Identity of USC’s starting QB remains a mystery
August 17th, 2008, 10:18 pm · 1 Comment · posted by Michael Lev, staff writer
USC is entering its final week of training camp but is no closer to determining a starting quarterback for the season opener Aug. 30 at Virginia.
Designated starter Mark Sanchez again watched practice from a golf cart Sunday night. When asked if Sanchez, who is recovering from a dislocated left kneecap, would take snaps this week, USC coach Pete Carroll said: “Probably not.”
Meanwhile, the competition between backups Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain is too close to call.
“I’m not worried about it yet,” Carroll said of naming a starter for the Virginia game. “I don’t have all the information in yet. I need to watch Mark’s progress during the week. Everything is still up in the air.”
Carroll said Sanchez would begin running Tuesday and would add a new element to his regimen each day. Carroll had suggested last week that Sanchez could return sometime this week. Sanchez has been wearing a smaller brace and doing strengthening exercises on the sideline during most practices.
Carroll said the coaches are really harping on decision-making with Corp and Mustain.
Mustain could have run for a positive gain while scrambling to his left during Sunday night’s practice. Instead, he tried to throw the ball to Scott Stephens, and Josh Pinkard intercepted it.
“Those types of decisions are game-crushers,” Carroll said. “It’s a big part of this evaluation — who looks most ready to handle the game, make good choices and give us a chance to win football games.
“These guys have to accept that. If they’ve got to throw the ball away on third down and kick the football, they’ve got to understand that’s what we want to do. Those lessons are really the focus right now.
“You can look at arm strength, this and that, but right now it’s about who’s most comfortable dealing with all of the issues a quarterback has to handle, which is an extraordinary amount of stuff to deal with.”
August 18th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Following the reports, it doesn’t seem that Corp has a serious shot. So it comes down between Sanchez and Mustain– two quarterbacks who have started and won big games. If Mustain plays, USC will be running the offense with a limited playbook and heavy reliance on short drop-passes and the running game. There’s also the huge threat of Mustain’s legs that UVA will have to prepare for. If Sanchez plays, I think Kiffen will really open things up and rotate receivers and running backs to keep Sanchez safe and the UVA defense off balance. So the two choices will have wildly different implications on how the offense is run, and UVA is going to be forced to prepare for both. This injury might actually provide an advantage to USC here in this unique season-opening scenario.