LOS ANGELES — Pete Carroll is hoping the return of perhaps Southern California’s two most important players will put the Trojans back on track after last week’s loss at Washington.
Carroll is hopeful quarterback Matt Barkley and safety Taylor Mays will be able to play in Saturday night’s home game against Washington State. Barkley is throwing again after missing last week with a bruised shoulder, while Mays is expected to practice Tuesday after sitting out his first college game with a knee injury.
Carroll also is back at work on a familiar task for the Trojans coach in recent years. He has to restore his talented players’ confidence after another early-season Pac-10 loss likely knocked them out of the national title race yet again.
Cal WR undergoes surgery
California wide receiver Nyan Boateng will miss about a month after undergoing surgery on his broken right foot.
Boateng injured himself last Saturday at Minnesota and had the operation Monday. He is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Boateng had five catches for 78 yards and a touchdown as the third receiver for the sixth-ranked Golden Bears. Coach Jeff Tedford says Jeremy Ross and Alex Lagemann will move up the depth chart and try to fill Boateng’s role.
ASU PK Weber out 5-6 games
Arizona State placekicker Thomas Weber will miss five or six games with a groin injury.
Coach Dennis Erickson said Tuesday that either true freshman Bobby Wenzig or senior linebacker Mike Nixon would handle the placekicking duties when the Sun Devils visit No. 21 Georgia on Saturday.
Sooners’ Bradford resumes throwing
Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford attempted to go through quarterback drills with Oklahoma on Monday as he rehabs from a sprained right shoulder.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said after practice that Bradford “was doing more today than he’s done.”
“Don’t read anything into it,” Wilson said. “There was more going on but I think as you do more, you see the next day where it is or (after) two days where it is. I think any time you come off deals, you try to push through things. Do you push and is it positive, or is there a little regression?
“Until you get to the point where you start pushing through it, we’ll see how it plays out.”
Bradford has missed the last two games for the No. 10 Sooners (2-1) after spraining the AC joint in his throwing shoulder just before halftime in the team’s season-opening loss to BYU. Coach Bob Stoops has said Bradford would be out two to four weeks, putting the timeframe for his return at approximately the same time as Oklahoma’s next game at ninth-ranked Miami (2-0) on Oct. 3.
Clausen expected to play
Notre Dame, already without its most prolific pass receiver, could face Purdue on Saturday with its quarterback and leading rusher both hobbled.
Coach Charlie Weis said that Jimmy Clausen, second in the nation in pass efficiency with a rating of 188.55, would miss practice Tuesday with turf toe on his right foot. Tailback Armando Allen Jr., who has rushed for 100 yards in consecutive games, is expected to miss practice with a sprained right ankle.
As he did Sunday, Weis tried to make light of the Clausen injury.
“Rumors of him having a broken foot and being done for the year are incorrect,” he said. “But he does have a turf toe.”
Clausen, who was not available for comment Tuesday, missed only two plays after being injured Saturday against Michigan State. He has been seen walking around campus in a protective boot, and will have a plate placed in his shoe that lifts the toe up to take pressure off the injured area, Weis said.
Weis said the plan is to give backup Dayne Crist, who did not play as a freshman last season, the majority of the time in practice on Tuesday, but also give third-stringer Evan Sharpley — the backup the past three years — some plays “to knock off a little bit of the rust.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
