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John David Booty led the Trojans to a win in USC's first game of the post-Matt Leinart/Reggie Bush era.

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Deja vu

Trojans rewrite familiar story in Saturday's win

Posted: Monday September 4, 2006 2:27PM; Updated: Monday September 4, 2006 3:03PM

                   

 

John David Booty led the Trojans to a win in USC's first game of the post-Matt Leinart/Reggie Bush era.

AP

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Pete Carroll had been in this position before. Three years ago and about 700 miles southeast of Fayetteville, he took his USC Trojans into Auburn, another hostile SEC environment. On that night he was breaking in a new backfield that had lost the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, and dealing with a young team that had lost over 10 starters from the previous season.

The game plan was similar to last weekend's: Rely on a quick, attacking defense and play conservatively on offense while leaning on a pair of experienced receivers and a committee of four new tailbacks.

But heading into halftime with a 16-7 lead over Arkansas last Saturday, Carroll took a different course. He told offensive coaches Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian to get going and open up the playbook. He had seen enough dinks and dunks and wanted to see what John David Booty, who completed 8-of-13 passes for 74 yards in the first half, could really do with an offense that has produced three of the past four Heisman Trophy winners.

"We played it a little bit safe early on," said Carroll. "Just to make sure we didn't make a mistake."

The conservative calling at the beginning of the game was about the only mistake the Trojans made during their 50-14 rout of Arkansas. After knocking off whatever rust was on him from the last time he started a game -- some four years ago at Evangel Christian High (Shreveport, La.) -- Booty embraced the new wide-open offense, completing 9-of-10 passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter.

"Early on, I was playing too fast," said Booty, who finished the game going 24-of-35 for 261 yards with three touchdowns. "In the second half, I was really able to slow down and get into a rhythm."

Before the game, Arkansas defensive coordinator Reggie Herring jokingly vowed to resign and hang himself if the team played as poorly as it did last season, when the Razorbacks were thumped 70-17 at the Coliseum, falling behind 28-7 in the first 10 minutes. Thankfully, there were no nooses around Herring late in the game.

While Arkansas was at least in the mix during the first half, its defense was dominated by the Trojans in the second half. USC scored touchdowns on five of its seven offensive possessions after intermission, while the Trojans defense intercepting three passes and forced two punts on Arkansas' seven offensive possessions.

"We were in a good position all night," said Carroll. "We are on our way to a good thing. To get five turnovers and give up none, that's how you want to play. That is our philosophy in action."

The big story of the night was obviously the performance of Booty, who had the most prolific debut for a first-time starting quarterback at USC since Carson Palmer in 1998. Booty looked more than comfortable in the pocket as he spread the ball around to seven receivers and looked more nimble than his predecessor in avoiding defenders.

 

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Just as important as Booty's success, if not more so, was the play of USC's defense, which gave up only 14 points and 287 total yards. It was reminiscent of the style of defense Carroll prided himself on when he took over the team five years ago.

Although last year's team was known for its marquee offensive players and its ability to score almost at will against helpless defenses, its defense looked helpless at times. The much-maligned unit gave up more than 400 yards six times and more than 40 points twice in regulation, a first in school history. They were also a reason why the Trojans, as talented as they were, trailed at the half five times last season, and were behind in the fourth quarter four times.

Carroll doesn't envision that being a problem this year as he believes he has one of the deepest, and certainly the fastest, units he's ever had at the school. "We were fast last year and we got faster this year," he said. "This is quite a track team coming in."