University Southern California Trojans
Football Begins Spring Practice Friday
June 21, 1999 | Football
March 22, 1999
LOS ANGELES - Year Two of the Paul Hackett era at USC will begin when the Trojan football team begins spring practice on Howard Jones Field on Friday, March 26. USC will conduct 15 practice sessions through April 23.
The newness and ensuing indeterminancy of Hackett's first year are in the past. Now, as USC ventures into 1999 spring practice and Hackett's second season as Troy's head coach, it's time for the Trojans to up their level of play.
"This is a very important spring for us," said Hackett, who saw his 1998 squad go 8-5 overall (5-3 for a third place tie in the Pacific-10)including a shutout victory over Notre Dameand advance to the Sun Bowl. "Last year, there were so many uncertainties because it was our first year. This spring is about making a great leap individually and collectively as a team. We need to raise our level of performance in Year Two."
In 1999, Hackett will have the services of 73 returning squadmen (41 were lettermen), including 16 returning starters (9 on offense, 6 on defense, plus the punter). Back are 46 Trojans who saw action last year and 29 who have started at least once in their career. Twenty-eight players return from USC's 1998 Sun Bowl two-deep.
In the fall, Hackett also will be able to call upon 21 high school and junior college signees (one already is enrolled at USC and will participate in spring drills), including nine who were All-Americans.
Unlike 1998, when Troy's strength was on defense, it will be the experienced Trojan offense that will be asked to lead the way.
"With the shift of our team's experience from defense to offense, I anticipate we'll struggle a bit early in the season," said Hackett, a Trojan assistant from 1976 to 1980 who was the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs before returning to USC. "But by mid-season, I feel we'll be a contender."
The Trojan offense features three of the top skill position players in the countRy in tailback Chad Morton, wide receiver R. Jay Soward and quarterback Carson Palmer.
Morton, one of USC's most exciting and quickest players, ran for a team-best 985 yards in 1998 and ranked second in the Pac-10 in yards per game. He averages 5.4 yards per carry in his career and has rushed for 100 yards 8 times in just 17 games as a tailback at USC. Also a fine student who has been a Pac-10 All-Academic first teamer each of his 3 years, he's an Academic All-American candidate in 1999.
There might not be a more explosive player in the country than All-American candidate and Biletnikoff Award nominee Soward, who has scored a touchdown every 6.9 times he has touched the ball at Troy (27 TDs on 186 plays). Those scoreswhich have come 4 different ways (19 on receptions, 3 on kickoff returns, 3 on reverses and 2 on punt returns)have averaged 49.5 yards. Already eighth on USC's career reception list (110 grabs), he caught 44 passes in 1998. And he's third on Troy's all-time kickoff return chart.
The precocious Palmer had an impressive 1998 campaign while starting the last 5 games to become only the second true freshman to start at quarterback for USC. He hit 55.3% of his passes (130-of-235) for 1,755 yards and 7 TDs overall while appearing in all 13 games of 1998.
The entire offensive lineguards Travis Claridge and Jason Grain, tackles Brent McCaffrey and Matt Welch, and center Matt McShanereturns intact, as does tight end Antoine Harris. Claridge, who has started all 36 games in his Trojan career, could be in line for All-American honors after earning All-Pac-10 first team notice in 1998. Harris has 25 catches in his 2 years as a starter, including 13 in 1998.
Other key offensive performers returning are tailbacks Petros Papadakis, who ran for 365 yards with a team-best 8 rushing touchdowns in 1998 as a part-time starter and short yardage specialist, Malaefou MacKenzie, USC's No. 2 rusher in 1997 (332 yards) who redshirted last fall with a knee injury, and Frank Strong, quarterback Mike Van Raaphorst, Troy's starter for the first 8 games of 1998 (he was 77-of-155 for 1,066 yards and 8 TDs), wide receiver Windrell Hayes (24 catches and 2 scores in 1998), and linemen Eric Denmon, Donta Kendrick and Faaesea Mailo, a 3-game starter in 1996 who returns in the fall from a 2-year Mormon mission.
USC's main offensive losses are 2-year starting wide receiver Billy Miller, who ended his career as the school's No. 4 all-time receiver with 125 catches (including a team-best 49 in 1998), starting fullback Marvin Powell, often-used wide receivers Larry Parker (78 career receptions, including 29 last year) and Mike Bastianelli (68 career catches), and offensive linemen Ken Bowen, Rome Douglas and David Pratchard, who between them had 45 career starts.
Defensively, USC welcomes back a trio of 2-year starterssafety David Gibson, cornerback Antuan Simmons and end Sultan Abdul-Malikplus 1998 starters Ennis Davis and Aaron Williams at tackle and Zeke Moreno at linebacker.
