Orange County Register

Several hours into Pac-10 Media Day, and no one had mentioned Stanley Havili. Finally, when someone asked a question about the USC fullback, Pete Carroll’s eyes lit up.

“Stanley’s an integral part of what we do,” Carroll said. “There aren’t that many fullbacks in football anymore.”

Fullback is, as Carroll put it, a “dying breed” position.

Four Pac-10 teams — Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State and Washington State — don’t list any fullbacks on their rosters. Oregon lists one — the aptly named Adam Block — but the Ducks were spread-offense forerunners in the conference. UCLA and Cal list fullbacks on their depth charts but started with double tight ends about half the time last year. Best I can tell, only Stanford’s Owen Marecic and Washington’s Paul Homer joined Havili as Pac-10 fullbacks with double-digit starts in 2007.

Carroll likes the fact that USC’s more traditional offense is now part of the minority.

“By continuing to develop our own approach, we become unique,” he said. “It makes us different.”

Havili, of course, is a different breed of fullback. Far from just a lead blocker, Havili (6-0, 225) is an effective pass catcher and dangerous runner after the catch. He had eight receptions for 129 yards in the final two games of last season. Expect more of the same with green Mark Sanchez at quarterback in 2008.

“He can block well, he can run well, he can catch,” Carroll said of Havili. “He’s a big part of our team. And he’s a better runner than people would ever give him credit for.”

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.