USC football: Sanchez will likely start
October 9th, 2008, 8:22 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Adam Maya, staff writer since 2006
USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, who sat out the first two days of practice this week because of a bone bruise in left knee, took most of the first-team snaps in Thursday’s practice and was all but pronounced the starter for Arizona State on Saturday.
“It looks very promising,” Coach Pete Carroll said. “We should be in pretty good shape. It looks like that’s the way we’re going.”
Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said he noticed an improvement in Sanchez’s lateral movement from Wednesday, when he only took about a third of the first-team repetitions.
“I thought he rebounded well from yesterday,” he said. “We’ll have to evaluate it again to make sure the swelling stays down. With this injury it takes time but he’s gotten better from day to day.”
Backup quarterback Mitch Mustain, who received most of Sanchez’s repetitions this week, said he expects Sanchez to start.
“I think he looks fine, so we’ll see what happens,” Mustain said. “I’m prepared to go.”
Sarkisian said alternating between Sanchez and Mustain in practice has not disrupted the offense’s preparation.
“The rhythm is a little different,” Sarkisian said. “We’re fortunate we have a system that has stood the test of time regardless of who was in there. The plays really don’t change.”
