The NFL has preseason games; the Trojans have scrimmages.
USC is heading out to Howard Jones Field for its first intra-squad scrimmage of the fall, which coaches are comparing to an NFL preseason game. Now that the Trojans are a week into Fall Camp 2009, the game-like session is an important mile-marker for the progress of the offense, defense and special teams, along with every individual player on the team.
"Today is opportunity day for everyone," Coach Carroll said in the pre-scrimmage team meeting. "It's how we're going to answer, where are we as a football team?"
Besides the usual "all about the ball" talk, Carroll is also emphasizing the team's style -- "great effort, great enthusiasm and play smart" -- for the scrimmage, which is expected to go about 75 plays.
"We're excited to see how far everyone's come, especially the young guys and Matt Barkley," Carroll said. "It's time for some real football -- offense trying to beat the defense and defense trying to beat the offense."
We'll return with a report following the full-pads scrimmage.
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