Hard to find chinks in Trojans’ armor

Published 9:13 am Saturday, September 29, 2007

SEATTLE ­— Tonight, in front of roughly 70,000 fans and a national television audience, USC will become the best college football team to play at Husky Stadium since, well, the last USC team that played at Husky Stadium.

The 2005 Trojans came to Seattle with a No. 1 ranking, a future Heisman trophy winner — not to mention a guy who already had one — and NFL-caliber talent all over the field.

As for the 2007 version? Well there’s no Heisman winner like the 2005 team had in quarterback Matt Leinart, but current quarterback John David Booty is among the favorites for this year’s award (note to future USC quarterbacks: Have name legally changed so “Heisman Hopeful” appears before first name).

Like the ‘05 Trojans, this year’s team is ranked No. 1 and, like the 2005 team, there are future All-Americans and first-round draft NFL picks on both sides of the ball.

So to say that Washington, which lost 51-24 the last time USC came to town, will have its hands full is something of an understatement.

This year’s version of USC doesn’t have the star power of Reggie Bush and Leinart on offense, but there is still plenty to fear. The Trojans’ offense starts with Booty, who last season threw for 3,347 yards and 29 touchdowns with nine interceptions on the way to All-Pac-10 first-team honors.

And that was his first year as a starter.

“The quarterback is better,” Washington defensive coordinator Kent Baer said. “It was pretty much his first year starting. I think he’s a lot better than he was a year ago.”

Booty’s numbers weren’t gaudy after his first two starts this season, mostly because they didn’t have to be. First the Trojans beat Idaho in convincing fashion, with Booty playing just three quarters. Against Nebraska, USC decided to dominate with its running game, seemingly just to show that it could. In USC’s third game, however, Booty showed why he is one of the country’s best quarterbacks, completing 17 of his first 19 attempts on the way to a 279-yard, four-touchdown night in a 47-14 win over Washington State. He has completed 70.1 percent of his attempts so far this year.

Booty doesn’t have the talented receivers he did last year in Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith, but Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazelton have been solid. Booty also has a dangerous pass catcher in tight end Fred Davis, who last week set a school record for tight ends with 124 receiving yards.

At tailback, there is no star who is making people forget Bush, but there is plenty of talent. So much so, in fact, that the Trojans list eight tailbacks on their depth chart for this week’s game. Senior Chauncey Washington and sophomores C.J. Gable and Stafon Johnson, and freshman Joe McKnight have seen the most action so far. While each has a different style, all are capable of big plays.

As for the USC rushing attack, which is second in the Pac-10 with an average of 244.7 yards per game, Washington coach Tyrone Willingham said there’s no surefire way to stop the Trojans.

“The key, and I don’t know that anybody can say they have the key to them because they’re very good and very talented,” he said, “but you have to be sound defensively and you have to have a lot of people flying and pursuing to the football. That’s the way you have success against them. You’ve got to have linemen that defeat their offensive linemen at the point of the attack. Everybody’s got to be involved to stop their running game.”

Asked about the Trojans’ depth at running back, Willingham joked that he was “waiting for someone to transfer to eliminate some of that eight-deep. Get them down to four.”

Protecting the quarterback and opening holes for the wealth of USC tailbacks is one of the nation’s top lines. Left tackle Sam Baker, a two-time All-American, is one of three returning starters.

“Their offensive line is really good,” Baer said. “I thought they were good last year, but shoot, they’re good. To me that’s their strength. They’re very well coached, they’re very, very physical and athletic. You get that combination, that’s why they win national championships.”

Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington athletics, check out the Huskies blog at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet /huskiesblog.