University Southern California Trojans
USC Football Hosts Syracuse To Conclude 3-Game Homestand
September 11, 2011 | Football
Sept. 11, 2011
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USC concludes its 3-game season-opening homestand when it hosts Syracuse. It has been 87 years since the Orange last battled the Trojans in the Coliseum (in fact, the last time any current Big East school ventured into the Coliseum to face the Trojans was in 1965). USC and SU last met in 1990 at the Meadowlands--current Orange DE Mikhail Marinovich's brother, Todd, was USC's quarterback then (his dad also played at Troy in the `60s)--and the teams will meet again there in 2012. USC is coming off its second straight nailbiting victory, this one over Utah in the first-ever Pac-12 football game.
The Trojan offense, which is led by veteran standout QB Matt Barkley (sixth on USC's career passing and total offense charts) and spectacular young WR Robert Woods (second nationally in receptions), got a boost last week with the return from team suspension of power TB Marc Tyler, the team's 2010 rushing leader who posted his fourth career 100-yard outing.
USC, which blocked 7 kicks in 2010, already has 2 blocks this year, both by honors candidate OT Matt Kalil (he knocked down Utah's potential game-tying 3-pointer at game's end). USC's defense features talented vets like S T.J. McDonald, CB Nickell Robey, DE Nick Perry and LB Chris Galippo, but it is also getting some nice play out of such youngsters as LBs Hayes Pullard and Dion Bailey and CB Torin Harris (so far in 2011, he has made a game-saving end-of-game interception in the opener and then returned Kalil's blocked field goal for a TD versus Utah).
Head coach Doug Marrone's Syracuse club is off to its first 2-0 start since 1990 following last weekend's Rhode Island win. QB Ryan Nassib, who is in the school's Top 10 in passing yards, TD passes and completions, has completed 75% of his aerials in 2011 (WRs Alec Lemon and Van Chew are his favorite targets), while RB Antwon Bailey has caught more passes than any Orange back in history. SU's defense, led by S Shamarko Thomas and LB Marquis Spruill, is in the national Top 25 in tackles for loss and sacks. Besides Marinovich, Syracuse sports a couple other familiar names to Trojan fans: offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett (son of former USC head coach Paul Hackett) and athletic director Daryl Gross (a longtime USC athletic department administrator).
The coin toss will feature a commemorative Ronald Reagan coin as USC's kicks off a nationwide gridiron celebration of the 40th President's 100th birthday. Look for another on-field salute of notable USC Olympians. The game will be shown live nationally on FX (just the second time USC has been on that network's air).
