Turner

Funniest team moment: A group of us players were at a dinner in Malibu. There were two comedians there doing stand up and some of the players started booing them because they didn't think they were funny. So the comedians started making fun of the football team. They just roasted us.

Pete Carroll in one word: Competitive
--
MORE on Walker, from an article in Sunday's LA Times on UCLA and USC's pro prospects:

[NFL scouts] favored John Walker — a fifth-year senior who became a starter after Eric Wright transferred and Terrell Thomas was injured — over two-year starter Justin Wyatt, also a senior. Walker was hurt this season and has yet to reclaim his job opposite Wyatt from sophomore Josh Pinkard[...]

Scout 1: "Wyatt is small but a very good football player. He'll be drafted in one of the middle rounds. Walker is prototypical everything: size, speed, and he looks like a Greek god.

"He's somebody who's under the radar as far as the NFL, but a lot of scouts like him."

Scout 2: "[Walker] is very raw and not sound technique-wise. But he's got great upside. He's a player that NFL teams will work and try to develop."

Scout 3: "There's a lineage of Pete Carroll corners. They come out of there and know how to play. Pete's really a good secondary coach. Walker showed enough in the time he was healthy that this is a guy who has some tools."

UPDATE: We've moved! To view up-to-date postings, go to: http://uscfootballblog.blogspot.com

A Call for Help

The producer of ESPN's College Gameday just emailed to ask if we would post the following:

ESPN's College GameDay invites the entire USC student body to a live broadcast of the premier college football pregame show in the country. Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard will be broadcasting LIVE beginning at 7:00 am on Saturday outside the main entrance of the Coliseum. The show is hoping to set the record for most people to view the show live on Saturday. We have already received a strong reception from UCLA and are hoping that the Trojan faithful will show up to outnumber the Bruins fans.

Come show your support and have the chance for your face to be LIVE on College GameDay -- 7AM on Saturday!

We promised to do all we can to encourage the Trojan family to come out and help set that record -- and outnumber UCLA's fans, of course.

UPDATE: We've moved! To view up-to-date postings, go to: http://uscfootballblog.blogspot.com

USC Takes Home Most Conference Awards

Today the Pac 10 handed out its postseason awards, as selected by the coaches in the conference. Not surprisingly, plenty of Trojans were recognized. From the Pac 10 website:

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

REGGIE BUSH, TB, USC
Bush, a junior from Spring Valley, Calif., is an electrifying, multi-purpose player who excels as a running back and receiver, as well as a kickoff and punt returner. A leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy, Bush becomes just the fifth player in Conference history to be named Offensive Player of the Year two years in a row. With one regular-season game still remaining, Bust leads the nation in all-purpose yards with an average of 212.5 yards per game and is the only player to average more than 200 yards per game. He also ranks fourth in the nation in rushing with an average of 127.1 yards per game. In his most recent outing in USC win against Fresno State, Bush set a Pac-10 single-game record with 513 all-purpose yards. To date this season, Bush has rushed for 1,398 yards and 13 touchdowns and has averaged 8.6 yards per carry. He has added 31 receptions for 373 yards and two scores and leads the Trojans in punt and kickoff returns. He is averaging 10.0 yards on his 233 touches in 2005 and has scored a total of 16 touchdowns. Bush was named Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week three times this season.

CO-COACH OF THE YEAR

PETE CARROLL, USC:
Carroll earns Coach of the Year honors for the second time for keeping the Trojans on track in their quest for an unprecedented third consecutive National Championship. With one regular-season game to play, USC is 11-0 and has extended its winning streak to 33 games, the longest in the nation and a Pac-10 record. In addition, the Trojans have tied the Pac-10 record for consecutive Conference wins (22) and consecutive home wins (26). Carroll has had USC ranked No. 1 in the AP poll dating back to 2003. The Trojans are know this season for their prolific offense, leading the nation in total offense at 571.3 yards per game and ranked second at scoring offense at 48.6 points per game. Overlooked is the fact that USC leads the Pac-10 in total defense and ranks second in scoring defense.

First Team Offense:

QB Matt Leinart, Sr., USC
RB Reggie Bush, Jr., USC
WR Dwayne Jarrett, So., USC
OL Ryan Kalil, Jr., USC
OL Taitusi Lutui, Sr., USC
OL Sam Baker, So., USC

Second Team Offense:

RB LenDale White, Jr., USC
OL Fred Matua, Jr., USC

First Team Defense:

DL Frostee Rucker, Sr., USC
DL Lawrence Jackson, So., USC
S Darnell Bing, Jr., USC

Second Team Defense:

S Scott Ware, Sr., USC

Second Team Specialists:

PR Reggie Bush, Jr., USC

UPDATE: We've moved! To view up-to-date postings, go to: http://uscfootballblog.blogspot.com

Inaugural Video Report

We're excited to announce a new feature on this blog: video reports.

Below is the first effort, a video version of a story we reported last week on the Trojan whose jersey is in highest demand.

(Future video reports will contain original content not previously reported on the blog.)

NOTE: You'll need QuickTime installed on your computer to watch this video.

Watch the video

UPDATE: We've moved! To view up-to-date postings, go to: http://uscfootballblog.blogspot.com

Inside USC Media Day

Tuesdays are especially hectic for the USC football team. That's because it's been designated by the sports information department as media day.

Last week, while children crowded the sidelines aiming to get autographs from their favorite players, camera crews and reporters like Shelley Smith (ESPN) and Lindsay Soto (Fox Sports Net) stood by to interview players and coaches.

The man of the hour was Reggie Bush, who had turned in a breathtaking performance against Fresno State just a few days earlier. ESPN and Fox's Best Damn Sports Show had requested interviews with the Heisman contender, and ESPN also wanted to talk to Carroll -- though they would have to wait until he finished a conference call with other reporters.

Despite just having completed an exhausting practice, Carroll and Bush patiently sat through hours of questions from reporters. Bush's fifteen minute interview with ESPN stretched to 45 minutes, but he never complained, politely answering all of Smith's questions. When she quizzed him about comparisons to the legendary Gale Sayers, Bush demurred. "It's flattering just to be compared to him."

Carroll was equally unassuming, taking the time to formulate his responses to each question and doing a poor job of hiding how excited he was to talk about his team and his players.

All this was expertly choreographed by veteran USC sports information director Tim Tessalone. At one point, Bush was talking to a reporter from Best Damn Sports Show and Carroll was on the conference call. In the blink of an eye, Carroll was downstairs talking to Smith while Bush sneaked out of Heritage Hall to grab some food at the Galen Center for ten minutes before being called back to his next interview.

At any other school, this would have been the busiest media day of the year. For the Trojans, it was business as usual.

UPDATE: We've moved! To view up-to-date postings, go to: http://uscfootballblog.blogspot.com