Gibson, the team's top returning tackler (85 stops in 1998), has been moved back to his more natural strong safety position after playing linebacker last season. Simmons, who had 55 tackles and returned 2 interceptions for scores in 1998, is the latest in USC's long line of outstanding defensive backs. Abdul-Malik has been Troy's sack leader the past 2 years (he has 15 in his career). Davis was an All-Pac-10 first teamer in 1998 while notching 47 tackles, including a team-high 13 for losses. Williams had 44 stops in 1998 and a USC-topping 4 fumble recoveries. Moreno posted 66 tackles (10 for losses) last fall.
The defense has several other top players back: end-tackle Shamsud-Din Abdul-Shaheed, who started 7 times in 1998 and registered 25 tackles, safeties Ifeanyi Ohalete, a 4-game starter in 1998 who had 52 tackles and 3 interceptions, and Darnell Lacy, linebacker Darryl Knight, and cornerback Kris Richard.
But the defensive unit will be hard-pressed to replace the likes of unanimous All-American middle linebacker Chris Claiborne, the 1998 Butkus Award winner and Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year who had 312 tackles (a USC-best 120 in 1998) and 8 interceptions (a team-high 6 in 1998) while starting for 3 years, 4-year starting cornerback Daylon McCutcheon, a 1998 All-Pac-10 first team selection and Thorpe Award semifinalist who had 10 interceptions, 46 pass break-ups and 187 tackles as a Trojan, 2-year starting safeties Rashard Cook (a 1998 All-Pac-10 first teamer with 218 career stops, including 89 last fall) and Grant Pearsall (138 tackles overall, 58 in 1998), and end Lawrence Larry. Also gone are 3 players who had 60 career starts among them: linebacker Mark Cusano (224 career tackles), who played a pivotal role in USC's 1996 and 1997 wins over Notre Dame, tackle Marc Matock (42 tackles in 1998) and cornerback Ken Haslip (32 tackles in 1998).
Punter Mike MacGillivray, who set USC season records for most punts (87) and punt yardage (3,284), is back after averaging 37.7 yards per boot, as is kickoff man David Bell. But a replacement must be found for placekicker Adam Abrams, who nailed 44 field goals and 117 PATs in his 4-year career.
USC's 12-game schedule in 1999 is as challenging as ever (the Trojans have played slates ranked among the nation's 5 most difficult in 4 of the past 6 years). Troy opens the season at Hawaii and also has road games at Oregon, likely Pac-10 favorite Arizona, Notre Dame (USC has won 3 in a row over the Irish), California and Washington State. Visiting the Coliseum will be San Diego State, Oregon State, Stanford, Arizona State, UCLA (which has won 8 in a row over USC) and Louisiana Tech (in the regular-season finale on the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend).
"This is Year Two of a process," said Hackett, who has been on coaching staffs that have won a national championship in college and a Super Bowl in the pros. "We showed some flashes last year. We showed some improvement. And we showed our ability to bounce back. But by no means were we satisfied with our showing in 1998. We need to take it up to another level in 1999, and I expect us to."
RETURNING STARTERS (16)
OFFENSE (9)
TB Chad Morton
WR R. Jay Soward
QB Carson Palmer
OG Travis Claridge
OT Brent McCaffrey
TE Antoine Harris
OG Jason Grain
OT Matt Welch
C Matt McShane
DEFENSE (6)
S David Gibson
DT Ennis Davis
CB Antuan Simmons
DE Sultan Abdul-Malik
LB Zeke Moreno
DT Aaron Williams
KICKERS (1)
P Mike MacGillivray
OTHERS WITH CAREER STARTS
QB Mike Van Raaphorst (10)
DE-DT Shamsud-Din Abdul-Shaheed (7)
TB Petros Papadakis (4)
S Ifeanyi Ohalete (4)
C Eric Denmon (3)
S Darnell Lacy (3)
OT-OG Faaesea Mailo (3)
TB Malaefou MacKenzie (2)
LB Lonnie Ford (2)
FB Brennan Ochs (1)
TB Frank Strong (1)
OG Donta Kendrick (1)
DT-DE Ryan Nielsen (1)
1998 RESULTS
(8-5 overall, 5-3 3rd place tie Pac-10)
USC Opponent 27 Purdue (Pigskin Classic) 17 35 San Diego State 6 40 Oregon State 20 10 at Florida State 30 35 Arizona State 24 31 California 32 42 at Washington State 14 13 at Oregon 17 33 Washington 10 34 at Stanford 9 17 at UCLA 34 10 Notre Dame 0 19 vs. TCU (Sun Bowl) 28
1999 SCHEDULE
Sept. 4 at Hawaii Sept. 18 San Diego State Sept. 25 at Oregon Oct. 2 Oregon State Oct. 9 at Arizona Oct. 16 at Notre Dame Oct. 23 Stanford Oct. 30 at California Nov. 6 Arizona State Nov. 13 at Washington State Nov. 20 UCLA Nov. 26 Louisiana Tech
